Treason: Legal, Ethical, and Political Issues in the Middle Ages with an Emphasis on Medieval Heroic Poetry

Pre-modern literature offers powerful examples of unethical behavior, especially treason, which was regarded both through a legal and a theological lens and severely condemned by those suffering from it. Its full history is still waiting to be written, but the present article already offers some critical avenues into this complex field which depends heavily on the political, economic, and religious conditions at the time when the alleged treason takes place. We observe, in particular, the strong emphasis on treason as a catalyst for catastrophic consequences in medieval heroic epic poetry. After a broad overview of the legal and literary discourse on treason from the Middle Ages to the age of the Baroque, this article examines „classical‟ works from the Middle Ages such as the Nibelungenlied, the Chanson de Roland, and Njáls Saga.

Keywords: treason, Middle Ages, early modern age, Nibelungenlied, Chanson de Roland, El Poema de Mío Cid, Njáls Saga, early modern encyclopedias.