▁been ▁kn ight ed . ▁ ▁Works ▁ ▁Mal ory ▁was ▁most ▁probably ▁conf ined ▁at ▁New gate ▁prison ▁from ▁ 1 4 6 0 ▁until ▁his ▁release . ▁He ▁likely ▁wrote ▁Le ▁Mor te ▁d ' Ar thur ▁( The ▁Death ▁of ▁Arthur ) ▁based ▁on ▁Arthur ian ▁myth ology , ▁the ▁first ▁major ▁work ▁of ▁English ▁language ▁pro se . ▁Richard ▁Wh itt ington , ▁mayor ▁of ▁London , ▁was ▁responsible ▁for ▁phil anth rop ic ▁work ▁that ▁allowed ▁prisoners ▁access ▁to ▁a ▁library ▁in ▁the ▁Grey fri ars ▁monaster y ▁adjacent ▁to ▁New gate . ▁This , ▁couple d ▁with ▁the ▁probability ▁that ▁Mal ory ▁had ▁at ▁least ▁some ▁wealth , ▁allowed ▁a ▁certain ▁level ▁of ▁comfort ▁and ▁le is ure ▁within ▁the ▁prison . ▁His ▁main ▁sources ▁for ▁his ▁work ▁included ▁Arthur ian ▁French ▁pro se ▁roman ces , ▁Geoff rey ▁of ▁Mon mouth ' s ▁History ▁of ▁the ▁Kings ▁of ▁Britain , ▁and ▁two ▁anonymous ▁English ▁works ▁called ▁the ▁All iter ative ▁Mor te ▁Ar th ure ▁and ▁the ▁Stan za ic ▁Mor te ▁Arthur . ▁▁ ▁The ▁entire ▁work ▁is ▁eight ▁roman ces ▁that ▁span ▁twenty - one ▁books ▁with ▁ 5 0 7 ▁chap ters , ▁which ▁was ▁said ▁to ▁be ▁consider ably ▁shorter ▁than ▁the ▁original ▁French ▁sources , ▁despite ▁its ▁vast ▁size . ▁Mal ory ▁was ▁responsible ▁for ▁organ izing ▁these ▁diverse ▁sources ▁and ▁cons olid ating ▁them ▁into ▁a ▁coh es ive ▁whole . ▁The ▁work ▁was ▁originally ▁titled ▁The ▁Book ▁of ▁King