Date and Composition of Malory's Morte Darthur

Morte Darthur was

• written by Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1410-1471)
  • The exact identity of Thomas Malory remains obsured, possibly
    • Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revell or
    • Thomas Malory of Papworth
• completed in 1469/70, the 9th year of the reign of Edward IV, that's about 100 years after Sir Gawain or about 300 years after Lanval
  • The civil strife between the Houses of Lancaster and York (the Wars of the Roses) provided a fitting context within which to recount the Arthurian saga of a kingdom united and subsequently torn apart.
  • The loss of unity in a once great state no doubt contributed to the elegiac tone of Malory's work.

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