If you're a king or a queen, there's nothing quiet like thinking up the most hideous form of execution for a traitor! What you want is a good plot against one's royal self, followed by instruments of torture, topped off (quite literally) by a beheading or possibly some hanging, drawing and quartering. The choice is endless. London has played host to many traitors to the Crown some bad, some perhaps not so bad as well as rebels and turncoats who had to break the law of their day to get a better life. Here, you can read, amongst many stories of rebellion, about: the Gunpowder Plot; the execution of Charles I ; the dim duke and his rubbish plots to seize the throne; the conspiracies against Elizabeth I; the grandmother of Girl Power; and the riots for the rights to vote. What could you expect if you were a traitor and you were discovered? Take your pick from some of the most hideous punishments ever invented.