Thomas Malory

Sir Thomas Malory, the author or compiler of the Morte Darthur, was born most probably about the year 1430 and died about 1471. From his own words he is known to have been a knight, and his description of himself as "a servant of Jesu both day and night" has led to the inference that he was also a priest. On the authority of John Leland the antiquary he is believed to have been a Welshman; alternatively, he may have originated from Warwickshire. The surname appears in a variety of forms, including those of Maillorie and Maleore.

Malory is believed to have obtained the material from a French source. In the preface to the first edition of the Morte DarthurWilliam Caxton speaks of the work as printed by himself "after a copy unto me delivered, which copy Sir Thomas Malory did take out of certain books of French, and reduced it into English." Malory himself tells us that he finished the book in the ninth year of Edward IV (ca. 1470). The Morte d'Arthur[?] brought together the various strands of the legend in a prose romance which is reckoned the best of its kind. Little else is known of Malory's life, but he is believed to have been a Lancastrian[?] during the Wars of the Roses.

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text from the 9th edition (1880s) of an unnameable encyclopedia

Link (has different year of birth): http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/malory.htm