Treason

Medieval and Early Modern Adultery, Betrayal, and Shame

Series: 

Volume Editor:
Larissa Tracy
The willingness to betray one’s country, one’s people, one’s family—to commit treason and foreswear loyalty to one entity by giving it to another—is a difficult concept for many people to comprehend. Yet, societies have grappled with treason for centuries; the motivations, implications, and consequences are rarely clear cut and are often subjective. Set against the framework of modern political concerns, Treason: Medieval and Early Modern Adultery, Betrayal, and Shame considers the various forms of treachery in a variety of sources, including literature, historical chronicles, and material culture creating a complex portrait of the development of this high crime. Larissa Tracy artfully brings together younger critics as well as seasoned scholars in a compelling and topical conversation on treason.

Contributors are Frank Battaglia, Dianne Berg, Tina Marie Boyer, Albrecht Classen, Sam Claussen, Freddy C. Domínguez, Melissa Ridley Elmes, Ana Grinberg, Iain A. MacInnes, Inna Matyushina, Sally Shockro, Susan Small, Peter Sposato, Sarah J. Sprouse, Daniel Thomas, and Larissa Tracy.
Copyright Year:
2019
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-40069-6
Publication:
06 May 2019
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-40024-5
Publication:
09 May 2019
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About MyBook
Front Matter
Copyright Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Illustrations
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: The Shameful Business of Betrayal and Treason 1
1 Wiglaf’s Sword: The Coming of the State 25
2 In Sickness and in Health: The Boethian Narrative of the Two Geralds of Brecon 56
3 Treasonous and Dishonorable Conduct: The Private Dimension of Treason and Chivalric Reform in Late Medieval Florence 78
4 Royal Punishment and Reconciliation in Trastámara Castile 100
5 “A somewhat too cruel vengeance was taken for the blood of the slain”: Royal Punishment of Rebels, Traitors, and Political Enemies in Medieval Scotland, c. 1100–c. 1250 119
6 Revolt in Heaven: Lucifer’s Treason in Genesis B  147
7 Blessed Betrayal: The Opportunity of Treachery in Anglo-Latin Ecclesiastical Texts 170
8 Legal Ramifications of Ordeals and Treason in Morant und Galie  199
9 Religious Identity, Loyalty, and Treason in the Cycle du roi  223
10 Traitors Respond: English Catholic Polemical Strategies against Accusations of Treason at the End of the Sixteenth Century 250
11 Treason and Deception in Late Medieval German Romances and Novels Königin Sibille, Melusine, and Malagis  269
12 Treacherous Women at King Arthur’s Court: Punishment and Shame 288
13 Treason and the Feast in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur  320
14 ‘Tis Fearful Sleeping in a Serpent’s Bed’: Arden of Faversham and the Threat of the Petty Traitor 340
15 The Spatial Configuration of Shame in La Princesse de Clèves  356
Conclusion: The Shame Game, from Guinevere to Cersei: Adultery, Treason, and Betrayal 371
Back Matter
Select Bibliography
Index
Larissa Tracy, Ph.D. (2000), Trinity College Dublin, is Professor of Medieval Literature at Longwood University. She has published monographs, edited collections, and several articles on medieval violence including Torture and Brutality in Medieval Literature (D. S. Brewer, 2012).
'Tracy’s volume offers a great deal to those interested in the workings of treason (and loyalty) in the medieval and early modern periods, not least for anyone interested in German and French literature and history, as well as in religious forms. I have left discussion of other fine chapters out due to constraints of space, but let those mentioned here recommend the others, as well. Tracy is right that an understanding of the history of treason is useful to thinking about the uses and abuses of accusations of treason today. The chapters assembled in this collection testify to the enduring struggle with how treason was defined, punished, used in the interest of the state, and sometimes deployed as a legitimate form of rebellion against the tyrant.'
Cristina León Alfar, in Journal of British Studies 59.4, October 2020.
Contents

Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations
Abbreviations
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: The Shameful Business of Betrayal and Treason
 Larissa Tracy

Part 1: The Politics of Treason


 1 Wiglaf’s Sword: The Coming of the State
 Frank Battaglia
 2 In Sickness and in Health: the Boethian Narrative of the Two Geralds of Brecon
 Sarah J. Sprouse
 3 Treasonous and Dishonorable Conduct: the Private Dimension of Treason and Chivalric Reform in Late Medieval Florence
 Peter Sposato
 4 Royal Punishment and Reconciliation in Trastámara Castile
 Samuel A. Claussen
 5 “A somewhat too cruel vengeance was taken for the blood of the slain”: Royal Punishment of Rebels, Traitors, and Political Enemies in Medieval Scotland, c. 1100–c. 1250
 Iain A. MacInnes

Part 2: Religious Treason and Heresy


 6 Revolt in Heaven: Lucifer’s Treason in Genesis B
 Daniel Thomas
 7 Blessed Betrayal: The Opportunity of Treachery in Anglo-Latin Ecclesiastical Texts
 Sally Shockro
 8 Legal Ramifications of Ordeals and Treason in Morant und Galie
 Tina Boyer
 9 Religious Identity, Loyalty, and Treason in the Cycle du Roi
 Ana Grinberg
 10 Traitors Respond: English Catholic Polemical Strategies against Accusations of Treason at the End of the Sixteenth Century
 Freddy C. Domínguez

Part 3: Treasonous Love: Adultery and Shame


 11 Treason and Deception in Late Medieval German Romances and Novels Königin Sibille, Melusine, and Malagis
 Albrecht Classen
 12 Treacherous Women at King Arthur’s Court: Punishment and Shame
 Inna Matyushina
 13 Treason and the Feast in Sir Thomas Malory’s Morte Darthur
 Melissa Ridley Elmes
 14 ‘Tis Fearful Sleeping in a Serpent’s Bed’: Arden of Favershamand the Threat of the Petty Traitor
 Dianne Berg
 15 The Spatial Configuration of Shame in La Princesse de Clèves
 Susan Small
Conclusion: the Shame Game, from Guinevere to Cersei: Adultery, Treason, and Betrayal
 Larissa Tracy

Select Bibliography

Index
All interested in the history and literature of medieval and early modern treason, adultery, betrayal, and shame, especially as it pertains to legal arguments and social concerns, such as gender.
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