1-191-478 - © London Museum/Heritage-Images

'Titus Oates in the Pillory', c1687. Perhaps the most infamous of false informers was brought to trial for perjury in May 1685. Oates fabricated an imaginary popish plot against the government and was condemned by Judge Jeffreys to imprisonment for life, as well as to stand annually in the pillory at certain specified places and times, and every May, to be flogged from Aldgate to Newgate. A large crowd has assembled for the spectacle, filling the balconies of Westminster Hall, London, on the left. Palace Gate is on the right.