Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-8ctnn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:20:36.900Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 October 2009

Get access

Summary

Unlike murder, rape, assault, theft or arson, treason is not easy to define, for it is conceived in abstract political terms. ‘Treason’, wrote Maitland, ‘is a crime which has a vague circumference and more than one centre.’ In later medieval France, although specific decrees identified specific offences as treasonable, there was never any precise delimitation of the crime, and what definition there was could be extended by construction. Treason was not just betrayal; it was an injury against public authority as represented by the person of the king and as symbolized by the crown. A felony yet more than a felony, treason was the political crime par excellence.

It is clear from even the most superficial reading that treason played a significant rôle in the history of later medieval France. The cases of Bernard Saisset, bishop of Pamiers, in 1301; Godefroi d'Harcourt in the 1340s; Jean de Montfort, duke of Brittany, in 1378; Jean de Montagu in 1409; Jean, duke of Alençon, in 1458; Louis de Luxembourg, count of Saint-Pol, in 1475; and Jacques d'Armagnac, duke of Nemours, in 1476–7 come readily to mind as examples. But it is not so much the treasons as the prosecution of them that will be of concern to us.

Some work, such as R. Guillot's exemplary monograph on the trial of Jacques Coeur in 1451–3, has been done on specific cases. At least one study, Mme Sylvie Troubert's doctorat de troisième cycle on the trial of Jacques d'Armagnac, is in progress. Much else, however, remains to be done in other individual cases.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Introduction
  • S. H. Cuttler
  • Book: The Law of Treason and Treason Trials in Later Medieval France
  • Online publication: 13 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511562396.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Introduction
  • S. H. Cuttler
  • Book: The Law of Treason and Treason Trials in Later Medieval France
  • Online publication: 13 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511562396.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • S. H. Cuttler
  • Book: The Law of Treason and Treason Trials in Later Medieval France
  • Online publication: 13 October 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511562396.003
Available formats
×