中世纪晚期英格兰叛逆罪适用范围的扩展及其内在逻辑

The Expansion of the Scope of Application of Treason in Late Medieval England and its Inherent Logic

在中世纪晚期,英格兰叛逆罪是一种危及国王和王国统治的犯罪,其主旨适用于任何违反对在位国王本人应尽的效忠义务。基于此,国王、贵族与平民通过立法和司法活动,从叛逆主体、叛逆客体以及叛逆行为三个方面不断演绎出新的叛逆罪名,由此导致叛逆罪适用范围的扩展。一方面,贵族、平民对国王过度扩展叛逆罪适用范围的行为加以抵制,另一方面,贵族、平民又不时加入扩展活动中。由此,王国共同体各方力量在此问题上达成一种动态平衡,任何一方极端的扩展行为都会招致他方的抵抗。因而,中世纪晚期英格兰叛逆罪适用范围的扩展是一场由国王主导、贵族与平民参与的立法与司法活动。

Treason was a crime that threatened the rule of the king and the king’s government in late medieval England,and was intended to apply to any breach of the duty of allegiance to the reigning king himself.Under this core content,the king and the king’s government have continuously deduced new charges of treason from three aspects:treason subject,treason object and treason behavior through legislative and judicial activities,and the coverage of treason is constantly expanding.It is worth noting that the expansion at this time did not reach an infinite degree,and the nobles and commoners always resisted this kind of behavior,so that the entire range of treasonous crimes in the late Middle Ages always took the“Treason Decree of 1352”as the core,and then to achieve a dynamic balance between the political forces of the parties.Therefore,the expansion of the scope of treason in late medieval England was a legislative and judicial activity led by the king’s government and participated by the nobles and the commons.