Professor Bellamy places the theory of treason in its political setting and analyses the part it played in the development of legal and political thought in this period. He pays particular attention to the Statute of Treason of 1352, an act with a notable effect on later constitutional history and which, in the opinion of Edward Coke, had a legal importance second only to that of Magna Carta. He traces the English law of treason to Roman and Germanic origins, and discusses the development of royal attitudes towards rebellion, the judicial procedures used to try and condemn suspected traitors, and the interaction of the law of treason and constitutional ideas.

The Law of Treason in England in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge Studies in English Legal History)

History

Bellamy, J.G.

Europe

Cambridge University Press

This richly detailed study examines the English criminal trial and the nature and scope of the most prevalent felonies during the period c. 1300-1550. There is particular emphasis on the accusation process (studied in depth here for the first time, showing how it was, in effect, a trial within a trial); the discovery of a veritable revolution in conviction rates between the early fifteenth century and the later sixteenth (why this revolution occurred is explained in detail); the nature and scope of the most prevalent types of felony in the period; and the startling contrast between the conviction rate and the frequency of actual punishment.

The Criminal Trial in Later Medieval England

Legal History

University of Toronto Press

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Books by Bellamy, J.G.