The King Arthur Character does not significantly predate "The History of the Kings of Britain"

First, I really need to thank my debate partner for his patience; the long weekend has prevented me from posting this argument until nearly the last minute. I had really expected to have had it out the same day, so.As I said in the first round, I am willing to be very relaxed with the use of references, as these can easily devour charactercounts. I am happy to back up any assertion that Con requests, and I encourage him to do the same. Likewise, if I am unfamiliar with some fact, I can ask him to source it for me. This will save time and effort. The main problem that Con and I are going tobe facing in this debate is that 8000 character limit. The size and scope of this subject is staggering, and trying to determine what to leave in and what to leave out is maddening.It is my burden to demonstrate that the King Arthur story does not significantly predate 1136, when Geoffrey of Monmouth produced his fanciful “History of the Kings of Britain.” I will rely on Con to demonstrate the evidence that the King Arthur legend does indeed predate the 12th Century. As I cannot prove a negative, that is, I cannot prove that Arthur exists nowhere in all of literature prior to 1136, I will be further depending on Con to produce the best evidence that he can find to support the case that he does. I will then harshly evaluate this evidence, and in this way we will establish (if not the absolute proof that Arthur did not exist before Geoffrey) that there is no real evidence for the proposition.Here are a few of the bit more obvious reasons for my assertion that King Arthur does not appear in literature before Geoffrey. There is no mention of anyone in any literature that mentions a King named Arthur, who bears even the remotest resemblance to the descriptions presented by Geoffrey, de Chrétien, or Mallory. There are references in early literature that do indeed name a hero named “Arthur.” However, these Arthurs all seem to be semi-mythic extra-worldly beings, with superhuman n and magical abilities. There is no manuscript that mentions anyone named Arthur that can be dated to before 828, when the History of the Britons was produced. Even this reference is highly suspicious – apparently a later interpolation. In short, here is my perspective: Every appearance of any hero named “Arthur” that predates Geoffrey shows him to be a sort of magical demigod, and never a King. This forces us to consider the possibility that the early literature may have been describing another, separate hero – also named Arthur – but not the same character as that described by Geoffrey. After the History of the Britons was produced (around 830 CE), there seems to have been an attempt by some writer to place Arthur into historical settings. During this period, Arthur no longer battles werewolf armies or storms into crystal fortresses. After 830, he begins to resemble an actual, if superhuman, man. During this period, there also is a push to connect Arthur to the Christian church. This could explain why scribes began referring to him as a human – so that he could work as a spokesman for the Gregorian Mission in Kent. Geoffrey seems to have known a few details about this mythical Arthur, and yet completely ignored his superhuman powers. Geoffrey makes an obvious attempt to render Arthur as a fully human person – and is the first writer to suggest that he was a king. There should be significant evidence of Arthur's existence in literature. There should be place-names, poems, songs, baby names and other evidence of this character. It is my opinion that the Arthur character was a composite, with elements taken from local history and legends, as well as the sponsor of Geoffrey of Monmouth, Robert, Earl of Gloucester.Space permitting, I will describe some of the elements that I feel demonstrate that King Arthur was created by Geoffrey in order to promote his sponsors claim to the throne of England, to promote the Welsh, and to replace a hated Anglo Saxon king with a British equivalent.