Palamedes Kills Corsabrin is a tournament combat at Surluse in which Palamedes champions a king’s daughter against Corsabrin, a Saracen knight who has obstructed her marriage by disparaging her. Palamedes wins the fight and kills Corsabrin; the aftermath turns the victory into a moment of religious questioning, as Palamedes explains that he came to the land intending to be baptized but has vowed to complete seven battles for Jesus first.

The Damsel’s Appeal

The damsel is the daughter of King Bandes. Corsabrin loves her, but will not allow her to marry: he defames her and calls her out of her mind, thereby preventing her from finding a husband. The account establishes her predicament through the power Corsabrin exercises over her prospects, rather than through any judgment that confirms his accusations.

Hearing that Palamedes often acts for damsels, she sends him a pennon and asks him to fight Corsabrin for her. Her appeal offers him both her love and the lands that will fall to her from her father. She also sends word to Corsabrin, telling him to meet Palamedes and explaining that she has sent her pennon; should Corsabrin defeat Palamedes, she says, she will marry him. The challenge thus makes the damsel’s situation the cause and stated object of the combat, while placing the pennon in Palamedes’s hands as a visible token of her request.

Combat at Surluse

Corsabrin reacts angrily when he learns what the damsel has done and rides to Surluse, where Palamedes is ready with the pennon. The two agree to fight before Sir Galahalt, the high prince, who orders that they joust that day and that their progress be seen after dinner. The tournament’s public setting gives the dispute a formal audience, but the account centers the contest on the particular demand that Corsabrin release the damsel and her pennon.

After the other knights’ jousting, Palamedes plants the pennon in the middle of the field. He and Corsabrin charge with spears and both fall from their horses. They then take up swords and continue the combat. Palamedes asks Corsabrin to release the damsel and the pennon; Corsabrin refuses and strikes him hard enough to bring him to one knee. Palamedes rises, strikes Corsabrin’s helmet, and brings him down. He removes Corsabrin’s helmet and gives him the choice to yield or die. Corsabrin refuses to yield, and Palamedes kills him.

Victory and Its Religious Consequence

After the fight, the court returns to lodging and Palamedes is unarmed. Sir Galahalt points to what happened when Corsabrin died as a miracle and urges Palamedes to accept baptism, saying that the knights will esteem him more and speak more honorably of him. The episode links Palamedes’s battlefield victory with a question the surrounding company considers spiritually significant, but it does not make baptism an immediate consequence of the combat.

Palamedes answers that he came to the land to be baptized and is already baptized in his heart, but that he has made a vow not to receive baptism until he has completed seven true battles for Jesus. He says he trusts that God will accept his intention. Rather than treat his continued unbaptized status as indifference, the account presents it as a condition attached to his vowed service. He then invites Queen Guenever, Sir Galahalt, Sir Launcelot, Sir Lamorak, and other knights to supper. The next morning they hear Mass before the field is opened again, carrying the religious setting of Palamedes’s explanation back into the tournament’s continuing action.