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Not a lot of people are called Lance these days, but back in medieval times they were called Lancelot

Hungarian here. We actually learn in elemntary history school that László saved a hungarian maiden from a besenyő (pecheneg) raider. I am so happy you mentioned Béla was adopted to be the heir of the byzantine empire. One my favorite what if in history. Thank you for the video. Love from hungary

King Laszlo was very much famous of his chivalry in Europe during his reign. Allegedly everyone expected him to lead the first crusade, however his sudden death in 1095 prevented him to do that.

As a Hungarian I must say its a pretty realistic assumption that his myth influenced the character of Lancelot. First of all, in the High Middle Ages Hungary was a regional "superpower", from the late 11th up until the end of the 15th century the country was very strong politically, with vast resources and territory, a huge player in European international politics altogether, therefore very well knows in Western Europe as well, where Arthurian literature flourished around the time. Secondly, King László has always been a mythical figure for us, even more so in the Middle Ages. At the end of the 13th century, when the mongol armies savaged Transsylvania, the székely's (local Transsylvanians speaking Hungarian) were praying for the dead king to save them. And they say that László rose from the grave and beat the mongol armies back by himself. Thats a very well known myth, and I repeat, this happened 200 years after his death. Even in the 1500s they refer to him as the chosen warrior of Virgin Mary. Although we will never know for sure, but its more than believable - with the evidence provided in the video - that this theory is indeed true.

In a shocking turn of events, English folk hero Lancelot, known for defeating their Anglo-Saxon ancestors and defending the Britons, is actually a Hungarian King inserted to the story by a Frenchman. Where were the Mongels in all this? Find out next time.

Got to appreciate the small detail on the Hungarian crown, the cross adorning it not being bent in the period being discussed.

As a patron, I demand everyone build an idol of me in the shape of Helios.

Very cool video! To be honest, through most of it, I viewed its main claim as an interesting but flimsy hypothesis. However, the final arguments about the name Lancelot itself are rather convincing. Regardless of if Lancelot was really inspired by Laszlo I, this video is a great summary of the origins and development of the Arthurian mythos *and* a reminder that the too often overlooked and marginalised "Eastern Europe" (including the parts in which most of the locals would insist they are actually Central Europe) is, in fact, an integral part of Europe, which is a relatively small continent.

Thank you so much for making this exclusive content public. This was one of your most fascinating discussions.

Lancelot being the equivalent of a fan OC insert is kind of amusing to me.

Some fun facts about I. Saint László of Hungary: 1. He spent his childhood in Poland in exile. 2. He was not a hard man to find on a battle field. According to chronicles he was 2 heads taller than the average man and had a 2 handed axe as his favored weapon of choice. 3. He never actually wanted to be king, but after his elder brother's (Géza) death , the nobilty begged him to take up the hungarian crown, because he was deemed worthy by everyone. 4. He was the king who annexed Croatia to Hungary. 5. He was asked to lead the first crusade, but he had to go to help his Moravian allies and died before he could had a chance to join the crusade itself. 6. In later ages hungarian knights and soldiers often rewoked his name before battles as their guardian saint. All in all ,he was a chad of his time according to all sources.

I thought the Arthurian legends were far older, but it certainly does sound like a solid theory.

Easily one of your best, and that's saying something. Whoever wrote this episode is uniquely talented. Thank you

Not sure if someone mentioned this already but just noticed that Lancelot's coat of arms on most of his depictions is in the form of white and red stripes, same as the coat of arms of the Árpád dynasty.

Fun fact: the name László comes from Slavic "Ladislav". At the time the Hungarian pronunciation was something like "Ladiszló" or "Ladszló" which makes it even more likely that the French would have transcribed it as "Lancelo(t)" Both him and Béla III. are super interesting rulers. Béla III is the only Árpádian king whose tomb and earthly remains were found completely intact (along with those of his wife, Anne de Châtillon). A medieval English knight described Béla III as 2 meters tall, and his skeleton does prove that he was at least 190cm. There is a famous golden reliquary made for László I and there are good arguments to be made that the face we can see today is actually that of Béla III further tying the two kings together. DNA analisys on both remains also proved that the bones belong to the people they were attributed to and that the Árpád dynasty's closest living relatives are the people living in Central-Eastern Bashkorostan.

