Gorboduc ('' Welsh:'' Gorwy or Goronwy) was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by

Geoffrey of Monmouth Geoffrey of Monmouth (; ; ) was a Catholic cleric from Monmouth, Wales, and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur. He is best known for his chronicle '' The History of ...

. He was married to Judon. When he became old, his sons,

Ferrex Ferrex was the son of the legendary king Gorboduc of the Britons, and fought with his brother Porrex for the throne, according to Geoffrey of Monmouth. When his father had become old, he quarrelled with his brother Porrex over who would succeed ...

and Porrex, feuded over who would take over the kingdom. Porrex tried to kill his brother in an ambush, but Ferrex escaped to France. With the French king Suhardus, he invaded Britain, but was defeated and killed by Porrex. Porrex was killed in revenge by his own mother Judon, then the high strata of society killed his mother and then there was a war between high strata and low strata leading to an anarchy in the society. This anarchy led to civil war denouncing Gorboduc.Geoffrey of Monmouth: ''The History of the Kings of Britain: an Edition and Translation of De Gestis Britonum (Historia Regum Britanniae)'', Boydell & Brewer, 1 Jan 2007, p.44. Geoffrey does not state when Gorbuduc died, but he is not mentioned after the account of the strife between his sons.

Cultural references

Gorboduc's life is the subject of the 1561 play ''

Gorboduc Gorboduc ('' Welsh:'' Gorwy or Goronwy) was a legendary king of the Britons as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was married to Judon. When he became old, his sons, Ferrex and Porrex, feuded over who would take over the kingdom. Porrex tri ...

'', which is historically important for being the model for later Elizabethan drama, for example, Shakespeare's '' The Tragedie of King Lear'' and ''The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus''. James D. Carroll, Gorboduc and Titus Andronicus, Notes and Queries, Volume 51, 267–269. https://doi.org/10.1093/nq/510267 It is the first play written throughout in

blank verse Blank verse is poetry written with regular metre (poetry), metrical but rhyme, unrhymed lines, usually in iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the 16th cen ...

. The story, like that of his ancestor

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

, was used by Elizabethans as a warning of the dangers of civil discord. "A niece of King Gorboduc" is mentioned briefly by the Fool in Shakespeare's ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...

''. "Gorboduc" is the name of a poem by

John Ashbery John Lawrence Ashbery (July 28, 1927 – September 3, 2017) was an American poet and art critic. Ashbery is considered the most influential American poet of his time. Oxford University literary critic John Bayley wrote that Ashbery "sounded, in ...

that appears in the collection ''April Galleons'' (1987).

References

{{Geoffrey of Monmouth Legendary British kings