Statute of Treason

The Statute of Treason, enacted in England in 1352, defined treason as acts against the sovereign or the state, such as attempting to overthrow the government or harming the monarch. This law distinguished between different categories of treason, including "high treason" against the sovereign or state, and "petit treason," which involved a servant killing their master or a wife killing her husband. Later, in 1571, an act of Parliament made questioning the queen's title as head of the Church of England an act of high treason, effectively criminalizing the practice of Roman Catholicism. Treason felony is an offense related to treason, often involving actions to depose the sovereign or compel Parliament to change policy, typically punishable by life imprisonment rather than death.1234