Don't forget that in french the t after an o is never pronounced. So they would have said lancelo, and the t would be silent, similar to laslow

Fun fact: László was half Polish and he was born and raised in Poland. His name is Polish too: Ladislav.

The Mongols towards the end really caught me off guard. That was pretty funny

No wonder that in Thomas Mallory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, there is a tale wherein a Hungarian knight named Sir Urry had been all over Europe searching for the greatest knight that ever lived to heal his wounds incurred from a dishonorable duel. After a painful search in Lancelot’s homelands in France, Sir Urry and his retinue arrives in Camelot to beseech King Arthur and his 143 Knights of the Round Table (those who were present and alive in this tale, sadly not including the late Sirs Galahad, Percival, Tristan and Lamorak, and the jealous member Sir Melegreant, which means that this tale takes place after the Tale of the Knight in the Cart) None of Arthur and his vassals couldn’t heal Sir Urry’s wounds, and would be glad when Sir Laslo arrives, who humbly reminds Sir Urry of his uncertainties on whether he can heal him, and prays for his miraculous healing. Therefore, Sir Urry thanks him and would repay Lancelot with his sword to become a recent addition of Arthur’s round Table Knights and that the Hungarian knight’s accompanying sister shall marry Lancelot’s squire Sir Lavayne. So this insertion by the imprisoned Thomas Malory would make his penultimate story before the titular final story that climactically ends King Arthur’s reign. Edit: correction and additional lore where a Hungarian knight joins the Round Table

My praises on Haley Castel Branco artstyle. Very well done and inspiring.

One of the best Documentaries that you have made! This is so well written, interesting and sourced. Thank you guys! I don't know how you do it, but your content continue to improve!

Nice to see one of my personal favourite,the classic Arthurian movie 'Excalibur' (1981) get a worthy mention(7:45) ! 👌👍 P.S. Very interesting hypothetical and fairly plausible vid : Laszlo's name was Latinised as 'Ladislaus' I(r.1077-95);and only gained the throne after he and his brother Ge(i)za(r.1074-7) toppled their cousin SOLOMON(r.1053-74,abdicated 1081,d.1087); noting the later Bela III(r.1172-86) was Ge(i) za's lineal 2 x gt.gs. Also an Anglo-Scottish connection : Edward Atheling 'the Exile',heir to the ousted royal English House of Wessex was recorded as exiled in Hungary during this period(c.1016-57) of the preceding kings Stephen (r.1000/1-38) and ANDREW I(r.1046-60),where Edward is said to have married into the royal house,and had at least 3 children,incl. the St. Margaret Atheling,Scottish queen! 😐

12:26 Yeah, I'd say that's pretty significant into why a French court poet would develop a interest in Hungarian history and legends!

It is just pure ignorance that the influence of the medieval Hungary is not known. Eg. Saint Margareth of Scotland (1045-1093), aka The pearl of Scotland, was born in Hungary and his grandfather was the first king of Hungary, Saint Steven of the House of Arpad. Eduard the Exile took refuge in Hungary and married the daughter of King Steven of Hunary while there. Their daugther born in Hungary became later Saint Margareth or Scotland. Saint Laszlo mentioned in this vid lived the same time as Saint Margareth of Schotland. Both Laszlo and Margareth were the descendant/relatives of Saint Steven from the House of Arpad.

Fun fact: there is a scottish clan whose founder was a hubgarian prince

Laszlo seems like a pretty chill dude. We can expect some great deeds from him.

Authors have always added new characters to older stories. Robin and Little John are 2 of the oldest characters from the legends of Robin Hood. Over the years Will Scarlet, Friar Tuck and Maid Marian have all been added.

This my friends is one outstanding video. Only K & G could develop and present such a work. And the narrator is one of a kind. Thanks once again.

