Abstract

Le Morte d’Arthur is as renowned an example of medieval English poetry as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight or The Canterbury Tales. The author of this Arthurian classic, though, is frustratingly obscure, biographical sources scant, how far the facts of his life can be deduced from his verse unclear.

Historian Christina Hardyment’s groundbreaking 2006 biographical work Malory: The Life and Times of King Arthur’s Chronicler is a fascinating piece of detective work, which saw the authoress painstakingly sift through the details of the many men named ‘Thomas Malory’ in surviving but labyrinthine parish records to reveal the complex man who bequeathed to posterity an infinitely rich and much-loved literary epic.

For this, the latest Ivory Tower Society event of Michaelmas Term, we are delighted to host a Newnham graduate and one of Britain ’s most respected historians for what should be a fascinating seminar and opportunity for discussion.