Lawful sovereignty: the political criminalisation and decriminalisation of Jacobitism, 1688–1788

Abstract

Following the Revolution of 1688–89 and the exile of the Catholic Stuarts, Jacobitism was a socio-political alternative to the constitutional and religious settlements established in its aftermath. Propaganda campaigns favouring the royal dynasties at the centre of this ideological conflict remained fundamental as it developed. The Jacobites’ failure to recognise the Williamite and Hanoverian monarchs, regimes and the laws enacted in their names resulted in a swathe of mass criminality. It included considerable sedition and a near-universal association with high treason. This political irritant continued to subsist, and in the wake of the Treaty of Union of 1707, the Jacobite movement became the ideological challenger to the nascent British state. This thesis examines the Scottish, English (at times, Irish) and British states’ responses to the incendiary Jacobite threat beyond the battlefield. Successive administrations’ actions formed an overarching programme of political criminalisation and decriminalisation that lasted for around one hundred years, from 1688 to 1788. It looks at four thematic aspects of state weaponry employed on the Jacobites across several decades: ideology, policy, legislation and punishment. Doing so reveals that these mechanisms were inextricably entwined, and research has focused on materials relating to these themes, primarily those of a political and legislative nature. They include state papers and cabinet correspondence, policy-related memoranda, statutory public legislation and applicable punishment data. It assesses the policy formation, implementation and reformation required to tackle the ‘Jacobite problem’. The institution of a formidable legislative framework shows that the authorities regarded it as a severe danger. Their approach towards punishment involved a delicate balancing act between affording much clemency alongside a raft of ruthless retribution and cautionary warnings. The results suggest a significant amount of politico-legal precedent and institutional memory influenced the collective administrative response to, but also the evolution of, the Jacobite movement. It argues that a state-sanctioned political criminalisation programme was essential to obliterate all facets of Jacobitism.