Why Was Beheading the Preferred Way of Execution In the Past?

Question: Why Was Beheading the Preferred Way of Execution In the Past!?

Queen Elizabeth I's sister, Mary was executed this way I believe!. Couldn't they have come up with something less painful or something!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

As said, beheading was reserved for the nobles!. Actually, it wasn't Elizabeth I's sister who was beheaded, it was her cousin Mary Queen of Scots!. It took three blows for the axe to sever her neck!.

(Elizabeth's sister, Mary I of England, died of, it's thought, cancer of the uterus or ovaries - or influenza!.)

It was supposed to be painless, done properly with one swift stroke, but there were unfortunate incidents like the Scottish Queen above!. There are stories about the poor old Countess of Salisbury, where it's alleged she was chased around the scaffold by the executioner being hacked to death!. Whatever the story, it's agreed that she met a nasty death!.

Before being beheaded, the victim usually made a speech (and usually taking the blame, as otherwise vengeance might be visited on his family), and paid the executioner so that death might come quickly!.

Eyewitness account of the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots:
http://tudorhistory!.org/primary/exmary!.h!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Actually beheading wasn't the preferred method !. It was the reserved method !. Commoners were hanged !. Not hanged like today where you're dropped from a gallows , but pulled up in to the air by your neck !. Left there to chock to death !. Gruesome and messy as the bowels relaxed !.

Beheading was reserved for the nobility !. Much quicker and less of a spectacle !. Far less painful than being hung !. That's one reason people just put there heads on the block and didn't struggle !.

By the time of the French revolution the guillotine had been invented and made beheading easier and quicker !. ( you didn't have to worry about the ax man's aim ) The revolutionaries killed thousands of nobles using the guillotine then decided it would work on just anybody during there reign of terror !. So while it might look like beheading was common it wasn't except for France during there revolution !.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, as some others said, beheading was reserved for the nobility as it was more dignified, and quicker!. The common man's death didn't matter so much!.

One answerer said that Charles I's beheading was botched - it wasn't!. One clean blow, the king's head was off, and there went up a mighty groan from the crowd!. Perhaps he's thinking of the execution of Charles II's illegitimate son, James, Duke of Monmouth!. "On climbing the scaffold, Monmouth picked up the axe and ran his fingers along the blade, asking Ketch (the executioner, a noted bungler) if he thought it was sharp enough for the job!. He handed Ketch six guineas, promising him six more if he did a clean job: "Pray do not serve me as you did my Lord Russell!. I have heard you struck him four or five times; If you strike me twice, I cannot promise you not to stir!."

Ketch had an attack of nerves and his first blow only grazed the back of the duke's head!. Monmouth, who had refused the blindfold, turned his head around and gazed directly at Ketch, further unnerving him!. When two more blows failed to sever the head, Ketch threw the axe down and offered 40 guineas to anyone in the crowd who could do better!. At this the Sheriff of Middlesex, who was in charge of the execution, threatened to have him killed if he did not finish his job!. When two more blows failed, Ketch had to use his knife, butchering the Duke like a pig!."

Others are also right in stating that Elizabeth I's sister Mary was not executed!. She was "Bloody Mary", who tried to bring England back to the Catholic faith and had nearly 300 heretics burned at the stake!. Elizabeth had her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded - which didn't go too well!.

A greater crime than murder was treason, and the punishment for that was hanging, drawing and quartering, and even nobles could undergo that!. It wasn't used for women, though - for treason they could be hanged!. Anne Boleyn was accused and sentenced for witchcraft, treason and incest (adultery for a queen was treason), and was first sentenced to be burned!. (I can't remember if it was for witchcraft, treason or both!.) Her husband, Henry VIII, was merciful and ordered a swordsman from Calais for her!.

Heretics were burned, and witches were hanged and burned -can't remember exactly when the laws changed!. But even with burning, it was sometimes made more merciful, as when gunpowder could be put on the stake or in a bag around the victim's neck to despatch them more quickly!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Beheading was less painful than the other popular methods of execution at that time, which were hanging (which in those days meant slow strangulation, there was no drop) or burning at the stake!. A good executioner could sever a head with one or two blows!. beheading was generally reserved for the nobility!.

It was not Elizabeth's sister who was executed by beheading, it was her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots!. Elizabeth was very hesitant about signing the warrant for Mary's execution, as she knew it was a terrible thing to execute an anointed monarch, but in the end she did it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Mary wasn't executed, though she certainly executed a lot of others!. Her preferred method of capital punishment was burning at the stake (the death for heretics, which was the main capital offense of her reign) and compared to that being beheaded is basically a finger prick!. If the person was lucky then the fire was stoked very quickly and would burn their flesh and thus their nerve endings in a matter of second, but if not it was excruciating; the best thing about it was that pain and smoke inhalation [which was actually what killed most people] usually made you lose consciousness after a few moments)!.

The crucifixion, which was begun by Persians and used by Greeks, Romans, and others, was an absolute MASTERPIECE of death by torture!. There were several different varieties of crucifixion and it depended largely on the offense which you were sentenced to, but none were pleasant and all were fatal (though it is known that at least one person survived crucifixion- not talking about Jesus, but the bones of a man who lived about two centuries before whose scarred bones show that he lived at least a few days afterwards)!.

