Origins of Treason in England

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 11 February 2023

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

First defined in law in 1352, treason remains one of the most serious crimes a person can commit. And, remarkably, the core of the original Treason Act remains in force and relatively unchanged today.

A fascinating exhibition at the National Archives is offering a unique selection of letters, pamphlets, posters, maps and trial papers to reveal the motives, actions and fates of those accused of being traitors, many of whom paid the ultimate price for their cause. In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis finds out more from Dr. Euan Roger, principal Medieval records specialist at The National Archives.

This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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1:33.2	Welcome to this episode of Gone Medieval, I'm Matt Lewis.
1:36.1	Treason is the ultimate crime that can be committed against a monarch or a state. It's the act of
1:41.2	becoming a traitor and it can carry the most gruesome of penalties in England that included being
1:47.1	hang drawn and courted. The law of treason in the medieval period in England centered on one
1:52.4	document, the treason act, parts of which are still on the statute books today nearly 700 years
1:57.8	later. This document and the cases of treason that led to are the focus of an incredible
	...

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