The death penalty was customary in Europe over several centuries. This article looks at the instruments used to execute criminals and heretics.
Many nations around the world still practice capital punishment, despite constant protests from human rights groups like Amnesty International. Today it is seen as arbitrary and exceptionally inhumane, at least for those of us living in a country where this type of policy is no longer enforced. However, if we take a walk through European history, say the past five to six hundred years, the methods used to execute criminals and those suspected of committing an offence have ranged from burning, decapitation, drawing and quartering, drowning, hanging and impalement. If you were living in Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany or Italy in or around the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and were sentenced to death, you could expect your life to end by any of those gruesome punishments.
Tools of the Trade
- The Guillotine - It was most commonly seen in France but variations have also been used in the United Kingdom and Germany. Severing one's head became the accepted form of execution during the French Revolution in the 1790s. Maximilien Robespierre, one of the most prominent leaders of the Reign of Terror, was beheaded in 1794. King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette also lost their heads to this feared blade. The guillotine was used as the official tool of execution until the French government abolished the death penalty in 1981.
- The Garrote - This device was favoured in Spain and was used as far back as the Middle Ages. Consisting of a wooden seat, the condemned would sit while a metal band was tightened around the neck by a man who rotated a wheel from behind. Suffocation was the result, but some types included a metal spike which would protrude outwards from the rear and eventually break the victim's neck. This form of punishment was abandoned permanently in the late 1970s.
- Hanging - In courtrooms within the United Kingdom and in other British colonies, this remark or a variation of it has no doubt been repeated countless times throughout history, "You shall hang by the neck until you are dead." That was a sure sign your luck had run out. This method would either break the person's neck instantly or cause death by asphyxiation, and this kind of execution used to attract large crowds. Some showed up to protest while others came to see that justice was being served. It also sent a very powerful message to anybody thinking about committing a crime. If you were caught, the hangman would be waiting with a noose.
- The Hanging Cage - Anybody put inside one of these would hang, but death was not immediate. In a town square or near a courthouse these metal contraptions were used to cage unfortunate men and women who eventually perished of hunger and/or thirst. When left outside in extreme hot or cold weather it made the ordeal that much more agonizing.
- The Iron Maiden - This vicious torture device didn't kill the victim outright but death was always guaranteed. A metal or wood sarcophagus with sharp spikes on the inside, it was designed to make a person suffer as long as possible until massive blood loss caused the person to expire. Its first recorded use was in 1515.
- Fire - It was a simple matter to tie somebody to a long, wooden stake then set it ablaze. In Italy and elsewhere living under the thumb of the Roman Catholic Church was no easy task. Galileo was accused of heresy simply by claiming the Earth revolved around the Sun, but fortunately he was not subjected to death by fire. However, Joan of Arc and other figures throughout history were not so lucky.
Crimes That Warranted the Death Penalty
Authorities in many European countries considered murder and treason to be the worst capital crimes. Trying to overthrow an established government or supplying information to one's enemy during a war would be enough to get you convicted and sentenced to death. Contradicting entrenched Christian doctrine was also a very dangerous business. In Great Britain during the eighteenth century, the Bloody Code was the name given to the excessively harsh legal system, and it outlined specific crimes which would carry the death penalty.
These would seem trivial and harmless by today's standards, but they included:
- Stealing more than five shillings (now worth about 30 pounds sterling).
- Cutting down trees.
- Stealing horses or sheep.
The laws were made by the wealthiest classes, and so to protect their interests they thought the best way to stop, or at least decrease crime was to hand down the worst punishment the law could give. Getting adequate legal representation was much easier if you were rich.
Roughly 50% of the world's countries still have the death penalty today.