Saint Laszló's skull in a golden reliquary was recently tested for DNA and was authenticated. It is on display in a museum in Gyõr, Hungary.

I know you've done a video on the historical origins of Arthur, but one specifically on the Sarmatian Hypothesis would be rad!

Wow, I am absolutely loving this. Medieval history ist just stunning for so many reasons.

Rather interesting fact related to the topic: the pre-raphaelite British painter Edward Burne-Jones' greatest work, The last sleep of Arthur in Avalon has the Holy Crown of Hungary at his death bed, at the foot of the angel. He might wanted to use an image of a truly ancient, early medieval crown instead of the all-but gemstone more modern British crown.. The crown is painted with much accuracy, strange enough, because at that time and even later well into 20th century, the Holy Crown was kept away from the eyes of the public, hidden and guarded by the Crown Guards only to be worn one time : at the coronation ceremonies of a new king. An exciting mistery worth investigating. Was he present at the coronation of the Habsburg Franz-Joseph or he studied a very detailed description..by whom?

Wait a minute, László öt would be the direct translation of László the fifth, öt = five in Hungarian, though Hungarians would probably say rather "az ötödik László". Laszlo-ot is even closer to Lancel-ot isn't it?

So thought provoking. Well done!

László saving the maiden is a very popular story to this day in Hungary. I even saw some of the original medieval frescos in Transylvania commemorating the story. I've never heard of the King Arthur connection before, the frescos are usually analyzed with relations to Hungarian pagan beliefs as some of the imagery is thought to be a mixture of your typical Christian imagery and some tiny remnants of pagan dualistic elements.

I live in Modena, I'm impressed by you guys managing to get in the video this little yet gigantic detail of our cathedral!

It is our pleasure. Glad to see this Members Only videos finally live I must ask them know what are your plans for Justinian as well as the Napoleonic wars

Really enjoying these videos about the Arthurian legends. Thank you.

The historic Scottish clans Drummond and Leslie were believed to be descendants of Hungarian knights of the retinue of St.Margaret Atheling,when she came to Scotland to marry King Malcolm III Canmore. Another major Scottish family,Clan Lindsay,used a swan as their main heraldic motif,as they have a tradition of being descended from 'The Swan Knight',a literary nickname of either Sir Lancelot or his son Sir Galahad. All 3 clan/families,initially based their historic regional power in the middle Scottish locality between the Lowlands & Highlands.

A video idea. The British Empires conflict with slavery. It's a good story and in line with the channels theme. There are other sources for the information out there but. I would love to see this epic set in kingdoms and generals style. ++ The start of it was the Norman Conquest of England. + The tax on slave sales that caused slavery in England to degrade over time. So the start is definitely anchored in much of the rest of the channels content.

incredible work guys

In any case, at the time of King Béla III of Hungary, at the end of the 12th century, the English were very much aware of who the Hungarian king was. The written memory of him has survived.

fantastic and fascinating - thanks KandG

A very insightful video.

As a french Canadian, i can attest to the fact that Laszlo would be pronounced as "Lancelot" which in french reads more as 'lan' 'se' 'lo'

Thank you for making this video free to the public

Lol that ending took me back to the crashcourse days, yes you got it, the Mongols

This is the most impressive theory I've heard so far.

Thank you 🙏 for one of your most exquisite history video that cannot be found anywhere in all of UKposts 😂😅👍💪

This is the best video on Arthur on UKposts. Most British dislike discussing their humble beginnings for some reason.

That's quite a detective's work frome Stephone Pow. Quite an interesting theory. Great video!

As a Kalmyk Mongol I’m proud of that clip used at the end of the national anthem of my country

Bela III: having a lovely second marriage and fun with literature Bela IV: grim wojak face

This video presented an exceptionally intriguing theory and I hope that it one day is proven to be true. Awesome video.

