A Study Of The Treason In Tudor England

Treason is a crime which seriously harm to the safety and the political authority of the king, as a result, it gets every king's attention. In order to achieve the Power of Supremacy, the Tudor kings strengthened the treason legislation, so that the Tudor treason charges has undergone the Traditional Treason Changes Period, the New Treason charges Period and the Repeatedly Change Period. The Tudor Kings also strengthened the Laws of Treason Trials, which improved the Tudor Treason Trials System and slandered the procedures of the Tudor treason trials. These legislative measures are embodied in the treason cases, the relationship of the Tudor monarchy and treason can be reflected by the comprehensive analysis of these cases.Chapter I mainly described the movements of the treason charges in the Traditional Treason Changes Period, the New Treason charges Period and the Repeatedly Change Period. In the Traditional Treason Changes Period, the treason charges'had changed little, In this period, the Tudor kings of Tudor mainly followed the legal traditions, only when the public order was threatened that the kings created new types of treason charges, so that the treason charges were relatively fixed. In the New Treason charges Period, the king broke the traditional increase pattern of treason changes. Although Henry VIII was originally deal with his marriage and succession problems, but he was not confined to this area. In order to safeguard the fruits of the Reformation, he has created new treason charges in other aspects, and highlights the inviolability of the Supremacy. With the development of the Reformation, the scope of treason was also changing, which from the initial denial of the "Benefit of Clergy" to the protection of the king's succession and marriage security; from the protection of the Supremacy to the protection of the King's Legislative and military powers and so on. New treason charges were continually created along with the development of the Reformation.These new treason charges reflect the new features of treason legislation, that is to say, using precise legislative language to express the legislative purpose of the King, and highlighted the treasons'function of protecting of the expansion of the king's authority. After Edward VI ascended the throne in 1547, the numbers of the new charges were significantly lower than that of Henry VIII period, but at this time, the changes are more complicated. The three kings with different faiths and religions changed the charges of treason according to their political circumstance. At the very beginning of the new king's ascend, he would re-examined and abolished of the previous king's treason charges. However, with increasing of the social conflicts and the emergence of the crisis, they were forced to add or reuse the former treason charges, which led to the re-growth of treason charges. This has resulted in the the number of Tudor treason charges'fluctuation, so that increase or decrease of the number of treason charges was repeatedly. Not Until the end of Elizabeth I, this change and return to the steady. the treason has inherited the concept of supremacy, so that Tudor treason developed to a new level.Chapter II mainly described the legislation of treason trials as well as the trial and execution procedures. In order to improve the efficiency of the treason trial, the Tudor king did a series of reforms. Through the promulgation of the Law of treason trials, the trial institutions,the jury and the evidence system has burden of innovation, which not only innovative transformation of the legal tradition, but also to Tudor treason trial and execution continue to improve. The Tudor king control of the treason trial power, and gradually established 3 Major Treason Trial Court, which ended the confusion agencies of treason trials. The cases that can not resort to the normal judicial process, Tudor King turned to Attainders, which speeded the trial efficiency of the difficult cases. After continuous development, Tudor treason trial and execution procedures were fixed at the time of Elizabeth I. The trial included 6 steps, that is, the Examination,the Indictment,Regiment of the Court,the Trail,the Verdict and the Judgment. The execution including 3 types, which is the death penalty, penalty and pardon. Although they are cumbersome procedures, in the legitimacy of the English law, they are indispensable. During the trial and execution of traitor, Tudor Kings resort to different ways. When trail the traitors, the Tudor king's was liable to punish them by a cruel way to threaten the traitors. But when the social contradictions were complex, Tudor rulers always issued some pardons to ease social conflicts, so as to make up for the negative effects of cruel punishment. Regardless of what approach to take, the Tudor king take the protecting of the fundamental rule as the mainly purpose.Chapter II mainly described the cases in the Traditional Treason Changes Period, the New Treason charges Period and the Repeatedly Change Period. This thesis chose 3 typical treason cases. They are the case of Perkin Warbeck levying the war to the King, the case of Thomas More committing treason by words, the case of Thomas Howard Supporting the North rebellion. The case of Perkin Warbeck levying the war to the King happened in the Traditional Treason Changes Period, which reflected that the Tudor king still follow the traditional law, They use treason as a means of protect the personal safety of the throne, and never use Treason Charges to protect the expanded of royal power. The case of Thomas More happens in the New Treason charges Period. This case reflects that Henry VIII was trying to break the law of Church, and in order to seek the independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the royal power. At the same time, that also reflected the confliction of the old and new legal thinking, and also shows the struggle relationship of the king and the church in the period of the Reformation. The case of Thomas Howard Supporting the North rebellion happened in the period of the Repeatedly Change Period. This case demonstrates Tudor treason charges returned to the tradition in the form, and absorbed new legal thinking during the legislation. That ensured the relatively stability of the Tudor treason charges and the Supremacy which was achieved in the Reformation. Later, the treason charges was inherited by the Stuart dynasty, and was used until to the modern times, which laid the development foundation of modern Britain treason charges.