Could this Hungarian king be Sir Lancelot?
The heroic knight, Sir Lancelot, is perhaps the best-known character in the medieval legends surrounding King Arthur. However, not many know about the origins of Sir Lancelot. According to a recent discovery, the Hungarian King László has fought alongside King Arthur and is in fact, Sir Lancelot.
Where does the character of Sir Lancelot come from?
Sir Lancelot is probably the most famous character from the Arthurian saga. According to kingarthursknights.com, Lancelot was the first knight of the Round Table, and he never failed in gentleness, courtesy, or courage. He was not only extremely brave, but also he was also consistently serving others. However, researchers could not find where the world-famous literary figure came from. According to mult-kor.hu, the character first appears in the works of the 12th-century French novelist Chrétien de Troyes. Prior to that, no kind of prototype of Lancelot’s figure could be identified either in the earlier texts of Arthurian literature or in Celtic folklore.
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Is the Hungarian King St. László Sir Lancelot?
The figure of Lancelot can be associated with Hungarian history. During the time of Béla III, who reigned in the last quarter of the 12th century, Hungarian-French relations strengthened. As a result, many Hungarians ended up in the west. Some researchers believe that the character of Sir Lancelot has been modelled after King St. László, the famous Hungarian king, writes promotions.hu.
The name László or Ladislaus, used in Hungary, could easily have been turned into Lancelot in the New Latin-speaking area. For example, the Hungarian king László V Utószülött, who reigned in the middle of the 15th century, regularly appears in the form of Lancelot in contemporary French and Italian texts. Therefore, King St. László could easily be the equivalent of Sir Lancelot.
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Source: promotions.hu, mult-kor.hu, kingarthursknights.com