Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584

Summary

The Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584[a] (27 Eliz. 1. c. 1), also known as the Act of Association 1584 was an act of the Parliament of England during the English Reformation. It required a tribunal of at least 24 peers and privy councillors to investigate "any open invasion or rebellion" in England, any attempt to injure Queen Elizabeth I, or any attempt by a pretender to seize the throne. Any person found to be guilty was to be disabled from inheriting the throne, and was to be "pursued to death by all the Queen's subjects." Also any act "whereby the Queen's life shall be shortened" was made a capital offence.

Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act for Provision to be made for the Surety of the Queen's Majesty's most Royal Person, and the Continuance of the Realm in Peace.
Citation27 Eliz. 1. c. 1
Territorial extent 
Dates
Royal assent23 March 1587
Text of statute as originally enacted

Notes edit

  1. ^ The act was actually passed in March 1585 but is listed under 1584 because under the common law acts of Parliament took effect retrospectively from the beginning of the session in which they were passed, which in this case was 1584: see the article Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793 for the explanation as to why.

References edit

  • Statutes at Large, vol. VI, Cambridge University Press, 1763.

See also edit