Vlad Tepes (aka "Dracula"- the historical person the character was based on) hoisted people onto sharpened spikes!. If you were just a p!.o!.w!. then you'd be impaled through your stomach- death might be instant or might take a long time, it depended!. If he particularly wanted you to suffer, the stake would go through your anus and your own body would push it down!. (Incidentally, in the Old Testament when it refers to "hanging", it's actually talking about impaling; it's a translation error in the King James version and some others!.)

Elizabeth I's mother, Anne Boleyne, was beheaded!. Henry VIII was "merciful" and imported a French swordsman who took off her head in one whack!. At some beheadings it took many- the beheading of King Charles I was notoriously bloody (the first blow sent his body into a spasm and that caused the rest of the blows to miss or be deflected- it took about a dozen blows to get his head off)!.

Dr!. Guillot perfected the guillotine in the 18th century and, when properly done, it's hard to imagine a quicker and more "painless" fashion of death!. The most uncomfortable part would be spreading under the blade!.

A really eerie sidenote: there is some evidence that people beheaded by the guillotine remain fully aware of what's going on around them for a few seconds- basically until all of the blood leaves their head!. This was first deduced by people who were praying when beheaded, and continued praying when their head rolled off a second or two later!. Doctors and executioners who were curious actually worked out codes: if you know what's going on, blink as many times as you can when your head is off- and almost invariably the people blinked!. It's believed the head/brain can remain conscious for about 10-15 seconds after beheading!.

Of course when the executioners learned this, they weren't exactly sweet about it!. That's when they started holding up the head, turning it around, and showing the victim his/her own body!. It would be a great scene for a novel!.

Worst method of execution not to involve flat out torture is probably hanging!. Pretty much anybody can work a guillotine or give a lethal injection, but hanging's almost an art- the noose has to be tied exactly right, from exactly the right height, placed exactly in the right place on the victim's neck, etc!., or it can be one really nasty death that takes several minutes!. (Several of the Nazis hanged at Nuremberg were intentionally allowed to 'dance' on the rope for several minutes, dying of strangulation; a skilled hangman could kill the person by making the rope break their neck as quickly as a guillotine [though there are accounts, especially of fat people, whose heads were popped off during hangings!.)

About the post-guillotine consciousness:
http://www!.straightdope!.com/classics/a5_!.!.!.

PS- More guillotine trivia: the last person legally beheaded by guillotine in France was a serial killer/rapist who was beheaded in Paris in 1977!. Since 1979 the death penalty has been illegal in France!.

It's unknown how many heads "Madame Guillotine" took off during the French Revolution other than it was in the thousands (accounts range from as "low" as 5,000 to more than 15,000, but the smaller number is probably closer)!. However many it was, the Nazis used it far more in World War II- they executed as many as 50,000 people with guillotines in France alone!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Why should it be less painful!? Executions were regarded as having a salutary effect on the population at large!. It was meant to frighten the bejasus out of them!. The worse the crime, the more extreme was the punishment!.

Trouble is it worked!. It so frightened the people they wanted it moderated, just in case they were on the receiving end!. Thats why we have removed the death penalty from most countries punishment options!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Beheading, or decapitation, was the original capital punishment (coming from the Latin word for head 'caput')!. Beheading was a punishment generally kept for nobles - it is probably the least painful way to go, as you die straight away!. Much better than being hung, drawn and quartered, anyway!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It might have been considered a more humane way of killing (hence later French Revolutionaries' reasons), and plus it was a certain way in insuring someone was dead and would stay dead!. I suppose earlier suppositions concerning people who came back to life in a century of strong religious feelings and superstitions gave them cause for that anyhow!.

I'm not sure if it was humane in any sense, but considering the painful part, I'm thinking a person might not have felt much in the rest of their bodies, if anything at all, once decapitated!. Then again, the technology of then did not ensure of a swift, easy chopping, and it was not uncommon for several ax blows or sawings to ensue to complete the job!. Gruesome in the extreme, but that's history!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Absolutely non denible death with lots of witnesses!. No chance for impostors or rumour that the execution didn't happen!. Very important in times when news was word of mouth only for most!.
also it was considered more dignified and appropriate than hanging for the upper class/aristocracy - it was a class thing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Less painful!?

The technology was low, this was a sure fire way to make sure the individual was dead!. I guess they could have smashed their heads in with rocks but I'm not sure that would be less painful!. I think beheading was a very generous way to kill people considering the technology available!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Queen Elizabeth's sister, Mary, was not executed!. You have her confused with Mary, Queen of Scots!. Elizabeth executed the latter for treason, after 19 years of imprisonment!. The French did come up with something less painful 2 centuries later!.!.!.the guillotine!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

actually, it was said to have been one of the most humane ways to die (though, for some reason, we have no one to actually corroborate this)!. it was suggested by a doctor (or barber, i forget which) that this was the quickest, least painfull way to die!. it was also pretty cheap!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

they had no guns for firing squad
and it was quick and merciful
and one hell of a spectator sport
people came from miles around
and when they were done they could put
the heads on poles at the castle gates
to show what happened to people
who pissed off the magistrateWww@QuestionHome@Com

Actually, it was generally limited to nobility because it was about the least painful way to go at the time!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It was the preferred way for the rich and famous!. The others were hanged!. Maybe it was considered less demeaning, as we all know that hanged men COME!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

To Terrorize othersWww@QuestionHome@Com