King Clariance

King Clariance is a king of Northumberland and one of the eleven rulers who gather against King Arthur. His role is concentrated in the northern coalition’s campaign and the Battle of Bedegraine, where he is named among the leaders who face Arthur’s forces and is later driven from the field by Arthur’s allies.

Place in the Northern Coalition

The conflict begins after six kings feel insulted at Carlion. They recruit five more rulers and swear not to abandon one another until they have destroyed Arthur. King Clariance of Northumberland joins this oath and promises three thousand mounted men, a smaller contingent than the five-thousand forces pledged by several of the other kings. The coalition’s full host is given as fifty thousand men-at-arms on horseback and ten thousand on foot.

The eleven kings move against Bedegraine Castle, which is held for Arthur, but leave only a small force to maintain the siege as their main army advances. Clariance thus enters the conflict as a participant in a broad alliance, bound by its collective vow rather than acting alone.

The Battle of Bedegraine

At the passage near the battle, Clariance is among the leaders confronting Ulfius and Brastias. When Brastias strikes down the Duke of Cambenet, Clariance turns back against him; the two meet in combat and both are thrown down, remaining stunned for a time. The account emphasizes the unstable fortunes of the fighting, in which kings and knights are repeatedly unhorsed and assisted by allies.

Later, Arthur’s side presses the coalition. Clariance is included among the rulers opposed by Ulfius, Brastias, and Sir Ector, whose attack forces the kings they encounter to give ground. Arthur himself fights with such force that he kills twenty knights and wounds King Lot, helping drive the opposition from that part of the field. Clariance’s participation therefore ends in retreat within the battle’s larger reversal, rather than in a separately narrated duel or death.

Narrative Role

Clariance helps give the rebellion its scale: his promised mounted force contributes to the coalition’s stated numbers, and his presence in the fighting makes Northumberland one of the kingdoms arrayed against Arthur. Yet the narrative does not develop his personal motives, history, or fate beyond these military episodes. He functions chiefly as a named rebel king whose fortunes illustrate how the alliance’s collective strength is tested and pushed back at Bedegraine.