Editing Treason (section)

==History==
[[File:Belsky Vaclav Cartoon.png|thumb|[[Cartoon]] depicting [[Václav Bělský]] (1818–1878), [[Mayor of Prague]] from 1863 until 1867, in charge of the city during [[Austro-Prussian War|Prussian occupation in July 1866]]. Some forces wanted to try him for high treason (left: "What some men wished" – "Dr. Bělský for high treason"), but he got a full confidence from the Council of Prague (right: "but what they did not expect" – "address of confidence from the city of Prague").]]

[[Frederic William Maitland]] explained that "Treason is a crime which has a vague circumference and more than one centre".{{sfn|Bellamy|2004|p=1}}

The [[Treason Act 1351]], called "the pole star of English jurisprudence" by [[Joseph Story]], was the first time treason was defined by statute. During the 12th century the rights of the king were gradually set apart from the other nobles. Beginning with the reign of [[Edward I]] the Crown asserted its authority to recognize rebellions ("levying war") as treasonous.<ref>{{Cite book|title=A History of Treason: The bloody history of Britain through the stories of its most notorious traitors|author=The National Archives|publisher=John Blake Publishing|isbn=978-1-78946-628-7|date=2022}}</ref>

By the Elizabethan age courts had shed the restrictions of statutory treason in favor of [[constructive treason]] applied as a form of political control. [[Edward Coke]] decides in ''R v Owen'' that mere speech about the monarch could be treason if it "disabled his title" in departure from his earlier statement "it is commonly said that bare words may make a heretick, but not a traytor without an overt act".{{sfn|Hostettler|2009|p=80–1}}

In [[English law]], high treason was punishable by being [[hanged, drawn and quartered]] (men) or [[execution by burning|burnt at the stake]] (women), although [[Decapitation|beheading]] could be substituted by royal command (usually for royalty and nobility). Those penalties were abolished in 1814, 1790 and 1973 respectively. The penalty was used by later monarchs against people who could reasonably be called traitors. Many of them would now just be considered [[dissident]]s.<ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-_0mDwAAQBAJ&q=religious+dissidents+tried+for+treason+england&pg=PT61|title=The Pragmatist Turn: Religion, the Englightenment, and the Formation of American Literature|last=Gunn|first=Giles|publisher=University of Virginia Press|year=2017|isbn=9780813940823|chapter=Puritan Ascendance and Decline}}</ref>

The words "treason" and "traitor" are derived from the [[Latin]] ''tradere'', "to deliver or hand over".<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, online as of April 2, 2019; entries "treason" and "traitor".</ref> Specifically, it is derived from the term "[[traditors]]", which refers to [[bishops]] and other Christians who turned over [[Holy Bible|sacred scriptures]] or betrayed their fellow Christians to the [[Roman army|Roman authorities]] under threat of [[Persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire|persecution]] during the [[Diocletianic Persecution]] between AD 303 and 305.

Originally, the crime of treason was conceived of as being committed against the [[monarch]]; a subject failing in his duty of loyalty to the sovereign and acting against the sovereign was deemed to be a traitor. Queens [[Anne Boleyn]] and [[Catherine Howard]] were executed for treason for [[adultery]] against [[Henry VIII]], although most historians regard the evidence against Anne Boleyn and her alleged lovers to be dubious. As asserted in the 18th century trial of [[Johann Friedrich Struensee]] in [[Denmark]], a man having sexual relations with a queen can be considered guilty not only of ordinary adultery but also of treason against her husband, the king.

The [[Glorious Revolution|English Revolution]] in the 17th century and the [[French Revolution]] in the 18th century introduced a radically different concept of loyalty and treason, under which sovereignty resides with "The Nation" or "The People" – to whom also the monarch has a duty of loyalty, and for failing which the monarch, too, could be accused of treason. [[Charles I of England|Charles I]] in England and [[Louis XVI]] in France were found guilty of such treason and duly executed. However, when [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] was restored to his throne, he considered the revolutionaries who sentenced his father to death as having been traitors in the more traditional sense.

In medieval times, most treason cases were in the context of a kingdom's internal politics. Though helping a foreign monarch against one's own sovereign would also count as treason, such were only a minority among treason cases. Conversely, in modern times, "traitor" and "treason" are mainly used with reference to a person helping an enemy in time of war or conflict.

