Sir Thomas Malory

(ca. 1400—14 March 1471)

‘The greatest prose writer of the 15th century’

‘His writing of the legend of Arthur is today the primary source for our knowledge of this story.’

belonged to an old Warwickshire family; both father and grandfather were ‘persons of consequence in the county’

1433/34 (in his early 20s?), ‘he came into his father’s estate at Newbold Revell’

1436 - served in Richard Beauchamp’s train in Calais ‘with one lance and two archers’

1445 - was a member of Parliament for Warwickshire

crimes: ‘at a time when legal process was not uncommonly used as a means of achieving private or political vengeance an innocent man might well find himself charged with any crime’

* ‘lay in ambush…with the intent of murdering the Duke of Buckingham’

* ‘broke into the abbey of Blessed Mary of Coombe and…[stole] money and valuables
from the abbot’s chest;…a few days later…returned and insulted the abbot’

* ‘on two occasions…stole the property and forced the wife of Hugh Smyth’

* ‘frequently led extensive cattle-raids’

* ‘extorted money by threat’

‘[e]ight imprisonments, varying in length from a few days to two and a half years’

‘two dramatic escapes: on 27 July 1451 he swam the moat at Coleshill prison, and in October 1454 broke out of jail at Colchester using with great skill a variety of deadly weapons….’; ‘last recorded arrest took place in the winter of 1460’

Autumn, 1462 - ‘followed the Earl of Warwick on a military expedition to Northumberland’; ‘It is likely that Malory was with Warwick…and took part in the siege of Alnwick castle which lasted until 30 January 1463.’

1469/70 - Morte Darthur written

14 March 1471 - Malory died. ‘…his burial near Newgate prison suggests that he died a prisoner, unpardoned by the king.’

July 1485 - Morte Darthur printed by William Caxton ‘who had not only edited and excised Malory’s text but also reordered it into twenty-one books. The text of the original version (in eight sections) was rediscovered only in 1934.’

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