Treason Act (Ireland) 1537 Treason Act (Ireland) 1537 The Treason Act (Ireland) 1537 (28 Hen 8 c. 7, long title "An Act of Slander") is an Act of the former Parliament of Ireland which adds several offences to the law of treason in Ireland. It was repealed in the Republic of Ireland in 1962 (but was obsolete well before then). The Act makes the following conduct treason: The penalty for treason was death until 1998, when it was reduced to imprisonment for life or a lesser term. During the debate on the abolition of the death penalty, the Earl of Onslow said: Section I
Death by burning his reign. Just one year after his death, however, in 1401, William Sawtrey was burnt alive for heresy. Death by burning for heresy was formally abolished by King Charles II in 1676. The traditional punishment for women found guilty of treason was to be burned at the stake, where they did not need to be publicly displayed naked, whereas men were hanged, drawn and quartered. The jurist William Blackstone argued as follows for the differential punishment of females vs. males: However, as described in Camille Naish's "Death Comes to the Maiden", in practice, the woman's shift would burn away at