Forgive me, but what was the basis of Guenevere's treason? Her affair with Lancelot??
shareYeah - that's pretty much it.
It's been awhile since I saw the movie, so I can't remember if there are any other subtleties but basically, cheating on the King, especially with his must trusted knight, is not a healthy thing to do.
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And a MAJOR betrayal to the crown.
shareImagine if they did that today! It would have really cut down on the divorce rate, although it would have upped the number of funerals.
shareYes, it's adultery, but a king couldn't have someone beheaded for adultery. It is the fact that it is an act of betrayal and disloyalty to the king that makes it treason.
Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were beheaded by their loving husband (Henry VIII) for treason, not for adultery.
"great minds think differently"
To "cheat on the king" is to betray the kingdom. The king's word is law. He is the sovereign, he rules the land and everything in it belongs to him. To go off and have an affair is treason.
sharePretty much.
If you screw around behind your spouse's back, that's grounds for divorce.
If you're married to the king, then that's grounds for execution in medieval times.
Yep. Consider there were no DNA tests back then so if a queen was to have an affair and later gave birth to a baby was it the rightful heir to the throne or a usurper of the same? There would be no real way to tell for sure unless there were physical characteristics that stood out in some major way. I think that was part of the reason Henry VIII had some of his wives executed. He needed an heir to sit upon the throne once he was gone, and he wanted to make sure it was his and not that of someone else. Of course in the end his one son died young (without having an heir himself) and his sister Elizabeth I became queen of England.
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