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Biography of Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel

Biography of Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel. His father, John Malory. Esquire with land in three English Midland counties (Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northampton shire) Public officeholder in Warwickshire – twice sheriff, five times a member of Parliament and a justice of the peace

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Biography of Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel

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  1. Biography of Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel

  2. His father, John Malory • Esquire with land in three English Midland counties (Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northampton shire) • Public officeholder in Warwickshire – twice sheriff, five times a member of Parliament and a justice of the peace • Married Philippa Chetwynd, and they had at least three children including Thomas in 1416ish

  3. Malory’s early years

  4. The Good • By the age of 23, Thomas seems to be following in his father’s footsteps as a respectable landowner • By 1441, he has been knighted and is Sir Thomas • Marries Elizabeth Walsh, and has a son Robert • 1445 – elected M.P. for Warwickshire

  5. The Bad • 1443 – Malory charged with “wounding and imprisoning Thomas Smith and stealing his goods.” • Nothing seems to come of the charges, and as seen before, he is elected to public office in 1445 • Political turmoil in the late 1440s/early 1550s and the War of the Roses

  6. The UGLYor:Malory makes Chaucer look like a saint • Alleged actions and a downward spiral • 1/4/1450 – Malory and a number of other armed men lay an ambush for the Duke of Buckingham near Newbold Revel • 5/23/1450 – rapes Joan Smith at coventry (and not the abduction kind) • 5/31/1450 – extortion • 8/6/1450 – rapes Joan Smith again, and steals from her husband • 8/31/1450 – some more extortion • 1451 – responsible for the theft of 7 cows, 2 calves, 335 sheep, and a cart (Buckingham attempts to apprehend him) • Imprisoned more than once – escapes and swims across a moat, is bailed out a few times, fights his way out once, and is pardoned • Later expressly left out of royal pardons

  7. The Morte • Written in part (or perhaps wholly) during Malory’s multiple incarcerations • Completed 1469/1470, not long before… • Morte de Malory – 3/14/1471, possibly while still a prisoner at Newgate. Buried at Greyfriars Church

  8. Controversy! • How are we to handle the discrepancy between the way Malory lived his life and the virtues held up in Le Morte Darthur? • Easiest way is to claim that the Newbold Revel Malory isn’t the right Malory • 16th Century – John Bale associates Malory with Welsh origins • Other possible Thomas Malory candidates, as public records are “fragmentary, often contradictory and sometimes fraudulent” Most scholars, however, accept the Newbold Revel Malory as the writer/compiler of the Morte

  9. Sources • Field, P.J.C. “Malory’s Life Records.” A Companion to Malory. Ed. Elizabeth Archibald and A.S.G. Edwards. Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 1996. • Mathews, William. The Ill Famed Knight. Berkeley: University of California P, 1966. • Shepherd, Stephen H.A. "Malory: Life Events." Foreword. Le Morte Darthur. By Sir Thomas Malory. New York: Norton & Company, 2004. Xxiv-xvii. • "Thomas Malory." Wikipedia. 1 Apr. 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Malory>.

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