Constantine III of Britain
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In Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia regum Britanniae, a fictional account of the rulers of Great Britain, Constantine III was a legendary king of the Britons. He was the son of Cador of Cornwall, a relative of King Arthur. Constantine fought in the Battle of Camlann and was apparently one of the few survivors. Arthur, about to be taken to Avalon, passed the crown to him.
Geoffrey says that Constantine continued to have trouble from the Saxons and from the two sons of Mordred. He eventually subdued his enemies, however, and chased Mordred's sons into churches where he murdered them. According to Geoffrey, he was struck down by God for killing them while in sanctuary, and was buried next to Uther Pendragon at Stonehenge.
Though mostly forgotten in later continental romances, the British retained some knowledge of him. He appears, for example, in the Alliterative Morte Arthure and Malory's Morte d'Arthur as Arthur's cousin and successor.
The murder of Mordred's sons echos the activities of Gildas' historical early 6th century tyrant, Constantine of Dumnonia, who after having sworn to make peace with his enemies, disguised himself as an abbot, entered the church where two youths had sought sanctuary and murdered them on the steps of the altar. One theory identifies both men with a more saintly Constantine of Cornwall.
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| Preceded by Arthur |
Mythical British Kings | Succeeded by Aurelius Conanus |