Bro would probably hijack fighter jets while screaming "ARRTTTTHHHUUURRR!!"

the Arthurian legend also takes its origins from myths older than the Roman era, in particular those of tuatha de danann

This is the content I like to wake up and see

Already know is going be banger

Can you do a video of the history of the populares and the optimates. Their values and why and how they become the factions

What are the chances you'd be willing to upload to rumble as well? Absolutely love the shit out of your channel

What a delightful solution to a mystery!

Fascinating stuff

The Arabic Romance Epics about the Chivalric Antar--based on the real half Black half Arab warrior-poet---has been arguably the most popular Arabic Epic legend since the Middle Ages and reached Europe around the time the Chivalric noble romance version of Arthur was forming. I wish I could be of more help, but even though I've read a couple academic books and papers on the influence of Antar on Arthur, I can't remember how conclusive the evidence was of an influence, the degree of that influence or if there are many scholars who analyzed the works and disagreed or agreed. I just thought ppl watching this video would find that interesting and hopefully others have more to offer on the topic and time to offer it.

I hope one day we'll get a video on Sir Not Appearing in this Film

Learned something new today

I hope this ties into the work of John Colarusso and the comparisons to the Nart Sagas.

I have Roger Sherman Loomis' Celtic Myth and Arthurian Romance book on my shelf omg 😅

You should make more videos about Ottoman history.

rly liked this one

So when are you guys finishing the augutus videos?

Too bad copyright laws now prevent modern stories to get refined and re-imagined as the Arthurian legend and the Matter of Britain have been. And too bad the Matter of France did not elicit a similar interest in the 19th century. Maybe Charlemagne was a bit too real and too well known to facilitate the tell of fantastical stories around his character.

Is that a fragment of the Bayeux Tapestry that we can see in the background at 16:20? 😁👍

Hello K&G! What happened to the video about Khazars? I can't find it for some reason.

Actually Laszlo was pretty big guy for that era. It is said that he was head taller than everyone else.

Interesting theory, I hope an aspiring scholar picks up the trail. New Video idea: Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce nation migrating to Canada with the pursuit of the US Calvary.

A Kings and Generals exclusive?! I need to start drinking my swill with my pinky up we fancy now !!

The last 20 seconds of the video has an interesting twist 🤣

I'm Hungarian, and I approve this message.

Very possible. There is a lot in terms of legends that is common in all of Europe, just with some local flavour. See the legend of Saint George, for instance.

Can you make a video about the Zanj rebellion and the battle of Dayr al-Aqul at 876

A bit far fetch, although I do like the idea. BUT : - Date for Chrétien de Troye's book are most probably not 1180's, but 1160's for the first book. That said, Lancelot was most probably published around 1182, which in France is the date recon as the most probable (last time I check). With the command of Marie de champagne for Lancelot probably dating from 1168or 1176 (yes, he wrote multiple book at the same time, which was not unheard of at the time). Which is a HUGE wrench in your theory... which could be saved by the fact that Chretien mention several book on the "matière de bretagne" from several sources in his books, at least one of them being from germany. Also, he isnt the one who finished the book, someone had to finish the work because most probably Chrétien didnt like it (most of his story are about an uncomplete knight doing adventure to find himself and a missing part of him, often he end up finding love, confront his failure and character flaw, and start working on it at the end of the tales, pretty modern, quite innovative for the time, hence the success. He stopped for lancelot when it was clear that Lancelot would not work on his character flaw so he probably didnt like the character. Or it could be health problem and the will to finish the graal tale, because we know he died between 1180 and 1190). - They are quite a few other solid hypothesis for the name of lancelot du lac, steming from two sources : -> french influence (Lance -> lancelot isnt odd in french medieval way of building names, "l'ancel lot" was also deemed probable since it would mean "the little page Du Lac" and since he's canonically the little page of the fey "du lac" it work. -> the brittany influence. So, small detour here, from archeological sources we know that a lot of rich (and armed, probably a court) briton from england fled in britany at some point during the anglo saxon invasion and settled here. We also know that in france, during chrétien's time, there was two huge oral singer tradition present : the troubadour from south of France (modern, fancy and inspired by arabic style of sing) and the... britanic ones (trouvères), which based on the previous observation have a lot of connexion to britons and arthurian legend. It is highly probable that most of the "matière de bretagne" come from them, and we know Chrétien is a bit familiar, or maybe acquainted with both traditions (there are even some theory that he participed in both, but that's too wild a theory for my taste). Prove of that : he mention in books quite a few briton names. The "-oz" termination could be a trace of that btw. Though, in that case, it's more a case of chretien trying to fit a common french name (lancelin) into something that sound more britanic "lanceloz". And tbh, I dont like that theory, since it would have more probably be the other way around. But here we got no clue if it's the case. And I've to stop here (damn work). I'm no scholar of the subject, just a HUGE nerd of the arthurian myth since i'm 12-ish. I read a few (herm.. okay, a lot) scholar book on the subject though, but I fear it's a bit dated now (the more recent paper I read on the subject was from 2010's).

