The Anonymous Writer...

On this day...English author Thomas Malory died in 1471, at the age of approximately 66. The compiler of 'Le Morte d'Arthur', Malory translated the Arthurian romance tales of the King, Guinevere and Lancelot from French prose into eight books of Middle English verse, providing the basis for later literary works such as T.H. White's 'The Once and Future King', and Tennyson's 'The Idylls of the King'. Yet despite a lasting literary legacy, much uncertainty surrounds the man himself.

At least six Thomas Malorys were alive at the time of the books writing, and from those, three main theories have emerged as to the identity of the author. Firstly, it was proposed by John Bale, that Malory was Welsh, hailing from Maloria and related to the poet Edward Rhys Maelor. The second alias is that of Thomas Malory of Papworth St. Agnes - a respected, yet average, country gentlemen. Yet it is to the turn that most scholars look, Sir Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel. A soldier and politician in the early years of his life, Sir Thomas turned to thievery, rape and kidnapping, serving time in both Marshalsea and Newgate Prisons. The most popular claimant, it is this Thomas Malory who died 540 years ago.

On this day...

Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson died in 1892, at the age of 83. A descendent of King Edward III, Tennyson was the fourth of twelve children, all of whom received an excellent supplementary education from their father, a rector. Tennyson first published poetry at 17, yet it was at Cambridge University where his literary career blossomed, as he won the Chancellor's Gold Medal, and came to the attention of Samuel Taylor Coleridge with his first solo collection of poems, 'Poems Chiefly Lyrical'.

It was there that Tennyson met someone who was to become a major influence on his works - best friend Arthur Hallam. Hallam's sudden death at the age of 22 devestated the young Tennyson, who composed elegy 'In Memoriam A.H.H' and referenced him in many other poems, even naming his own son Hallam. Tennyson, a favourite of Queen Victoria, became Poet Laureate in 1850, following the death of William Wordsworth, becoming the man to hold the longest tenure before or since. One of Britain's most well loved poets, Tennyson has written many notable works, with the most famous including, 'The Lady of Shalott', 'Idylls of a King', 'Ulysses', and 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'.

On this day...

King William IV died in 1837, leading to the ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne of England and beginning arguably one of the most productive literary eras. Described by Matthew Arnold as 'a deeply unpoetical age', the Victorian era was dominated by the novel. Yet these works were not the managable romances of Austen, but heavy tomes of social injustice - their tortuous syntax leading Henry James, guilty himself of several, to name them 'loose baggy monsters'. The main culprits include Charles Dickens, author of almost a dozen major novels, George Eliot of 'Middlemarch' fame and the man of tragic persuasion, Thomas Hardy.

In conjunction with the growing suffrage movement, the Victorian era also saw the rise of the female novelist, most notably highlighted by the Bronte sisters, but supplemented also by names such as Elizabeth Gaskell. English drama is perhaps harder to find, but the one man could make up for it all, as the brilliance and wit of Oscar Wilde takes the stage by storm, preceeding the later George Bernard Shaw, and overshadowing the foreign imports of Chekhov and Ibsen. Despite Arnold's claim, Victorian literature was by no means devoid of poetry, producing Robert Browning, master of the dramatic monologue, blank verse devotee Alfred Lord Tennyson and romantic poet Christina Rossetti.

On this day...

English poet and critic Matthew Arnold was born in 1822. Son of Thomas Arnold, the headmaster of Rugby School, Arnold had a privileged education, including a scholarship at Balliol College in Oxford. During his childhood, perhaps due to close frienship with neighbour William Wordsworth, Arnold won numerous literary prizes from both Latin and English poetry. Yet in 1851, finding himself short of the income to support a marriage, Arnold applied for the post of Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, which he got, but later described as 'drugedy'. It was in 1857, having been appointed Professor of Poetry at Oxford, that his literary career took off; his most famous works being 'Dover Beach' and 'The Scholar Gypsy'. He has been called the third greatest Victorian poet behind Alfred Lord Tennyson and Robert Browning.

Inspirations of Balklava...

This day also saw the 1854 Crimean War battle in Balaklava, during which 250 men were killed or wounded and 400 horses were lost. When Alfred Lord Tennyson read a report of the incident, in The Times five weeks later, he wrote 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' , most famous for the lines: 'Theirs not to make reply/Theirs not to reason why/Theirs but to do and die'. Yet his interest in the Balaklavan soldiers did not stop there; some years later, a charity drive was undertaken to provide money to the surviors, many of whom were destitute. Tennyson wrote 'The Charge of the Heavy Brigade' to galvanise support, but much of the money raised was given by the politicians to other causes. This prompted Rudyard Kipling to write 'The Last of the Light Brigade', to reveal the scandal to the public.