We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
In Morte Darthur, Malory employs two distinct modes of the word ‘treason’. In one mode, the senses and applications of the noun ‘treason’ are extrapolated from the ways in which Malory assimilated legal terminology and in which the definition of ‘treason’ is founded in the English statute law 25 Edward III Statute 5 (the Treason Act of 1351). Malory developed the other mode from his French source texts, which in turn based their use of ‘treason’ on the way it was understood in thirteenth-century France. I propose to call these two modes of Malory's respectively ‘legal’ and ‘literary’. The first objective of this essay is to examine Malory's uses of the vocabulary of treason. The second objective is to examine the ways in which this dual usage of the language of treason impacts upon the movement and message of the final two books: ‘Launcelot and Guenevere’ and the ‘Morte Arthur Saunz Guerdon’.
The Treason Act of 1351, quoted at length since it is referred to regularly in this article, defines treason as occurring when
Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our Lord the King, or of our Lady his Queen or of their eldest Son and Heir; or if a Man do violate the King’s Companion, or the King’s eldest Daughter unmarried, or the Wife of the King’s eldest Son and Heir; or if a Man do levy War against our Lord the King in his Realm, or be adherent to the King’s Enemies in his Realm, giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm or elsewhere, and thereof be probably attainted of open Deed by the People of their condition… and if a Man Slea the Chancellor, Treasurer, or the King’s Justices of the one Bench or the other, Justices in Eyre, or Justices of Assise, and all other Justices assigned to hear and determined, being in their Places, doing their Offices: And it is to be understood, that in the Cases above rehearsed, that ought to be judged Treason which extends to our Lord the King, and his Royal Majesty.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
