People like Thomas Malory

Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1415 – 14 March 1471) was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur, the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, published by William Caxton in 1485. The title was originally used only for the eighth and final chapter of the work, which was called The Whole Book of King Arthur and His Noble Knights of the Round Table, but Caxton used it for the book as a whole.

Malory’s identity has never been confirmed, but the likeliest candidate is Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel in Warwickshire. Much of his life history is obscure, but Caxton classifies him as a ‘knight prisoner’, apparently reflecting a criminal career, for which there is ample evidence, though he was also a prisoner-of-war during the Wars of the Roses, in which he supported both sides at different times.