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Treason, manhood, and the English State : shaping constitutional ideas and political subjects through the laws of treason, 1397-1424 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 30 September 2018
Debates
about
treason
are
inherently
constitutional
conflicts.
By
defining
treason
and
naming
the
entities
against
which
traitors
offend,
the
state
delineates
the
nature
and
limits
of
its
own
authority.
By
implication,
treason
is
integral
to
shaping
loyal
political
subjects.
This
thesis
uses
legal
records
alongside
a
range
of
other
sources
to
examine
how
the
relationship
between
the
English
state
and
its
political
subjects
was
being
negotiated
through
the
laws
of
treason
during
the
politically
turbulent
period
between
1397
and
1424.
Previous
studies
have
asserted
that
between
the
mid-‐fourteenth
and
early
sixteenth
centuries,
the
legal
scope
of
treason
remained
static
and
the
crime
continued
to
be
viewed
primarily
in
traditional
terms
as
an
attack
on
the
king’s
person.
By
contrast,
this
thesis
demonstrates
that
while
customary
and
chivalric
definitions
remained
relevant,
by
the
early
fifteenth
century
they
were
being
subsumed
by
constructions
of
treason
as
a
crime
against
the
the
nation,
the
public
good,
and
the
English
people.
This
had
significant
constitutional
repercussions.
It
fostered
the
alignment
of
political
subjecthood
with
ethnicised
national
identity;
it
introduced
into
English
law
the
idea
of
treason
as
an
insult
to
the
abstract
public
authority
of
the
state;
and
it
enabled
significant
expansions
in
the
scope
of
treason
to
encompass
verbal
and
written
expressions
of
political
dissent,
and
other
offences.
By
considering
the
content
of
sources
but
also
their
multilingual
character,
this
thesis
illuminates
rhetorical
and
linguistic
strategies
used
to
construct
or
to
resist
allegations
of
treason,
and
demonstrates
how
the
vernacular
functioned
both
to
authorise
and
to
subvert
the
state’s
prosecution
narratives.
This
thesis
also
presents
a
new
interpretation
of
significant
changes
in
the
treatment
of
treasonous
speech
by
showing
that
this
was
facilitated
by
a
cultural
conjunction
between
the
gendering
of
particular
speech
acts
and
the
perceived
material
effects
of
men’s
words.
This
created
the
justification
for
men's
words
to
be
punished
as
treasonous
deeds,
but
also
generated
means
by
which
the
accused
could
assert
resistant
identities
as
loyal
subjects
and
'trewe
men'.