During the [[American Revolution]], a [[Slavery in the United States|slave]] named [[Billy (slave)|Billy]] was sentenced to [[Hanging|death]] on charges of treason to [[Virginia]] for having joined the British in their war against the American colonists – but was eventually pardoned by [[Thomas Jefferson]], then [[Governor of Virginia]]. Jefferson accepted the argument, put forward by Billy's well-wishers, that – not being a citizen and not enjoying any of the benefits of being one – Billy owed no loyalty to Virginia and therefore had committed no treason.<ref name=tj>{{cite book|last1=Jefferson|first1=Thomas|title=The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: 25 February 1781 to 20 May 1781|date=1952|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=641|isbn=9780691045825|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZInAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Billy%22+slave+%22Prince+William+County%22|access-date=25 August 2015}}</ref> This was a ground-breaking case, since in earlier similar cases slaves were found guilty of treason and executed.

Under very different circumstances, a similar defense was put forward in the case of [[William Joyce]], nicknamed ''[[Lord Haw-Haw]]'', who had broadcast [[Nazi propaganda]] to the UK from Germany during the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=THE OCCUPATION: Renegade's Return|date=11 June 1945|magazine=Time|volume=XLV|issue=24|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775821,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221231938/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,775821,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 21, 2011}}</ref> Joyce's defence team, appointed by the court, argued that, as an American citizen and naturalised German, Joyce could not be convicted of treason against the [[British Crown]]. However, the [[prosecution]] successfully argued that, since he had incorrectly stated his nationality to obtain a British passport and vote in Britain, Joyce did owe allegiance to the king. Thus, Joyce was convicted of treason, and was eventually [[hanging|hanged]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressandguide.com/opinion/world-war-ii-german-propaganda-radio-broadcaster-lord-haw-haw-was-born-in-us/article_e522e9b0-c6b9-11ea-b9a1-d320a00a6b8e.html|title=World War II German propaganda radio broadcaster 'Lord Haw Haw' was born in US|date=15 July 2020}}</ref>

After [[Napoleon]] fell from power for the first time, Marshal [[Michel Ney]] swore allegiance to the restored King [[Louis XVIII]], but when the Emperor escaped from Elba, Ney resumed his Napoleonic allegiance, and commanded the French troops at the [[Battle of Waterloo]]. After Napoleon was defeated, dethroned, and exiled for the second time in the summer of 1815, Ney was arrested and tried for treason by the [[Chamber of Peers (France)|Chamber of Peers]]. In order to save Ney's life, his lawyer [[André Marie Jean Jacques Dupin|André Dupin]] argued that as Ney's hometown of [[Sarrelouis]] had been annexed by Prussia according to the [[Treaty of Paris (1815)|Treaty of Paris of 1815]], Ney was now a [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]]n, no longer owing allegiance to the King of France and therefore not liable for treason in a French court. Ney ruined his lawyer's effort by interrupting him and stating: ''"Je suis Français et je resterai Français!"'' (I am French and I will remain French!).<ref>"Je suis Français et je resterai Français!" {{harvnb|Bellemare|Nahmias|2009|p= ~149}}</ref> Having refused that defence, Ney was duly found guilty of treason and executed.

Until the late 19th century, Britain – like various other countries – held to a doctrine of "perpetual allegiance to the sovereign", dating back to feudal times, under which British subjects, owing loyalty to the British monarch, remained such even if they emigrated to another country and took its citizenship. This became a hotly debated issue in the aftermath of the 1867 [[Fenian Rising]], when [[Irish-Americans]] who had gone to [[Ireland]] to participate in the uprising and were caught were charged with treason, as the British authorities considered them to be British subjects. This outraged many Irish-Americans, to which the British responded by pointing out that, just like British law, American law also recognized perpetual allegiance.<ref name=virginia>[http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/alumni/uvalawyer/sp05/martin_lecture.htm Dual Nationality: TR's "Self-Evident Absurdity"], virginia.edu; accessed September 7, 2015. Archived from original https://web.archive.org/web/20060902083405/https://www.law.virginia.edu/html/alumni/uvalawyer/sp05/martin_lecture.htm</ref> As a result, Congress passed the [[Expatriation Act of 1868]], which granted Americans the right to freely renounce their U.S. citizenship. Britain followed suit with a similar law, and years later, signed a treaty agreeing to treat British subjects who had become U.S. citizens as no longer holding British nationality – and thus no longer liable to a charge of treason.

Many nations' laws mention various types of treason. "Crimes Related to Insurrection" is the internal treason, and may include a [[coup d'état]]. "Crimes Related to Foreign Aggression" is the treason of cooperating with foreign aggression positively regardless of the national inside and outside. "Crimes Related to Inducement of Foreign Aggression" is the crime of communicating with [[alien (law)|aliens]] secretly to cause foreign aggression or menace. Depending on the country, [[Conspiracy (criminal)|conspiracy]] is added to these.