| Short Title: | Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of England |
| Long Title: | An Act for Provision to be made for the Surety of the Queen's Majesty's most Royal Person, and the Continuance of the Realm in Peace. |
| Year: | 1584 |
| Citation: | 27 Eliz. 1. c. 1 |
| Royal Assent: | 23 March 1587 |
| Status: | Repealed |
| Original Text: | https://archive.org/details/statutesatlarge02raitgoog/page/n453/ |
The Safety of the Queen, etc. Act 1584 (27 Eliz. 1. c. 1), also known as the Act of Association 1584 was an act of the Parliament of England during the English Reformation. It required a tribunal of at least 24 peers and privy councillors to investigate "any open invasion or rebellion" in England, any attempt to injure Queen Elizabeth I, or any attempt by a pretender to seize the throne. Any person found to be guilty was to be disabled from inheriting the throne, and was to be "pursued to death by all the Queen's subjects." Also any act "whereby the Queen's life shall be shortened" was made a capital offence.
The act developed to include the Bond of Association, which was mindful of threats to Elizabeth posed by Mary, Queen of Scots.[1] The Act for the Safety of the Queen, passed in March 1585, allowed that James VI of Scotland would not be held responsible for his mother's plots.[2] James was occasionally troubled by incidents including the Valentine Thomas affair, which could have implicated him in plots against Elizabeth, and hindered his accession to the English throne.[3]