...recently, John Barrell has examined how the ambiguous wording of the statutory definition of high treason ("when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the king") was deployed during the trials as part of a "dramatised and staged conflict between the various discourses...

...oier et terminer esteiantz en lour places en fesantz lour offices.45 [when a man compasses or imagines the death of our lord the king, or of our lady his consort, or the king's eldest unmarried daughter, or of their eldest son and heir; or if a man violate...

...shall be adjudged treason," and specifically to the clause stating that "treason shall be said . . . When a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the King."62 According to John Bellamy, between 1352 and 1485 "the most important development in the interpretation...

...general contentment. He discussed the sections of 25 Edward III that were most relevant to the case: "When a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the king, or of our lady his queen, or of his eldest son and heir. Or if a man levy war against our lord the king in his realm, or be adhered...

...formulation is located in the famous statute of 1352, the progenitor of all subsequent legislation: "When a Man doth compass or imagine the Death of our...Lady his [Queen] or of their eldest Son and Heir" (25 Edward II 5 c. 2). The act was revised, audaciously, under Cromwell's auspices for Henry VIII in...

...majesty itself, it is then called by way of eminent distinction high treason. This crime arises whenever a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the king, or of our lady the queen, or of their eldest son and heir; or if a man do violate the king's companion, or the eldest...

...the English and Scottish treason trials of 1794 — is the first. It is treason, says the statute, 'when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the king*. What did this strange clause mean? and what could or might it be taken to mean in 1794? The meaning...

...statute of King Edward III, dating from 1351, treason was rigidly defined in the eighteenth century as 'when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the king'. 41 The 25 Edward III had only been intended as a 'Declaratory' Act, but instead it was now taken as...

...formed part of the common vocabulary of political discussion.8 It was once held that it is treason 'when a man doth compass or imagine the death of our lord the king'. Its usage in this context (the Statute of Treasons of 1351, 25 Edward III) tells us that part of the...

...made a declaration in the manner as hereafter folioweth ; that is to fay, 1. When a man doth compafs or imagine the death of our lord the king, or of our lady his queen, or of their eldeft fon and heir. 2. If a man do violate the king's companion, (that is, his wife, 3 Lift. 9.) or...