The las members of the house of Wessex lived in exile in the kingdom of Hungary during the same time, shame they didn’t get a mentioned.

We are not talking about Mobile Legends’ Lancelot, this is King Arthur’s Lancelot.

"I'm not saying it was aliens..."

Arthurian legends are my favorite stories.

As an avid Crusader Kings player, the colour of the HRE at 12.45 just messes with my brain to much, had to rewind that part since I couldn't focus on what was being said lol. Only thing I could think was "that's not right!"

*"Yo Kings and generals, you've got to talk about the ancient history of the cushites in the horn of Africa"* 👋👋👋

The whimsical, silly Mongol music at the end got me cracking up.

Can you maybe talk about the Russian Expansion in Siberia, the Rise and Fall of the Polish Lithuanian commonwealth, The Kingdom of Rome and how it became a republic, and Sengoku period.

I don't know about Mediaeval French, but I was wondering if the pronunciation of Lancelot would have had a silent final consonant and long O? It would in modern French. I don't know when that spelling convention began. This would link the two names even more.

I'm Hungarian and this is the first time I hear about this lol

Lancelot was added to Arthurian legend after George Lucas sold the Knights of the Round Table franchise to Disney in the middle ages, and they decided to supplant all the other knights with a new Mary Sue character who would be better than all the knights combined, easily defeating them in lightsaber duels with no training. Disney even rewrote the franchise to make Lancelot cuckhold King Arthur himself by seducing Queen Guinevere.

I thought it was a Roman general who stayed in the Anglo lands after Rome left.

Chretien de Troyes: Man, I hate having to write what the powers-that-be tell me to write. Virgil: Tell me about it…

*Central Europe. Not Eastern. The geographic centre of Europe is the Western edge of current Ukraine - which is to the East from Hungary.

Hungarian church murals, frescoes from the 13th and 14th centuries, the struggle between the man who kidnaps the girl and St. Lazlo who rescues her is given a figurative meaning. St. László represents the man who saves the female human quality, the kidnapper the man who destroys the female human quality. These two male extremes also struggle in every normal man. In one scene of the fresco, the kidnapper is stabbed through the heart with his spear by St. László on horseback. And three arrows fly towards St. László' face. In the next scene, the kidnapper and St. László are wrestling. In the final scene, St. László rests his head on the lap of the rescued woman.

11:52 Subtitles *[Didn't pronounce frenchly since all would sound the same!]* At least you tried, and that's the first time I've ever heard of the word frenchly!

I mean you already have a very simple grounded explaination : it's the first fan fiction

The video claims Lancelot's name and, in part, deeds, derive from stories of Laszlo of Hungary carried to the French court by Hungarian diplomats who arrived in 1185 at the earliest. The video also admits that Chretien's first two stories include Lancelot (albeit as a minor character) and predate 1185. It just doesn't make sense. Moreover the "rescue of Guienevere" story long predates Chretien, as the Archivolt of Modena Cathedral testifies, as well as the Welsh Life of Saint Caradoc. There's no reason at all it needed a separate inspiration, especially not from a rescue of a maiden (not a Queen) in completely different circumstances.