Thomas Malory

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An Aubrey Beardsley illustration for Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur

Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1405 – 14 March 1471) was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur. The antiquary John Leland (1506–1552) believed him to be Welsh, but most modern scholars, beginning with G.L. Kittridge in 1894,[1] assume that he was Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel in Warwickshire, who was a knight, land-owner and Member of Parliament.[2] The surname appears in various spellings, including Maillorie, Mallory, Mallery, and Maleore. The name comes from the Old French adjective maleüré (from Latin male auguratus) meaning ill-omened or unfortunate.

Few facts are certain in Malory's history. He was probably born sometime around 1405 (though some scholars have suggested an earlier date). He died in March of 1471, less than two years after completing his lengthy book. Twice elected to a seat in Parliament, he also accrued a long list of criminal charges during the 1450s, including burglary, rape, sheep stealing, and attempting to ambush Humphrey Stafford, the Duke of Buckingham. He escaped from jail on two occasions, once by fighting his way out with a variety of weapons and by swimming a moat. Malory was imprisoned at several locations in London, but he was occasionally out on bail. He was never brought to trial for the charges that had been levelled against him, and has been considered by some scholars (including Peter Field) to have been a political prisoner, innocent of any serious offence. In the 1460s he was at least once pardoned by King Henry VI, but more often, he was specifically excluded from pardon by both Henry VI and his rival and successor, Edward IV. It can be construed from comments Malory makes at the ends of sections of his narrative that he composed at least part of his work while in prison. William Oldys speculates that he may have been a priest,[3] based on Malory's description of himself in the colophon to Le Morte d'Arthur:

I pray you all, gentlemen and gentlewomen that readeth this book of Arthur and his knights, from the beginning to the ending, pray for me while I am alive, that God send me good deliverance, and when I am dead, I pray you all pray for my soul. For this book was ended the ninth year of the reign of King Edward the Fourth, by Sir Thomas Maleore, knight, as Jesu help him for His great might, as he is the servant of Jesu both day and night. (Malory p. 531)

Malory was married to Elizabeth Walsh[4] and they had a son, Robert, though very little additional information is known about his family or domestic life.[5]

A young Malory appears as a character at the end of T.H. White's book The Once and Future King, which was based on Le Morte d'Arthur; this cameo is included in the Broadway musical Camelot. Many modern takes on the Arthurian legend have their roots in Malory, including John Boorman's 1981 movie Excalibur, which includes selected elements of the book. Parts of Malory's book form a key element in Cynthia Harnett's childrens novel "The Load of Unicorn".

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Whitteridge, Gweneth. “The Identity of Sir Thomas Malory, Knight-Prisoner.” The Review of English Studies 24.95 (1973): 257-265. JSTOR. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.
  2. ^ Riddy, Felicity. Sir Thomas Malory. The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1987. Print.
  3. ^ Oldys, William: article on William Caxton, Biographia Britannica, 1747–66.
    Further, there is a discussion about whether Malory was a priest at googlebooks
  4. ^ Field, P.J.C. The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Malory. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1993. Print
  5. ^ Riddy, Felicity. Sir Thomas Malory. The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1987. Print.

[edit] References

  • Malory, Thomas, Janet Cowen, and John Lawlor. Le Morte D'Arthur. Volume II. London: Penguin Books, 1969.googlebooks Retrieved December 2, 2007
  • Eugène Vinaver, "Sir Thomas Malory" in Arthurian Literature in the Middle Ages, Roger S. Loomis (ed.). Clarendon Press: Oxford University. 1959. ISBN 0-19-811588-1
  • P.J.C. Field, The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Malory, Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1993. ISBN 0261-9814
  • Sheila V. Mallory Smith, A History of the Mallory Family, Phillimore, 1985, ISBN 0850335760
  • Christina Hardyment, Malory: The Life and Times of King Arthur's Chronicler, Harper Collins, 2005, ISBN 0066209811
  • Riddy, Felicity. Sir Thomas Malory. The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1987. Print.
  • Whitteridge, Gweneth. “The Identity of Sir Thomas Malory, Knight-Prisoner.” The Review of English Studies 24.95 (1973): 257-265. JSTOR. Web. 30 Nov. 2009.


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