Hermance
King of the Red City in Le Morte d'Arthur, murdered by traitors, avenged by Sir Palomides.
King Hermance is a ruler in the Arthurian tradition whose death drives the plot of several chapters in Le Morte d'Arthur. He is the King of the Red City, and his murder by two traitors sets the stage for Sir Palomides to undertake combat on his behalf.
The circumstances of his death are told through a letter and a complaint. A loyal servant brought the dying king to the water side and placed him in a ship, where Hermance "required me for the true faith I owed unto him for to write a letter" calling for a champion (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter LXI). The letter promises sweeping reward: "who that will adventure his life with these two traitors for my sake in one battle, I, King Hermance, King of the Red City, freely give him all my lands and rents that ever I wielded in my life" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter LXII).
The castle itself is bound up in Hermance's story. It was built by the king "for the love of the two traitors," and its defenders report being "full sore threated" by them (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book X, Chapter LXII).
Le Morte d'Arthur presents Hermance entirely through the aftermath of his death -- he never appears alive in the narrative. The reader encounters him through the complaint of his followers and the text of his posthumous letter. This narrative strategy makes Hermance function less as a character than as a catalyst: his death is the occasion for Palomides to prove his worth. The promise of all his lands and rents frames the combat as both chivalric duty and material opportunity.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, British Tradition