Sir Thomas Malory was an English writer, the author or compiler of Le Morte d'Arthur, the classic English-language chronicle of the Arthurian legend, published by William Caxton in 1485. Malory's identity has never been confirmed, but the likeliest candidate is Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel in Warwickshire. Much of his life history is obscure, but Caxton classifies him as a "knight prisoner", apparently reflecting a criminal career, for which there is ample evidence, though he was also a prisoner-of-war during the Wars of the Roses, in which he supported both sides at different times.