Where was the architect Arthur Troyte Griffith born?

For anyone familiar with the story of Arthur and Excalibur?

• here's a recap of the story below if anyone wants reference, what I NEED IS HOW THIS STORY RELATES TO REAL LIFE ENGLISH LIFE IN THE 15th CENTURY (1400s) REGARDING LIFESTYLES, CUSTOMS, BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL ASPECTS OF LIFE, POLITICAL STRUCTURES, ETC ETC. Much discontent exists after Uther's death with many people vying for power. At Merlin's insistence, the Archbishop of Canterbury invites all the lords and powerful men of the land to London at Christmas where the true king would be chosen. In the churchyard in London was a huge stone with a sword in it with the inscription, "Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king born of all England." No one could pull out the sword, until Arthur's adopted brother, Sir Kay, loses his sword, and Arthur pulls the one out of the stone. Ector admits that Arthur is not his son by blood and kneels in allegiance. After numerous "proofs" of his righteousness as king, pulling the sword named "Excalibur" in and out of the stone at Candlemas and Easter, he is crowned. Six Kings from the North, Lot, Uriens, Nentres and others, contest Arthur and refuse to bow to his throne. Merlin acts as defender and promoter of Arthur, as well as controller of situations by providing counsel. A battle between Arthur and his followers and the six Northern kings ensues where Arthur proves his might and prowess by killing many men with Excalibur. Merlin advises Arthur to join with King Ban and King Bors to fight the six kings who will come back to fight again. Arthur pledges to help Ban and Bors fight Claudas if they will align themselves with him. The men of Ban and Bors prove themselves worthy through jousts and tournaments with Arthur's knights. Arthur, Ban and Bors gathered their armies and secretly rallied together, at Merlin's advice, in the forest of Bedegraine. The six kings who fled after Arthur's coronation gather additional forces in five more Northern kings, bringing a force of fifty thousand men against Arthur at Bedegraine. Arthur's forces are told by Merlin when and where the eleven kings would strike, and are able to attack them by surprise at night when they were sleeping. Merlin provides counsel and battle strategy for Arthur, Ban, and Bors, and mighty (and gory) tales of battle ensue. Arthur proves himself in battle, doing "so marvelously in arms that all men had wonder." The feats of individual knights are recounted. Much explanation is given of the stages of battles and the valiant fights of Arthur's army. Many men die, but the 11 kings are still alive, and King Lot unites them all against Arthur by having them swear loyalty to each other. Merlin comes in, rebuking Arthur for not stopping the battle, claiming that out of 60,000 men Arthur has only left 15,000 alive. He counsels them to withdraw because the 11 kings will not be overthrown at this time, but predicts three years of peace. Arthur rewards his knights, Ban and Bors. King Arthur sees Lionors, an earl's daughter, when she comes to pay homage, and he impregnates her with a child named Borre, who will become a knight of the Round Table. King Rience makes war on Arthur's friend, Leodegrance, and so he, Ban and Bors depart for war in Northern Wales. Arthur's army fights King Rience, who flees after ten thousand are killed. Shortly after, Arthur sees the King of Cameliard's daughter, Guenever. Ban, Bors and Arthur part, leaving Ban and Bors to protect the north. Merlin prophesies the demise of the eleven kings (at the hands of Balin and Balan) who have gone back to their kingdoms to fight other battles against invaders. Arthur sees Margawse (Lot's wife who was sent to spy on Arthur.) He slept with her, not knowing that she was his half-sister, (Igraine and Tintagel's daughter). This union begets Mordred, Arthur's child. Arthur then dreams of griffins and serpents fighting him, but after a long battle, he slays these creatures. To forget the dream, Arthur goes on a hunt and chases a huge hart (a large male deer) until his horse dies. While he waits for a new horse to be brought to him, a strange beast comes followed by a knight named Pellinore. The knight's horse had been killed by the beast, so Arthur gives him the horse that had been brought, and Pellinore continues to follow the questing beast. Arthur offers to take up the quest for Pellinore, but Pellinore believes that the beast can only be captured by him or his kin. Merlin comes to Arthur in the guise of a 14-year-old boy and an 80-year-old man and predicts the destruction of the kingdom because Arthur "laid" with his own sister. Merlin also predicts his own "shameful" death by being "put into the earth quickly." To find out if Merlin is right about Margawse, Arthur sends for his mother, Igraine, who testifies that she did not know Arthur was the son of the king since Uther had been disguised when he came to her. Griflet, a squire, enters the court and asks Arthur for a knighthood so that he could fight the knigh

• Answer:

