Family members were at this point sometimes allowed to pull on their twitching loved ones to hasten death. Enshrined in law in the Treason Act of , women convicted of treason were burnt at the stake and male traitors were drawn, hanged, and quartered. Hang 'em High: 7 of history's most famous executioners by James Brigden. Next, they would be hanged to a point close to death, then taken down and made to watch as their genitals and entrails were removed and burnt.
Typically, the hands and feet would be cut off first, then the cleaver would halve the body at the waist. The two halves would then be jointed along the rib cage and pelvis, respectively. The head would then typically be set on London Bridge or another landmark, and the quarters placed in a gibbet.
Famous Tudor victims included Francis Dereham d. These frightening words would have been enough to make many a courtier hot under the ruff because she often followed through on this lethal promise. At the moment of execution Anne, kneeling upright, suddenly turned her head away from the Gallic chopper on hearing a voice. A swift, painless death such as this was what many scaffold-climbers hoped for, including Anne.
It was not always just nobles who lost their heads, though. The Halifax Gibbet, a large guillotine in use in the Yorkshire town at this time, was reputedly used on common criminals. By this on-wheel method, the prisoner would be affixed to the wheel so that their limbs were over the gaps between the spokes.
A metal rod or club would then be used to strike their arms and legs repeatedly, shattering them. The wheel might also be paraded through the town bearing its bludgeoned victim and once they were dead it was often raised up on a pole bearing the mangled corpse. Killer Robert Weir faced this punishment in Edinburgh in , as had Captain Calder in found guilty of murdering the Earl of Lennox.
But in Yorkshire common thieves might have their heads lopped off too using a novel device known as the Halifax Gibbet. You might associate the guillotine with Revolutionary France , but the Halifax Gibbet — essentially a large axe attached to a wooden block — was its forerunner by more than years. It inspired another device which first started being used in Scotland during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots. Known as the Maiden, the bladed contraption was used to behead murderers and other felons in Edinburgh.
James Moore is a professional writer who specialises in bringing to life forgotten aspects of history. He is also the author and co-author of several books; The Tudor Murder Files is his most recent work and is out now, published on 26 September , by Pen and Sword.
TV A new online only channel for history lovers. Sign Me Up. Boiled alive Hanging was the usual punishment for serious crime, including murder, in Tudor England but it could often be a messy affair. On Midsummer's Day in a 17 year old was crowned king of England. He would go on to transform his realm over almost four decades on the throne. The victim was chained to the post, stripped to the waist and whipped.
You could be whipped for stealing a loaf of bread! Whipping Branding with hot irons Hot irons were used to burn letters onto the skin of offenders hand, arm or cheek.
The pillory standing The pillory was a T shaped block of wood with holes for the hands in the crossbar of the T. The person being punished would have to stand in the device in the middle of the market to be ridiculed by passersby. The Pillory The stocks sitting Stocks were used in the same way as the pillory, except that with stocks, the feet were bound. The stocks were a block of wood with two holes for your feet to go in. Local people threw rubbish and rotten eggs at people in the stocks.
The ducking stool Punishment for women Accused witches were dunked into a river, to see if they were innocent or guilty. If they floated, they were considered guilty and burnt at the stake. If they sank, they were innocent but died anyway, by drowning. Either way, they perished. Ducking Stool The Brank , the gossip's bridle The brank was a punishment enacted on women who gossiped or spoke too freely.
It was a large iron framework placed on the head of the offender, forming a type of cage. There was a metal strip on the brank that fit into the mouth and was either sharpened to a point or covered with spikes so that any movement of the tongue was certain to cause severe injuries to the mouth. The Brank Limbs cut off Some people who stole things from shops had their hands cut off.
The Drunkard's Cloak This was a punishment for public drunkenness.
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