Treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a lesser superior was petty treason. A person who commits treason is known in law as a traitor.

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Famous quotes containing the word treason:

    “The treason pleases, but the traitors are odious.”
    —Spanish proverb, pt. 1, bk. 4, ch. 7, quoted in Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (1605, trans by P. Motteux)

    “There’s such divinity doth hedge a king
    That treason can but peep to what it would,
    Acts little of his will.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)