Medieval Caesarean
Illegal English Bible
Chaucer, Canterbury Tales
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Old Hall manuscript
Bedford Hours
Medicinal plants
Chess playing
Medical Treatise by John Aderne
Recipe for 'custarde'
Gutenberg Bible
The Temptation of Eve
Pregnancy
The Legend of King Arthur
Caxton's Chaucer
Valentine's day love letter
Medieval zodiac chart
Heretics burned at the stake
Royal feast
Courtly love
Columbus in America
This manuscript tells the famous legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, centring around their quest for the mystical Holy Grail. It was written by Thomas Malory in 1469 while he was imprisoned for a series of violent crimes.
This page opens the third book. It starts, ‘In the begynnyng of Arthure, after he was chosen kynge by adventure and by grace…’ [In the beginning of Arthur, after he was chosen king by adventure and by grace’] The chivalry of Arthur’s world a long way from the reality Malory’s own life, which was torn apart by the War of the Roses. Despite the upheavals of Malory’s day, there was a strong revival of interest in chivalry and Britain’s past. The adventures of Arthur’s knights seemed to represent all the old fashioned noble values that were being eroded by the war.
Shelfmark: Add. MS 59678, f.35