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Treachery In 'The History Of The Kings Of Britain'

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Treachery In 'The History Of The Kings Of Britain'
Themes of Treachery, Deceit, and Greed
The main concept that is portrayed in the medieval text “The History of the Kings of Britain” is the theme of treachery, deceit, and greed. The book revolves around the medieval leadership in Britain from the era of King Brutus to King Cadwallon. In chapter I, Gratian Municeps is seen to run and grab power after the demise of Maximian. This shows the greed for power as the author further adds that Municeps ruled with such tyranny that the common people felt aggrieved and laid their wrath upon him and murdered him. Geoffrey states that “But Gratian Municeps, hearing the death of Maximian, seized the crown, and made himself king” (Chapter I). This is a display of greed for power for which he had no knowledge and wisdom of how to handle and control.
Further in chapter IV, we are introduced to the death of King Constantine which led to a great dissension for power among the nobles. The nobles wanted to give the throne to the one whom they felt that fitted or would meet their vested interests. Eventually, they could not agree between their two sons while others suggested members of the royal …show more content…
Pascentius was later introduced as the physician who would restore Aurelius’ health back to perfection if he used the potions that were presented to him by Pascentius. Through deceit, Pascentius duped the king to be the hope for his healthy recovery, but it was a plot to kill him. Along with Ambron they served the king with the potion and asked him to sleep so that it would work better towards his recovery. Geoffrey asserts that “The king readily obeyed his prescriptions, and in hopes of his speedy recovery fell asleep. But the poison quickly diffused itself through all the pores and veins in his body, so that the sleep ended in death” (Chapter
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