King Claudas is a fictional king who is an opponent to King Arthur, Lancelot, and Bors in Arthurian literature. His kingdom is situated in the Berry and is named "Terre Deserte", or "Land Laid Waste", so called because of the destruction Uther Pendragon had wrought there.[1]

Claudas appears as the Round Table's adversary in Perlesvaus, the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles, and Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. He wages war on Kings Ban and Bors in the early period of Arthur's reign, and succeeds in conquering many of their lands. Ban and Bors help Arthur in his conflicts against rebellious kings in Britain, but Arthur is unable to send them reinforcements to deal with Claudas. Bors dies fighting against Claudas, who takes in his sons Bors the Younger and Lionel and has them raised as prisoners in his court. When Ban dies, his son Lancelot is swept away by the Lady of the Lake to be raised in her underwater palace. Arthur pursues a truce with Claudas that lasts some time.

When they are older, Lionel and Bors kill Claudas' son Dorin, but escape to join their cousin with the Lady of the Lake. All three eventually go to Camelot and become Knights of the Round Table. Years later, after Claudas has imprisoned a cousin of Guinevere's, Arthur, Bors and Lionel decide to settle the score for good. They defeat him and win back the lands of Ban and Bors, and all the other lands Claudas had acquired. The old king goes to Rome in disgrace. Claudas' son Claudin becomes an excellent knight and a virtuous man, eventually joining Bors, Percival, Galahad, and eight others to become the only knights to witness the Holy Grail.

Claudas may be based on historical Frankish kings, especially Clodio and Clovis I. The conquests of Claudas resemble those of Clovis, and he is sometimes even said to be Clovis' ancestor.

References

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  1. ^ Lacy, Norris J. (2010). Lancelot-Grail: Lancelot, pt. I. Boydell & Brewer Ltd. p. 3. ISBN 9781843842262.
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Bors

against their enemy, King Claudas, who threatened their continental lands. Arthur is late on his promise, though, and Claudas succeeds in his invasion

Lancelot

eastern part of Anjou). Ban's kingdom has just fallen to his enemy, King Claudas, and the mortally wounded king and his wife Queen Élaine flee the destruction

Knights of the Round Table

kings at Bedegraine, against the Saxons at Cameliard, and against King Claudas in the Wasteland; the latter earns him his nickname "of the Wasteland"

Gavdos

appears in the biblical account of Paul's journey to Rome in Acts 27 as "Clauda" (Κλαῦδα) or "Cauda" (Καῦδα). The island was also referred to as "Cauda"

King Ban

they aid Arthur in finally defeating Claudas and reclaiming their fathers' lands. The war between King Ban and Claudas may recall the early medieval struggle

King Arthur

Black Knight(s) Blanchefleur Bors the Elder Brangaine Brunor(s) Catigern Claudas Elaine of Astolat Elaine of Benoic Elaine of Corbenic Enide Feirefiz Fisher

Uther Pendragon

been born in Bourges. He takes an army to Brittany to fight against King Claudas at Bourges, a situation resembling that of the historical ruler Riothamus

List of Arthurian characters

Cerdic of Wessex Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 9th century First King of Wessex Claudas Perlesvaus, Lancelot-Grail, Post-Vulgate Cycle, Le Morte d'Arthur A Frankish