Explores the formation of the British state and national identity from 1603-1820 by examining the definitions of sovereignty and allegiance presented in treason trials. The king's person remained central to national identity and the state until republican challenges forced prosecutors in treason trials to innovate and redefine sovereign authority.

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Reviews

'In Defining a British State , Lisa Steffen has given us both a valuable insight into the law of high treason and its use in Stuart and Hanoverian England, and a thought-provoking discussion of the meanings behind the doctrine. She shows how a medieval English law designed to maintain the personal bond of allegiance to the sovereign was flexible enough to be used against Scots professing continued allegiance to their de jure king, in order to secure the Hanoverian succession against Jacobite attacks, but proved harder to use when the government sought to convict enemies of the state whose target was not the king. Her discussion is an important one, for both legal and political historians, and makes a useful contribution to the ongoing debate about the nature of the state in the eighteenth century.' - Michael Lobban, Brunel University

Authors and Affiliations

University of South Carolina Spartanburg, US

Lisa Steffen

About the author

LISA STEFFEN is Assistant Professor of History at the University of South Carolina Spartanburg.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: Defining a British State
Book Subtitle: Treason and National Identity, 1608-1820
Authors: Lisa Steffen
Series Title: Studies in Modern History
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230513754
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London
eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection, History (R0)
Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited 2001
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-333-92034-3Published: 04 May 2001
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-349-42448-1Published: 01 January 2001
eBook ISBN: 978-0-230-51375-4Published: 04 May 2001
Series ISSN: 2946-2053
Series E-ISSN: 2946-2061
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: X, 245
Topics: Political Science, Social History, History of Early Modern Europe, Modern History, History of Britain and Ireland, Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

Front Matter

Introduction

Treason, Allegiance and Sovereignty in England, 1608–88

Dynastic Treason: National Identity after the Glorious Revolution

A British Law of Treason, 1709–83

Republican Treason and National Identity in the 1790s

The ‘General Safety of the State’: Treason from 1816 to 1820

Conclusion

Back Matter

About this book