Treason Act 1535

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Treason Act 1535
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of Henry VIII of England (1509-1547).svg
Parliament of England
Long title An Act concerning the Forging of the King's Sign Manual, Signet and Privy Seal.
Citation 27 Hen. 8. c. 2
Territorial extent  England and Wales
Dates
Royal assent 14 April 1536
Commencement 4 February 1536 [a]
Repealed28 July 1863
Other legislation
Amended by Treason Act 1553
Repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1863
Relates to
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Treason Act 1535 or Forging the Sign-manual, etc. Act 1535 (27 Hen. 8. c. 2) was an act passed by the English Parliament during the reign of King Henry VIII of England in 1535.

Contents

It made it high treason to counterfeit the Privy Seal, Signet or royal sign-manual.

Commentary

Sir Geoffrey Elton argued that the extension of the definition of treason to include forgery of the king's signet or sign-manual by this act was demanded by administrative methods new since the Treason Act 1351 (25 Edw. 3 Stat. 5. c. 2). [1]

The act was also acknowledged as an important milestone for the recognition of the importance of authenticity and legitimacy in the Tudor period, given that high treason was punishable by death. [2]

Repeal

The act was virtually repealed by the Treason Act 1553 (1 Mar. Sess. 1. c. 1), but another act passed later in the same year, the Treason (No. 2) Act 1553 (1 Mar. Sess. 2. c. 6) recreated the offence. [3]

The whole act was repealed by section 1 of, and the schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1863 (26 & 27 Vict. c. 125).

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Start of session.

References

  1. ↑ Elton, G. R. (1968). "The Law of Treason in the Early Reformation". The Historical Journal. 11 (2): 211–236. doi:10.1017/S0018246X00001990. ISSN   0018-246X. JSTOR   2637780.
  2. ↑ Lerer, Seth (2004). "Paul Bush and the Chaucer Tradition" . Medium Ævum. 73 (1): 103–109. doi:10.2307/43630702. ISSN   0025-8385. JSTOR   43630702.
  3. ↑ Lords, Great Britain Parliament House of (1863). Public Bills — Statute Law Revision Bill. p. 120.
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