Gerald of Wales, royal clerk, diplomat, and historian, often wrote accounts of recent events as well. His report of the discovery and excavation of a tomb he and his contemporaries believed to be King Arthur's at Glastonbury, England, circa 1223, suggests the power of the Arthur legend among medieval people.

However, Arthur's body, which the fables allege was like a fantastic thing at the end, and as it were moved by the spirit to far away places, and not subject to death, in our own days was discovered at Glastonbury between two stone pyramids erected in the holy cemetery, hidden deep in the ground by a hollow oak and marked with wonderful signs and marvels, and it was moved into the church with honor and committed properly to a marble tomb. . . . many notable things happened here; truly he had two wives, the second of which...