  Your story is just a summary of the early chapters of Sir Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur”. But Malory just very slightly abridges and adapts sources that date back earlier. The account from the beginning to Arthur becoming king, including the story of the sword in the stone, was written by a Burgundian named Robert de Boron at the end of the 12th century or the beginning of the 13th century. Malory makes no changes worth mentioning. A modern English translation of this work by Nigel Bryant appears in his “Merlin and the Grail'' ( http://books.google.com/books?id=-Mz3sEURhiQC&dq=intitle:Merlin+intitle:and+intitle:the+intitle:Grail+inauthor:Nigel+inauthor:Bryant&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES&ei=nDKYSbiGDIj0Mvvp-YUM ). The end of this work corresponds to Malory's Book I, chapters I to VII (as divided by Caxton). About 1335, Robert de Boron’s “Merlin” was expanded into a longer work telling the tale of the first three years of Arthur's reign, up until Merlin’s imprisonment and the war between King Ban of Benoic (Lancelot’s father) and King Claudas. This work was obviously intended to provide a sort of prequel to the already existing “Prose Lancelot”. This expanded work is now often known as the “Vulgate Merlin” (meaning the “common Merlin” or the “ordinary Merlin” story which is part of the “Vulgate Arthurian Cycle”, that is, the “ordinary Arthurian cycle”.) It is available on the web at http://www.archive.org/details/arthurian02sommuoft and is translated into modern English in Volume 1 of Lacy's “Lancelot-Grail" ( http://www.amazon.com/Lancelot-Grail-Arthurian-Vulgate-Post-Vulgate-Translation/dp/0824077334/ref=cm_lmf_img_5 ). A late middle English translation is available at http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=cme;cc=cme;rgn=main;view=toc;idno=Merlin . A version of this translation consisting of excerpts, editorial linking passages, and notes is available at http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/confront.htm . Malory's Book I, chapters VIII to XVIII (as divided by Caxton) corresponds to the early portion of the reign of Arthur as found in the “Vulgate Merlin”. About the same time that the “Vulgate Merlin” was being written, another writer was creating a vast Arthurian romance which he called the “Book of the Grail” but which is generally known today as the “Post-Vulgate Arthurian Cycle” because it was written after the “Vulgate Arthurian Cycle”, though it is not certain that the “Vulgate Merlin” did not overlap. IBut there is nothing that indicates that either writer knew of the other. The section of this work containing Robert de Boron’s “Merlin” and the early history of Arthur is generally known as the “Post-Vulgate Merlin”. The “Post-Vulgate Merlin” is found on the web in a version drawing on the Huth manuscript at http://books.google.com/books?id=Gak-QYW4Z-QC (volume 1) and at http://books.google.com/books?id=fpkCAAAAYAAJ (volume 2) . This has been translated as part of Lacy’s “Lancelot-Grail” in volume 4 (http://www.amazon.com/Lancelot-Grail-Arthurian-Vulgate-Post-Vulgate-Translation/dp/0815307489/ref=cm_lmf_tit_12 ). An adaptation was made in Spanish and is called the “Baladro Merlin”. This Spanish adaptation is rendered into modern English at http://members.terracom.net/~dorothea/baladro/index.html . The part of the “Post-Vulgate Merlin” covering Arthur’s early reign is adapted by Malory in Book I, chapter XIX to Book IV, chapter XV (as divided by Caxton). Another more recently discovered manuscript of the “Post-Vulgate Merlin” is the so-called Cambridge Manuscript which contains some material inserted at the beginng of Arthur’s reign corresponding to the beginning of Arthur’s reign in the “Vulgate Merlin”, mainly Arthur’s first battle, his getting aid from King Ban and King Bors, the Battle of Bedegraine, and an extremely reduced and somewhat modified account of Arthur’s coming to King Leodegan’s aid. In short, for the early part of his work, Malory mostly drew from a manuscript closely related to the Cambridge manuscript of the “Post-Vulgate Merlin”. Mallory retells French works of the 13th century, even though it is an English work of the 14th century, and I don’t believe you can find any change made by Malory that indicates any particular English 14th century influence. Malory was aware that he was adapting and abridging a tale that was supposed to take place long ago, as did the earlier authors. You could write a paper about how Malory’s account of Arthur reflects society of the late middle ages, say from the 12th century up until his own time in the later 15th century. But Malory doesn't update his sources, Even one mention of guns may not be an update, because guns originally meant “siege engine”. It was short for the female name “Gunhilda”, which was seemingly used as a nickname for such devices. Malory includes all the material about tournaments in his retelling and these tournament always pictured as melees. But melee tournaments died out in the 14th century, and even the joust was on its last legs in Malory’s day. The Battle of Bedegraine in Malory (and the “Vulgate Merlin”) is an idealized medieval fantasy battle in which no-one important (of high birth) is killed or even seriously injured or even mentioned. Commoners are unimportant. Fourteenth century battles (and even 11th, 12th and 13th century battles) were not like that. Archery was increasingly important, but archers play no part in battles in the French romances, or in Malory’s version of them. Arthurian romances provide a very knight-oriented version of society. Peasants, farmers, merchants or any commoners are barely recognized. Birth is extremely important and matters. Tor is a good knight because his father is a king while his half-brother are the sons of a peasant. That King Pellinore took Tor’s mother “half by force” and stole her dog is swept under the table. Gareth is also a good knight because he comes from a knightly family. The same is true of Perceval; though he also was not brought up as a knight he is instinctively one of the best knights because of his ancestry. Blood will out. Sir Marhaus refuses to fight with Tristam until he is convinced that Tristram is sufficiently well-born. This attitude was not peculiar to the fourteenth century, and was seen both long before and long after.