English laws and customs in Sir Thomas Malory's 'Le Morte Darthur'

Medieval England saw the Arthurian legends both as history and as a legendary Golden Age, when the more chivalrous, more perfect court of King Arthur and his knights set the standards for chivalry and good rule. Sir Thomas Malory, writing in the latter half of the fifteenth century, was both a knight and a member of Parliament, and as such had a familiarity with English law. Throughout the Morte Darthur, Malory employs specific and sometimes intentionally archaic---but still recognizable---legal concepts and language to contrast the Arthurian age with his own, to encourage his readers to follow that noble example, and to serve as a powerful reminder that English justice was founded upon law, not just upon the will of the king or other powerful lords.;If the Morte can be read as an attempt by Malory to bring the lessons of the Arthurian past to bear on his own Edwardian present, then a knowledge of medieval English law can be used to help scholars understand his creative process and the ways in which his society influenced and was influenced by the legends of King Arthur and his knights.