When Arthur sent his knights on their grand quest to find the Holy Grail it reinforced the Church's position that only through religious trials could man find salvation. Remember the hardships endured by all the knights including death before Percival discovered the grail? The entire grail saga and its recovery legitimize Arthur's kingship as it is deemed endorsed by God himself and by extension his emissary on earth, the Church.

Was the original story of King Arthur and Camelot changed or influenced by church leaders and others who were determined to put an end to the royal bloodlines and to bring authority to the forged Donation of Constantine? I believe the answer is yes and we can find further proof in the Magna Carta.

This famous charter was signed at Runnymede, England. The King, Barons and church leaders met there on June 15, 1215. This agreement limited the power of the king and made the monarchy swear allegiance to the Roman Church.

King John was having a disastrous reign. He was losing battles in France and forcing his baron's to collect taxes from already overtaxed citizens. The country was on the brink of a civil war. The barons provided the king with both money and men to defend England and foreign territories. Traditionally, the king consulted the barons before raising taxes and demanding more men for military service.

John made mistakes in other areas as well. He angered the Roman Catholic Church. The pope, angered by John's behavior, banned all church services in England in 1207. Religion, and the fear of Hell, was very important to the people including the barons. The Catholic Church taught the people that they could only get to Heaven if the Catholic Church believed that they were good enough to got there. How could they show their goodness and love of God if the churches were closed? Even worse for John was the fact that the pope excommunicated him in 1209. This meant that John could never get to Heaven until the pope withdrew the excommunication. Faced with this, John climbed down and accepted the power of the Catholic Church giving them many privileges in 1214.

So King John agreed to sign the Magna Carta. It was better than civil war and it guaranteed he would keep his head. He made concessions but all in all it was better than the alternatives.

So, right or wrong, indiscretion or not, the mating of Arthur with his half-sister Moraine le Fay was necessary for the continuation of the bloodline. It succeeded where marriage had not. Unfortunately the rest of the story as we already know is unhappy. Arthur dies, Guinevere ends up in a convent and the land still has no king. The only winner in this tale is the Roman Church! It wins because the story champions two principles of faith: (1) Incest is wrong and can only lead to disaster and (2) one can only go to heaven if saved through redemption.

Based on the nonfiction work 'Quest for Middle-earth' by Dirk Vander Ploeg.