For other uses, see Treason (disambiguation), High Treason (disambiguation), and Traitor (disambiguation).
"Traitor" redirects here. For the act itself, see Betrayal.
A 17th-century illustration of the leaders of the Gunpowder Plot, a failed assassination attempt against James I of England.
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Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance.[1] This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state. A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor.[2]
Historically, in common law countries, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife or that of a master by his servant. Treason (i.e. disloyalty) against one's monarch was known as high treason and treason against a lesser superior was petty treason. As jurisdictions around the world abolished petty treason, "treason" came to refer to what was historically known as high treason.
At times, the term traitor has been used as a political epithet, regardless of any verifiable treasonable action. In a civil war or insurrection, the winners may deem the losers to be traitors. Likewise the term traitor is used in heated political discussion – typically as a slur against political dissidents, or against officials in power who are perceived as failing to act in the best interest of their constituents. In certain cases, as with the Dolchstoßlegende (stab-in-the-back myth), the accusation of treason towards a large group of people can be a unifying political message.
^Lear, Floyd Seyward (2013). Treason in Roman and Germanic Law. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292759107.
^"Definition of TRAITOR". www.merriam-webster.com. 4 May 2023.
Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against...
of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against King James...
law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the...
No Treason is a composition of three essays by individualist anarchist Lysander Spooner, all written in 1867: No. 1, No. 2: "The Constitution", and No...
Guilty of Treason is a 1950 American drama film directed by Felix E. Feist and starring Charles Bickford, Bonita Granville and Paul Kelly. Also known...
Petty treason or petit treason was an offence under the common law of England in which a person killed or otherwise violated the authority of a social...
the United States, there are both federal and state laws prohibiting treason. Treason is defined on the federal level in Article III, Section 3 of the United...
If This Be Treason ... is a 33-page booklet published privately in Italy in early 1948 by Olga Rudge, mistress of the American poet Ezra Pound. Pound...
participate in the peace talks. 'This is treason', LBJ says to Dirksen." Robert "KC" Johnson. "Did Nixon Commit Treason in 1968? What The New LBJ Tapes Reveal"...
Misprision of treason is an offence found in many common law jurisdictions around the world, having been inherited from English law. It is committed by...
"Reason Is Treason" is the second single release from British rock band Kasabian. As a limited release it was ineligible for chart entry. The 10" release...
criticisms in a column called "Answering My Critics". In her third book, Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism, also published...
is best known for his short book, La Trahison des Clercs from 1927 (The Treason of the Intellectuals or The Betrayal by the Intellectuals). Born into a...
Cue for Treason (1940) is a children's historical novel written by Geoffrey Trease, and is his best-known work. The novel is set in Elizabethan England...
Scotland. Another Act (1 Eliz. 1. c. 5) dealing with treason was passed in 1558, which made it treason to "compass" or "imagine" to deprive the Queen (or...
A treason trial is a criminal trial. It may refer to: List of people convicted of treason Sir Alexander Lawrence; Sir John Lawrence; Godfrey Lushington...
"A Dream of Treason" was an American television play broadcast on January 21, 1960, as part of the CBS television series, Playhouse 90. It was the eighth...
The Treasons Act 1534 or High Treason Act 1534 (26 Hen. 8. c. 13) was an Act of the Parliament of England passed in 1534, during the reign of King Henry...
federal law, as well as other enumerated areas. Article Three also defines treason. Section 1 of Article Three vests the judicial power of the United States...
of thanksgiving for the plot's failure. Within a few decades Gunpowder Treason Day, as it was known, became the predominant English state commemoration...
Constructive treason is the judicial extension of the statutory definition of the crime of treason. For example, the English Treason Act 1351 declares...
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