Treason in Arthurian legend peers in the case of a treason accusation, and as an accessory Guinevere would not have been able to be sentenced until Lancelot was apprehended. However, Malory cites instead an “Arthurian treason law of his own invention as his basis for the queen’s death sentence.” Malory writes that in cases where guilt is “manifest and undeniable,” that “hasty judgment is appropriate.” However, this concept of “hasty judgment” is challenged by Sir Gawain when he protests Arthur's quick sentencing. Because Guinevere can only be considered an accessory to Lancelot's treason, “her treasonous guilt rests in the judgment on the guilt of
Treason in Arthurian legend writes in his article "Malory and the Common Law", “treason cases were never more politicized and controversial in the late medieval period than they were in Malory’s time during the conflict between the Lancastrians and the Yorkists...” The War of the Roses was a series of sporadic political conflicts in Britain for the throne, spanning from 1455 to 1487. The war was fought between two rival factions of the House of Plantagenet — Lancaster and York — for ultimate control of the crown, and was ended when a Lancaster, Henry Tudor, defeated Yorkist king Richard the III at the Battle