From the Bible to smash-hit BBC television how The Traitors, being accused of betrayal is a sure-fire way to become notorious. Everyone has heard of Judas, Guy Fawkes and Anne Boleyn, not least because treason is the most serious crime that anyone can commit – under English law it is considered in a class of its own, worse even than murder. But what is treason? For many it is simply a personal offence, a breach of trust, fidelity and allegiance. But the ancient and contentious English law essentially criminalises an action or plot that threatens the life of a king or queen. Conspiring against …