Jesus
Jesus is attested in Le Morte d'Arthur in two passages that invoke his name within Arthurian narrative.
Jesus is attested in Le Morte d'Arthur in two passages that invoke his name within Arthurian narrative. At the choosing of Arthur as king, the assembled lords pray "that Jesus, that was born on that night, that he would of his great mercy show some miracle, as he was come to be king of mankind, for to show some miracle who should be rightwise king of this realm" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book I, Chapter V). In the death scene of Balin and Balan, the dying brothers request a priest: "Now, will ye send for a priest, that we may receive our sacrament, and receive the blessed body of our Lord Jesus Christ?" (Le Morte d'Arthur, Book II, Chapter XVIII).
Both citations present Jesus as a devotional reference within Malory's Christian-chivalric framework rather than as a narrative actor. The Book I citation ties Christ's birth to the mechanism of kingship -- the miracle of the sword in the stone is framed as an answer to prayers invoking Jesus as "king of mankind." The Book II citation belongs to the convention of a good Christian death, where dying knights request the last sacrament. Together they illustrate how Malory weaves Christian liturgical language through Arthurian narrative without making Jesus a character in the story.
Appears in: Beings, Entities in Le Morte d'Arthur, Celtic Tradition