majestatis

Majestatis is the genitive singular form of the Latin noun majestās, meaning majesty or dignity. In Latin legal and literary usage, the term appears in phrases that describe offenses against the sovereign or the state's dignified authority, most commonly in the expression crimen laesae maiestatis, or the crime of offended majesty.

Historically, laesa maiestas was used in Roman law and carried into medieval and early modern European legal systems as a measure to protect the ruler’s prerogatives and the prestige of the state. The concept encompassed acts viewed as directly harming the sovereign’s authority, and it often overlapped with what later became known as treason or crimes against the crown. Over time, many jurisdictions transformed or replaced majesty-based offenses with more modern categories such as high treason, crimes against the state, or national security offenses.

In contemporary usage, the term majesty-based offenses persists primarily in the phrase lèse-majesté, which denotes insults or offenses against a reigning monarch or royal family. Lése-majesté laws exist in a number of countries, notably in parts of Southeast Asia, and are the subject of ongoing legal and human rights debates. In other legal systems, explicit majesty crimes have been repealed or subsumed under broader treason or insult laws.

Linguistically, majestas and its genitive majestas/majestatis have influenced legal vocabulary and the cultural understanding of sovereignty in many languages, contributing to terms that express reverence for or offenses against leadership and authority.

See also: lèse-majesté, high treason, crimen laesae maiestatis.