ABSTRACT
Tudors held that the correct interpretation of Merlin's prophecy concerning the return of King Arthur was to be found not in the actual restoration of the long-awaited Arthur. The double British pedigree of the king was considered so important and of such popular interest that it was displayed upon 'two magnificent pyramids seventy feet in height' erected at the strand. The theme of a union which implied freedom from civil war, afforded British material which could be used to compliment James and to popularize his title to the throne, for his ancestral line could be traced back from Arthur to Brute. In the Arch of Triumph over Fleet Street allegorical figures depicted England, Scotland, France, and Ireland; above the representation it was stated that an Empire was portrayed. When Charles was created Prince of Wales after the death of Prince Henry, the only British material which Jonson used in his Masque of Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue is in the anti-masque.
