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soueraigne wᵗ solace at͵ his harte for to wete wheþer the
Senatours͵ wolde hymʹ of͵ succoᵅ be seke ¶ But͵ sone after
on a Saturday sought͵ vnto kynge Arthure aƚƚ͵ þᵉ Sena//
toures þᵗ were on lyve and of͵ þᵉ cūnyngyst͵ Cardynallis
that͵ dwelled in þᵉ courte and prayde hym of͵ pece and
profird hym fuƚƚ͵ large and be sought͵ hym as a souerayne
moste gouernoure vndir god for to gyff͵ them lycence
for .vj. wekys large þᵗ they myght͵ be assembled aƚƚ͵
And than in þᵉ cite of͵ Syon that͵ is Rome callyd to
crowne hym þere kyndly wᵗ Crysemed hondys wᵗ Septu//
re for sothe as anʹ Emperoure sholde ¶ I assente me sey//
de þᵉ kynge as ye haue devysed and comly be Crystmas
to be crowned here after to reigne in my asstate and to
kepe my rounde tabƚe wᵗ þᵉ rentys of͵ Rome to rule
as me lykys ¶ And than as I am a vysed to gete me
ouer þᵉ salte see wᵗ good menʹ of͵ armys to deme for his
deth͵ that͵ for vs aƚƚ͵ on þᵉ Roode dyed. ¶ Whan þᵉ Sena//
tours had this answere vnto Rome they turned and
made rydy for his corownemente in þᵉ moste noble
wyse and at͵ þᵉ day assigned as þᵉ Romaynes me tel// NoteP. 150, note 6. To the contrary, at this point in Malory's main romance source for this tale, the aMA (and indeed according to Arthurian tradition generally, as established by Geoffrey of Monmouth), Arthur receives word of Mordred's rebellion at home; he then turns back to Britain without being crowned emperor, and meets with the destruction of his kingdom. The Chronicle of John Hardyng is the only other known text that has Arthur crowned emperor; this may be the source Malory is referring to here, for it seems quite likely that he knew the text and used it elsewhere in this tale, but it is equally likely that he is simply positing a "phantom" source to cover what is perhaps the most radical of all changes he makes to Arthurian tradition. Malory evidently wished Arthur's Roman war to establish the legendary promise of a great king rather than depict a territorial distraction that led to his downfall.
lys he was crowned Emperoure by the Poopys hondis
wᵗ aƚƚ͵ þᵉ Royalte in þᵉ worlde to welde for euer
Milestone: Division of lands among men
¶ þerethey suggeoᵅned þᵗ seson tyƚƚ͵ aftir þᵉ tyme and stabelys//
shed aƚƚ͵ þᵉ londys frome Rome vnto ffraunce & gaff͵
londis & rentys vnto knyghtɤ that͵ had hem weƚƚ͵ deser//
ued þere was none þᵗ playned on his parte ryche nothir
poore. Than he cōmaunded Sir Launcelot͵ and Sir
Bors to take kepe vnto þeire fadyrs landys þᵗ kynge
Ban & kynge Bors welded & her fadyrs loke þᵗ ye
take seynge in aƚƚ͵ yoᵅ brode londis and cause youre
lyege men to know you as for þeire kynde lorde & suffir
