page_title: Cordelia of Britain
section_title: In culture
hierarchical_section_title: Cordelia of Britain / In culture
caption_attribution_description: English: King Lear: Cordelia's Farewell. Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York, NY (United States) Dates: 1897-1898 Dimensions: Height: 137.8 cm (54.25 in.), Width: 323.2 cm (127.24 in.) Medium: Painting - oil on canvas
context_page_description: Queen Cordelia was a legendary Queen of the Britons, as recounted by Geoffrey of Monmouth. She was the youngest daughter of Leir and the second ruling queen of pre-Roman Britain. There is no independent historical evidence for her existence.
context_section_description: The story was used by Shakespeare in his play King Lear. In Shakespeare's version, Cordelia's invasion of Britain is unsuccessful; she is captured and murdered, and her father does not retake the throne. Before Shakespeare, the story was also used in Edmund Spenser's epic The Faerie Queene and in the anonymous play King Leir. The popularity of Cordelia at this period is probably because her role as a heroic queen was comparable to Queen Elizabeth I.
  The name Cordelia is popularly associated with Latin cor ( genitive cordis) " heart ", and has also been linked with the Welsh name Creiddylad, allegedly meaning "jewel of the sea"; but it may derive from the French coeur de lion "heart of a lion".
caption: Edwin Austin Abbey (1852–1911) King Lear, Cordelia's Farewell
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