The Correspondence with the Pretender Act 1697 (9 Will.3 c. 1) was an Act

Act of Parliament

An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...

 of the Parliament of England

Parliament of England

The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...

 which made it high treason

High treason

High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...

 to correspond with the deposed King James II

James II of England

James II & VII was King of England and King of Ireland as James II and King of Scotland as James VII, from 6 February 1685. He was the last Catholic monarch to reign over the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland...

. (This Act replaced an earlier Act of 1691

Correspondence with Enemies Act 1691

The Correspondence with Enemies Act 1691 was an Act of the Parliament of England which made it high treason to correspond with the deposed King James II. It was repealed and replaced by the Correspondence with the Pretender Act 1697...

.) When James II died and his son "James III"

James Francis Edward Stuart

James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales was the son of the deposed James II of England...

 asserted his own claim to the throne, the Correspondence with James the Pretender (High Treason) Act 1701

Correspondence with James the Pretender (High Treason) Act 1701

The Correspondence with James the Pretender Act 1701 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of England passed in 1701. The long title of the Act is "An Act for the Attainder of the pretended Prince of Wales of High Treason"...

 was passed to replace this provision.

It was also treason under this Act for a person who had been to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 since 11 December 1688, or performed military service for France or for James II, to return to England without a licence to do so.

See also

• Jacobitism
  Jacobitism
  Jacobitism was the political movement in Britain dedicated to the restoration of the Stuart kings to the thrones of England, Scotland, later the Kingdom of Great Britain, and the Kingdom of Ireland...
  
  
• High treason in the United Kingdom
  High treason in the United Kingdom
  Under the law of the United Kingdom, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Crown. Offences constituting high treason include plotting the murder of the sovereign; having sexual intercourse with the sovereign's consort, with his eldest unmarried daughter, or with the wife of the heir to the...
  
  
• Treason Act
  Treason Act
  Treason Act or Treasons Act is a stock short title used for legislation in the United Kingdom and in the Republic of Ireland on the subject of treason and related offences...
  
  
• Treason Act 1743
  Treason Act 1743
  The Treason Act 1743 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain which made it high treason to correspond with any of the sons of James Francis Edward Stuart , who claimed to be king of Great Britain and of Ireland...