- Cador
Cador ("
Latin ": Cadorius) was a legendary Duke ofCornwall , known chiefly throughGeoffrey of Monmouth 's pseudo-historical "History of the Kings of Britain " and previous manuscript sources such as Vita Sanctus Carantoci circa 1100 from Cotton Vespasian xiv. Cador is said to beKing Arthur 's relative from the earliest sources, though the details of their kinship is usually left unspecified.Historical ruler
Cado was the historical son of a
Dumnonia n king named Gerren, and succeeded him as monarch. Traditionally he was a good friend of Arthur; they even ruled together in such documents as the "Vita Sanctus Carantoci" (Life of St.Carantoc ). He also seemed to share a good relationship with KingCaradoc of Gwent. His capital was likelyCadbury , and it is quite possible he gave his name to the hill fort ("Cado's fort"). [ [http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/cadodm.html EBK Cado] ]Legend
In Geoffrey's "History" and elsewhere, Arthur's future queen
Guinevere was raised as Cador's ward. Cador is also said to be of Roman stock. His son Constantine was given the kingship of Britain by Arthur as the latter lay ailing on the field of Camlann. In the "Brut Tysilio" the translator adds the information that Cador was son ofGorlois , presumably byIgraine . This would make him Arthur's maternal half-brother. The same appears in Richard Hardyng's "Chronicle" where Cador is called Arthur's brother "of his mother's syde." Different views appear inLayamon 's "Brut" where Cador appears first as a leader who takes charge of Uther's host when they are attacked by Gorlois while Uther is secretly lying beside Igraine inTintagel . Furthermore, because he becomes duke of Cornwall after Gorlois' death, this may imply the two were brothers, meaning Cador was not a blood relative of the king. Most works, such as the English "Alliterative Morte Arthure " andSir Thomas Malory 's "Le Morte d'Arthur ", however, are content to call Cador Arthur's "cousin".Cador appears in "
The Dream of Rhonabwy ", a medieval romance associated with the "Mabinogion ". In it, he hands Arthur's sword Caledfwlch (Excalibur) to the king, and when the story's protagonist Rhonabwy asks who he is, his guide Iddawg replies that he is "Cadwr Earl of Cornwall, the man whose task it is to arm the king on the day of battle and conflict." [ Jeffrey Gantz (translator), "The Dream of Rhonabwy", from "The Mabinogion", Penguin, November 18, 1976. ISBN 0-14-044322-3 ]References
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