It used to be said that London’s streets were paved in gold but in reality they were running in blood – the blood of tens of thousands of people executed by the state for crimes ranging from treason to petty theft.
... By the end of the 18th century, more than 200 crimes were punishable by death. London’s courts ordered the deaths of more people than courts in the rest of the country combined.
... Perhaps the most famous of those executed before a public audience was Charles I, convicted of “High Treason and other high Crymes” and beheaded in 1649 at Banqueting House in Whitehall in front of an “abundance of Men and Women”.
... The spectators flocking to the gallows and other execution sites to witness the spectacle of state-sanctioned death provided others with an opportunity to make money. Window views and grandstand seating were hired out to the wealthy; the poor stood for hours fortified by beef, mutton, eel and fruit pies, depending on the season. ...
