Treasons Act 1571
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2020) |
| Act of Parliament | |
 13 Eliz. 1. c. 1 | |
| Dates | |
|---|---|
| Royal assent | 29 May 1571 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Statute Law Revision Act 1863 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
The Treasons Act 1571 (
The Act
It became
Legacy
The Act was repealed on 28 July 1863 by the Statute Law Revision Act 1863. However until 1967 it remained treason under the Succession to the Crown Act 1707 to say that Parliament could not control the succession to the Crown.
Some of the wording of section 5 of the Treasons Act 1571 has drawn attention for its description of the legal line of succession. In the twenty-first century, academic scholarship and proponents of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespearean authorship noted the departure of the terms "heirs of the body" to the introduction of the phrase "natural issue" to refer to the line of succession, or Queen's heir to the throne:
that any one particular person, whosoever it be, is or ought to be the right heir and successor to the Queen's Majesty that now is (whom God long preserve) except the same be the natural issue of her Majesty's body
Proponents contend this wording meant that any illegitimate child, or "natural issue", born to Queen Elizabeth I, would then be legal successor to the monarchy. As of 2016, scholarship continues to debate the implications of the change in the legal language, but agree its inclusion in the Act was meant to prevent a crisis of succession.
See also
- High treason in the United Kingdom
- Treason Act
- Succession to the British throne
- Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship
References
- ^ Gontar, David P. (March 2016). ""Stand Up for Bastards": Natural Issue in the 1571 Act of Parliament, 13 Eliz., c. 1". newenglishreview.org.
External links
- Treasons Act 1570, Google Book Search)
- Regnier, Thomas. "Did Tudor Succession Law Permit Royal Bastards to Inherit the Crown?" 2012-2013. Brief Chronicles IV. [1] pp. 39–58.
- Tanner, J.D. Tudor Constitutional Documents, A.D. 1485-1603. 1922. University of Cambridge Press, London. pp. 413–417. Internet Archive, [2]
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