The Ultimate Penalty for High Treason Hanging, drawing, and quartering was the ultimate capital sentence available in English law for men convicted of High Treason. Women convicted of High Treason or Petty Treason were spared this ritual and were instead sentenced to burning at the stake—a substitution made by the judiciary to avoid the public … Read more
Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin did not invent the execution machine that bears his name.A similar device known as the Halifax Gibbet had been in use in that Yorkshire town since 1286 and continued until 1650. It was noticed by a Scotsman, James Douglas Earl of Morton, who had one built in Edinburgh in 1556, which became known as the … Read more
Technical Specification & Archival Record Technical Specification Archival Record Primary Method Name Garrote (garrotte, garrote vil) Primary Jurisdiction Spain and Spanish colonial territories (Cuba, Puerto Rico, Philippines) Civilian Introduction 1812–1832 (formalized by Royal Decree of Ferdinand VII) Key Mechanism Variations Cord tourniquet (primitivo); iron collar with threaded screw; collar with posterior spinal blade/spike Primary Mechanism … Read more
Overview of Burning at the Stake in England and Wales Burning at the stake in public was used in England and Wales to punish heresy for both sexes and for women convicted of High Treason or Petty Treason. Men who were convicted of high treason were hanged, drawn, and quartered, but this ritual was not … Read more
With special thanks to Traugott Vitz for his help with this article. Although large strides were made in the science of hanging, particularly in the last quarter of the 19th century—as detailed in our account of the evolution of the long drop in the 19th century—considerable further developments and progress lay ahead, particularly in the … Read more
