MALORY, Sir Thomas, the author or compiler of the Morte, Darthur, was boru most probably about the year 1430. 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 Leland the antiquary he is believed to have been a Welshman. The name appears in a variety of forms, including those of Maillorie and Maleoςe. In the preface to the first edition of the Morte Darthur Caxton speaks of the work as printed by himself “after a copy unto me delivered, which copy Sir Thomas Malorye 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. (c. 1470). For the place of the Marte Darthur in the literary history of the Arthurian legend, see Arthur, Geoffrey of Monmouth, Grail (Holy), &c.