The concept of treason can be dated back to the early Roman republic, but was defined by nebulous criteria, it would be the common laws of this time period which would most directly influence those customary in the court of King Arthur, a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against which invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD?
Treason in Arthurian legend The concept of treason can be dated back to the early Roman republic, but was defined by nebulous criteria. Frederic William Maitland, author of The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward I, has said that "treason is a crime [with] a vague circumference and more than one centre." Early French and Anglo-Saxon laws for the prosecution of persons deemed traitorous were inspired by, and in some cases, directly pulled from, late Roman and Germanic conceptions of the crime. It would be the common laws of this time period which would most directly influence those customary in King Arthur’s court — assuming its existence is founded in more than the legends and fables of medieval romances.
House of Wessex The House of Wessex, also known as the House of Cerdic ("Cerdicingas" in Old English), refers to the family that initially ruled a kingdom in southwest England known as Wessex, from the 6th century under Cerdic of Wessex until the unification of the Kingdoms of England by Alfred the Great and his successors (Though Alfred's grandfather Egbert was the one to start consolidating West saxon domination). Alfred and his successors would also be part of this dynasty, which would continue ruling in the main line all the way until Alfred's descendant, Ethelred the Unready, whose reign in the late 10th century and early 11th century saw a brief period of Danish occupation and following his and his son Edmund Ironside's death, kingship by the Danish Cnut the Great and his successors to 1042. The House of Wessex then briefly regained its power for 24 years, but after the deposition of its last scion, Ethelred's great-grandson Edgar Atheling would fade into the annals of history after the death of Edgar Atheling in 1125.