How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Page)
Quote #7
'Sire, listen to us: if the queen has behaved wickedly, she has never exculpated herself. This is spoken of as shameful to you; and the barons of your land have begged you many times to make her defend herself against the accusation of loving Tristan. She must vindicate herself if this is false.' (14.115)
As far as Mark's barons are concerned, Yseut is guilty until proven innocent. They want her to prove her innocence by taking an oath never to have loved Tristan wickedly. The barons try to play on Mark's sense of honor and pride, implying that continued speculation about Yseut's integrity reflects shamefully on the king.
Quote #8
'I should be perfectly willing to make my defense. I pay no heed to their chatter. If they want me to swear an oath, or if they want a trial by ordeal, let them fix a time—they cannot make any ordeal so harsh that I will not undergo it. At the appointed time and place I will have King Arthur and his household; if I exculpate myself in his presence, then if anyone seeks to calumniate me afterwards, those who have witnessed my defence would come to my protection.' (14.120)
Yseut craftily demands to have Arthur and his court as "surety" for her oath. They will witness it and prevent anyone from accusing her again by defending the integrity of her word with their swords. The system of surety reveals how medieval justice depends upon a network of loyal friends and allies for its operation: trial outcomes must be backed by swords. (Yeah, we have some questions about this, too.) Yseut's request for Arthur also buys her time to arrange a plan to come through the trial unscathed.
Quote #9
A cloth of dark grey silk, embroidered with small animal figures, was placed before the king's tent and spread out on the green grass. The cloth had been bought in Nicaea. Not one holy relic was left anywhere in Cornwall in a treasure-chest, in a casket or a phylactery, in reliquaries or boxes or shrines, not even those that were set in gold or silver crosses or amulets, for they had all been placed on the cloth and arranged in their order. (15.140)
Yseut will prove her innocence by swearing an oath over these relics—pieces of the bodies of saints or objects associated with them. She appears to take seriously the belief that God will immediately strike her dead if she lies while swearing on the holy objects. She goes to elaborate lengths to be sure she can give a truthful oath without implicating herself for infidelity.