Treason in Arthurian legend caused by the duplicity in his knights. A linking motif throughout a variety of centuries and countries, authors focus on the treasonous destruction of Arthur's court, and the temptation knights face to engage in treason. Queen Guinevere found herself facing accusations of treason several times over the course of recorded Arthurian legend. In Malory's Le Morte d’Arthur, she is accused first in the “Poisoned Apple” episode, when at a dinner she holds for some of the knights of the Round Table, one of the knights, Sir Patrise, dies from eating a poisoned apple intended for Gawain. The real culprit is
Treason in Arthurian legend Sir Pinell, but Guinevere is the accused because it she who gathered the knights for the dinner. Guinevere is accused of treason because, as Malory writes, “the custome was at that tyme that all manner of shameful deth was called treson.” The death is defined as treason because “Guinevere’s alleged murder of Patryse is a crime against the fellowship, and therefore against Arthur as well.” Similarly, in “The Knight of the Cart” episode, Guinevere is accused of treason by the knight Meliagaunt when he discovers blood on her sheets and assumes that she has spent the night with one of