5. Sir Thomas Malory
Bramhall House (1962)
Who was he?Sir Thomas Malory was the 15th-century English author of Le Morte d'Arthur.
But who was he really?Sir Thomas Malory was a knight, but also a frequently imprisoned bandit.
The badasserySir Thomas Malory may be the only author who wrote an epic tale about honor and chivalry after a lifetime of thievery, extortion and escaping from prison.
This is a guy who left a seat in Parliament so he could ambush the Duke of Buckingham, who is not a man you'd typically decide over breakfast to attack in the woods. The Duke marshaled an army in response, but Malory eluded them, then ransacked the Duke's lodge and killed his deer.
Malory was finally arrested in 1451, but he immediately escaped and raided an abbey, where he stole money and made fun of the monks. He was arrested again, but someone was dumb enough to bail him out, so Malory stole some horses and was, shockingly, imprisoned once more. Again he escaped, this time by fighting his way out.
Eventually Malory was caught, pardoned, captured, pardoned, captured again, and finally died (from which he was not pardoned).