Origin
Originally, during the Roman republic, the word maiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else. This was crucially defined by the existence of a specific crime, called laesa maiestas, literally "Violated Majesty" (in English law Lese majesty, via the French Lèse-majesté), consisting of the violation of this supreme status. Various acts such as celebrating a party on a day of public mourning, contempt of the various rites of the state and disloyalty in word or act were punished as crimes against the majesty of the republic. However, later, under the Empire, it came to mean an offence against the dignity of the Emperor.
It was first assumed by Charles V, who believed that—following his election as emperor in 1519—he deserved a style greater than Highness, which preceding emperors and kings had used. Soon, King Francis I of France and King Henry VIII of England followed his example.
Read more about this topic: Majesty
Famous quotes containing the word origin:
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