It is interesting to note that the career of the earl of Warwick in France was marked by certain picturesque and chivalric features which might well impress the imagination of a young retainer. John Rous, in his Life of Richard Earl of Warwick, tells us that at a certain tourney held near Calais at Christmastide, Earl Richard appeared three days running in different armour, overthrowing his adversary on each occasion—an exploit obviously imitated from the chivalric romances of the period.
The work with which Malory’s name is connected is an abridged compilation of the great body of Arthurian romance in its latest form. The Merlin (Vulgate and Suite), Tristan, Lancelot, Queste and Mort Artus are all represented, the only branch omitted is that dealing with the “early history” of the Grail, the Joseph of Arimathea and Grand S. Graal. Thanks mainly to the labours of Dr Oskar Sommer, we can now assign the majority of the books to their separate sources, although certain stories, such as the adventures of Sir Gareth under the pseudonym of Beaumains, the handling of Sir Urre of Hungary, and the details of the abduction of Guenevere by Meleagaunt, still remain unidentified. But we do not yet know whether Malory himself was responsible for this selection, or whether he found it ready to hand in a MS., the “Frensshe Booke” to which he often refers. To make such a compilation at first hand, considering the extent of the ground covered, would involve an enormous amount of study and selection, and the access to a very large library—conditions which scarcely seem to fit in with the social position and activities of Sir Thomas. On the other hand it is undeniable that the medieval copyists, at the instance of their patrons, did make compilations from the various romances within their reach, such as e.g. the enormous codex 112 (fonds Franç.) of the Bibliothèque Nationale, which includes large sections of the Tristan, the Lancelot, and the Merlin Suite. Taking into consideration alike what Malory retains and what he omits, it seems most probable that he was in possession, not of complete copies of the romances, but of one or more volumes of compilations from these sources.
From the point of view of matter it must be admitted that the Morte d’ Arthur does not represent the Arthurian cycle at its best, but rather in the period of its decadence; nor does Malory in any way endeavour to overcome the difficulties caused by the juxtaposition of a number of independent (and often contradictory) versions. This is especially noticeable in his treatment of Gawain; in the section derived from the Lancelot and Mort Artus he is a good and valiant knight, “a ful noble knyghte as ever was borne,” in those derived from the Tristan and the Queste, he is treacherous, dissolute, and a murderer of good knights.
The great charm of Malory’s work lies in his style; stately, earnest and dignified, it has lent to the relations between Lancelot and Guenevere a character of truth and vitality in which the French original is wholly lacking. Malory achieved a remarkable feat—he took the Arthurian story in its worst and weakest form and he imparted to it a moral force and elevation which the cycle, even in its earlier and finer stage, had, save in the unique case of Von Eschenbach’s Parzival, never possessed. While genuine lovers of the Arthurian cycle must regret that the romances should only be known to the great majority of English readers through the versions of Malory and Tennyson, it is impossible to withhold from the Morte d’ Arthur the admiration due to an imperishable monument of English language and literature.
See Who was Sir Thomas Malory? G. L. Kittredge (Harvard Studies and Notes, vol. v., 1896); Morte d’ Arthur, ed. by Dr Oskar Sommer (an exact reproduction of the original text in 2 vols.)—vol. iii. a study on “The Sources of Malory.” The sections on Lancelot and Queste are unfortunately very inadequate; for these cf. The Legend of Sir Lancelot, Grimm Library, vol. xii.
(J. L. W.)
MALOT, HECTOR HENRI (1830-1907), French novelist and man of letters, the son of a notary, was born at La Bouille (Seine Inférieure) on the 20th of May 1830. He studied law at Rouen and Paris, but literature early absorbed his attention. He collaborated in the Biographie générale of Didot, became literary critic of L’Opinion Nationale, and dramatic critic of the Lloyd français. He is the author of a long series of popular novels dealing with contemporary life, including: a trilogy of domestic novels entitled Victimes d’amour (1859, 1865, 1866); Un Beau frère (1869); Madame Obernin (1870); Le Docteur Claude (1879); Justice (1889). Les Aventures de Romain Kalbris (1869) and Sans famille (1888) are excellent stories for children. A complete edition of Hector Malot’s works appeared in 1894-1897. He died at Vincennes in July 1907.
MALOU, JULES ÉDOUARD XAVIER (1810-1886), Belgian statesman, one of the leaders of the clerical party, was born at Ypres on the 19th of October 1810. He was a civil servant in the department of justice when he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies by his native constituency in 1841, and was for some time governor of the province of Antwerp. He was minister of finance in the coalition ministry of J. B. Nothomb in 1844, and formed with B. T. de Theux a Catholic cabinet in 1846, which was overthrown in the Liberal victory of 1847. Malou then became a member of the senate, and his party only regained ascendancy in 1870. The extreme clerical ministry of Baron d’Anethan retired in December 1871 after serious rioting in Brussels, and Malou was the real, though not the nominal, head of the more moderate clerical administrations of de Theux and Aspremont-Lynden (1870-1878). He was wise enough to disavow the noisy sympathy of Belgian Ultramontane politicians with the German victims of the Kulturkampf, and, retaining in his own hands the portfolio of finance, he subordinated his clerical policy to a useful administration in commercial matters, including a development of the railway system. It was only after the fall of the ministry in 1878 that he adopted a frankly clerical policy, and when he became chief of a new government in June 1884 he proceeded to undo the educational compromise of his predecessors in the Frère-Orban ministry. His legislation in favour of the Catholic schools caused rioting in Brussels, and in October the king demanded the retirement of MM. Jacobs and Woeste, the members of the cabinet against whom popular indignation was chiefly directed. Malou followed them into retirement, and died at Woluwe Saint Lambert, in Brabant, on the 11th of July 1886. He was a financier of great knowledge and experience, and his works (of which a long list is given in Koninck’s Bibliographie nationale de Belgique) include three series (1874-1880) of memoirs on financial questions, edited by him for the Chamber of Deputies, besides pamphlets on railroad proposals, mining and other practical questions. His brother Jean Baptiste Malou (1809-1864) was a well-known divine.