Dr Mary Bateman

It does massively give the game away. The original title in English was different. It was the whole book of King Arthur and his noble knights of the round table, which I think is more... It leaves you to guess what the ending's going to be.

It does massively give the game away. The original title in English was different. It was the whole book of King Arthur and his noble knights of the round table, which I think is more... It leaves you to guess what the ending's going to be.

So it's written in 1469, 1470. So we're talking quite late at this point in the Middle Ages. Quite a bit later than the other romances we've been talking about.

So it's written in 1469, 1470. So we're talking quite late at this point in the Middle Ages. Quite a bit later than the other romances we've been talking about.

Wars of the Roses. Yeah. And it's 1485. It's actually printed. And it's printed by this printer called William Caxton. And Caxton retitles it Le Morte d'Arthur. Presumably because it sounds kind of classy.

Wars of the Roses. Yeah. And it's 1485. It's actually printed. And it's printed by this printer called William Caxton. And Caxton retitles it Le Morte d'Arthur. Presumably because it sounds kind of classy.

We had an episode on him.

We had an episode on him.

Well, we had three candidates. We weren't sure which Thomas Mallory Knight who was imprisoned it was. As it turns out, there were three candidates. But the one who looks most likely, he was from Warwickshire. And yeah, he had a very colourful career, shall we say. He was a sheriff. He was a justice of the peace. Five times he was an MP. Wow.

Well, we had three candidates. We weren't sure which Thomas Mallory Knight who was imprisoned it was. As it turns out, there were three candidates. But the one who looks most likely, he was from Warwickshire. And yeah, he had a very colourful career, shall we say. He was a sheriff. He was a justice of the peace. Five times he was an MP. Wow.

But he was also accused of some pretty terrible crimes and spent time in prison for them. And these range from cattle rustling and things like that to robbing a local abbey. All the way up to attempted murder of the Duke of Buckingham, theft, rape and extortion. So all in all, not known as being a particularly nice guy.

But he was also accused of some pretty terrible crimes and spent time in prison for them. And these range from cattle rustling and things like that to robbing a local abbey. All the way up to attempted murder of the Duke of Buckingham, theft, rape and extortion. So all in all, not known as being a particularly nice guy.

And yet he's accused of all these terrible things. And actually, we think that he may have written Le Morte d'Arthur, which I don't know if you've ever seen a copy, but it is massive. It's huge. It's one of those books that people say that they've read sometimes when they haven't read all of it because it's so, so long.

And yet he's accused of all these terrible things. And actually, we think that he may have written Le Morte d'Arthur, which I don't know if you've ever seen a copy, but it is massive. It's huge. It's one of those books that people say that they've read sometimes when they haven't read all of it because it's so, so long.

And we think that he wrote it during a period of imprisonment, possibly Newgate prison or possibly... Tower of London. Maybe somewhere where he would have had access to manuscripts... that contained enough of his source material that he could use then.

And we think that he wrote it during a period of imprisonment, possibly Newgate prison or possibly... Tower of London. Maybe somewhere where he would have had access to manuscripts... that contained enough of his source material that he could use then.

It's the book of Sir Gareth.

It's the book of Sir Gareth.

So it takes you right from Arthur's conception through his rise to the throne. You've got the sword and the stone story in there about him pulling the sword from the stone and becoming king. He goes over to Europe and conquers the Roman Empire after a nasty challenge from a Roman emperor. We're introduced to all of his round table nights, as in some of the other romances.

So it takes you right from Arthur's conception through his rise to the throne. You've got the sword and the stone story in there about him pulling the sword from the stone and becoming king. He goes over to Europe and conquers the Roman Empire after a nasty challenge from a Roman emperor. We're introduced to all of his round table nights, as in some of the other romances.