Constantine (Briton)
Gildas calls Constantine the "tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia", a reference to the books of Daniel and Revelation, and apparently also a slur directed at his mother.
[2] Scholars such as Lloyd Laing and Leslie Alcock note the possibility that Gildas may have instead intended the territory of the Damnonii, a tribe in present-day Scotland mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2nd century, but others such as Thomas D. O'Sullivan consider this unlikely.
[3] Gildas says that despite swearing an oath against deceit and tyranny, Constantine disguised himself in an abbot's robes and attacked two "royal youths" praying before a church altar, killing them and their companions.
The Vitae Petroci includes an episode in which Saint Petroc protects a stag being hunted by a wealthy man named Constantine, who eventually converts and becomes a monk.
Here Constantine is not said to be king, but a 12th-century text referring to this story, the Miracula, specifically names him as such, further adding that upon his conversion he gave Petroc an ivory horn that became one of the saint's chief relics.
[10] A number of other traditions attested across Britain describe saints or kings named Constantine, suggesting a confusion and conflation of various figures.
[13] In addition to Gildas, Geoffrey evidently knew the Dumnonian genealogy essentially as it appears in Geraint and Enid and similar sources.
He further adds a number of other details not found in earlier sources, identifying Constantine as a son of Cador, a Cornish ruler known in Welsh tradition as Cadwy mab Geraint.
[18] Latin scholar Neil Wright considers Geoffrey's changes to Gildas to be deliberate reformulations that produce a more sympathetic picture of Constantine and his successors.
The text, set during the reign of Aurelius Conanus, recounts how Constantine gave Mordred's sons a "cruel death" and ended their destructive rebellion, omitting details of the killing.
Rosemary Morris writes that Vita Merlini reinforces the Historia's message that Constantine was unable to perpetuate the glories of Arthur's reign.
[19][20] Variants of Geoffrey's version of Constantine appeared in the numerous later adaptations of the Historia, which were widely regarded as authentic in the Middle Ages.
Layamon, however, adds a touch of optimism, writing that Constantine successfully if briefly answered Arthur's charge to rule in his manner.
Rosemary Morris suggests these versions downplay the issue of a designated heir to Arthur to heighten the stakes of Mordred's usurpation and to magnify Lancelot's role in the story.
[27] Other English romances that reference Constantine in passing include the 14th-century The Awntyrs off Arthure and Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, written around 1400.
Malory has Arthur designate Constantine and Baldwin of Britain as regents before going off to fight the Romans, a role that the Alliterative Morte ascribes to Mordred.
[41] He is the chief protagonist of the 1990 computer game Spirit of Excalibur; players control Constantine and his allies as they defend the kingdom after Arthur's death.
[42] Darrell Schweitzer's 1995 fantasy story "The Epilogue of the Sword" features an ageing Lancelot returning to serve Constantine against the Saxons.
[44][45] Constantine appears as a supporting character in all three of British author Giles Kristian's Arthurian trilogy; Lancelot (2018), Camelot (2020), and Arthur (2024).
