Gerald of Wales

written at the end of the 12th century
narrates the supposed occasion of the unearthing of Arthur's grave and exhumation of the king's "coffin" at Glastonbury Abbey in 1191
written by Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis, c. 1146-1222), a prolific writer and opinionated Welsh churchman, son of a Welsh princess. Gerald studied in Paris, was archdeacon of Brecon, and was nominated to but rejected twice from the see of St. David's.

The account served the purposes of both Glastonbury Abbey and the Angevin dynasty:

Glastonbury needed to prove its antiquity and, thereby, its authority and prestige after the Norman Conquest, but it had little written documentation (charters) and few holy relics to prove its claims to greatness and antiquity, only an oral tradition.
- The account provides Glastonbury with an early "documentary" history, by implying that early written records did exist at the abbey--Arthur was the abbey's patron and the king had proved it.
Henry II and the Angevins (French) wanted to legitimize their rule in Britain and their imperial claims through the use of ancient narratives that wove together the "true" early history of Britain with its Angevin continuation.
- By suggesting that Henry II had a premonition about where to dig to find Arthur's bones, Gerald casts him as a wise king with wondrous connections to the Arthurian past, and he shows that Arthur truly died, thereby weakening the Welsh hopes of the return of the once-and-future king to oust the French kings. This bolstered the Angevin claim to the throne