Lèse-nation

Lèse-nation, also lèze-nation, was a crime defined in France during the French Revolution. It referred to an offence or defamation against the dignity of the nation. Both the name and the corresponding law regarding the crime of lèse-nation trace back to the law concerning the crime of lèse-majesté. Both were adapted by the revolutionaries during the French Revolution so that the focus was no longer on the monarch, but on the nation. The English name for lèse-majesté is a modernised borrowing from the medieval French, where the term means a crime against The Crown. In classical Latin laesa māiestās means hurt or violated majesty. In the context of the term lèse-nation, it refers to a crime that harms the nation.

The law regarding the crime of lèse-nation was in force between 1789 and 1791. It was immediately after the proclamation of the sovereignty of the nation, in the aftermath of the Tennis Court Oath from 20 June 1789, that the foundation for this new law was laid. On 23 June 1789, the National Assembly announced that it will prosecute as criminals all those who, individuals or bodies, attack its existence or the freedom of its members.

Almost over night a new crime was invented. Or as Charles-Élie, Marquis de Ferrières, put it:

"We suddenly beheld a new crime, unknown to our fathers – the crime of lèse-nation."

— Charles-Élie, Marquis de Ferrières

The events surrounding the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789 played an important role in the development and implementation of the law. Following the Bastille's fall, numerous denunciations and the specter of conspiracy compelled the National Assembly to address the issue of political offences. Quick action was required.

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