Welcome back to Bad Things in History, where I don t know about you, but I learn something
new and disturbing every week. People have invented lots of ways to
kill each other. In most societies, the worst of these are reserved for criminals. We have
covered this in detail in previous episodes. In the modern world executions are meant to be
painless, most of the time. But rulers in the distant past wanted to inflict pain
and suffering. Even today some groups still seek to maximize the discomfort of their victims.
Today we are going to examine how boiling has been used to execute the condemned. Gonna be honest,
I never heard of this one. ---------------------
How Does It Work? Most people are familiar with boiling
for the purpose of cooking. It is a popular way to prepare food all over the world.
Usually, the things people toss into a boiling pot are already dead. But some creatures, such
as lobsters, are frequently thrown into scalding hot water while still being very much alive.
They are cooked slowly and, if lobsters can feel, it is undoubtedly a painful end.
People have also been subjected to this fate. So many have experienced it that
today we can describe with unnerving accuracy how bad it really is.
If someone is suddenly thrown into boiling liquid, they may actually feel as if they are freezing
for a few brief moments. When there is a sudden change in temperature the body isn t always sure
if it s hot or cold. But after a slight adjustment period the steaming hot liquid will begin to melt
away the outer layers of skin. As nerve endings are exposed, there will be no doubt that the
sensation is being caused by extreme heat. Even if boiling a person alive did no more
damage than destroying the skin it would still be unbearably painful. But it is only the beginning.
From here it gets even worse, and the process can take minutes or hours to unfold.
Soon after entering the heated vessel, the person being boiled can expect to go blind.
As steam and hot liquid emerge from the surface, it will come in contact with the eyes.
It will melt the outer layers of the eyes and heat the liquid inside. Vision will become blurry, then
will cease altogether. Yet it is only the first level of discomfort in this horrifying event.
As the exposure to this deadly environment continues so do the unfolding horrors. After
some time of being immersed in hot liquid the nerve endings beneath the skin will be destroyed.
This will stop some of the pain signals from reaching the brain. But it will
not bring a feeling of relief. As the skin is destroyed internal organs will begin cooking.
Nerve endings inside the body will continue to transmit pain signals until nearly the end.
Breathing will also be painful. As steam is inhaled it will scorch the lungs.
Breath by agonizing breath the person being killed will feel their lungs cooking.
In between the agony and despair, the victim will also begin to smell
themselves as they are converted from a living person into cooked meat.
Unless the person who is dying has their head submerged in the boiling substance
death will take a long time to arrive. The brain will continue to function almost to the very end.
And it will do all it can to try and keep the condemned alive. Consciousness will be
maintained throughout the entire experience. The pain will not stop until the very end.
Agonizing though the experience might be, eventually the person being boiled
will die. It is safe to say that most who have experienced this method of death felt that it
took entirely too long to reach its end. Why have some societies used this method
of execution? And why is it still happening in some places today?
Death In Europe
European rulers began looking for cruel and unusual ways to kill during the Middle Ages.
Romans no longer had control where punishing criminals was concerned, tyrants all over the
continent began making their own contributions upon the altar of pain and suffering.
Scotland started boiling people to death very early in the Medieval period,
though it wasn t really an official method of execution. In 1222 tenant farmers became angry
and boiled a bishop to death. He was too aggressive in collecting taxes from them.
They accepted his screams of pain as repayment for this transgression.
In other parts of Europe, criminals who were caught counterfeiting could be sentenced
to death by boiling. Sometimes extremely violent murderers were killed in this way.
And those who committed treason could expect it might be an option as well.
The use of hot liquid to eliminate the guilty reached its peak with Henry VIII.
In 1531 the King of England decided that anyone who committed treason or
killed by using poison should die in the most horrible manner possible.
These offenses would require that the condemned be boiled until dead.
The first recipient of this horrible fate was a man named Richard Roose.
Richard was a cook. He worked for John Fisher, who was a bishop. One day Richard decided to poison
the food he was preparing. John didn t eat the meal, but everybody else in his household did.
All of those who consumed the food became ill and two died.
Henry VIII decided to make an example of this man. He was placed into boiling liquid on April 2,
1531. As the man was slowly cooked into oblivion it was a gruesome sight to behold.
One account of the incident said: He roared mighty loud, and
divers women who were big with child did feel sick at the sight of what they saw,
and were carried away half dead; and other men and women did not seem frightened by
the boiling alive, but would prefer to see the headsman at his work.
A woman named Margaret Levy would also meet this same fate. She was accused of poisoning her
husband and was killed by boiling in 1542. The punishment was repealed in 1547 and England
stopped boiling criminals. As the Middle Ages came to an end,
England and most of Europe finally moved away from using scalding substances to kill.
The rulers of the East had their own experience with this gruesome method of execution.
Death In Asia Sikhism is the youngest of the world
s major religions. It was established in India and focuses heavily on the connection between
developing spiritually and living a moral life. The traditions and philosophies were established
by ten Gurus who lived between 1469 and 1708. Their teachings were not always well received.
In 1675 most of the Indian subcontinent was ruled by the Mughal Empire.
The Emperor was Muslim and did not enjoy having Sikhs in his empire.
On the Emperor s orders a Guru and several of his companions were arrested and given a choice.
They could convert and become Muslim, or they could die.
The Sikhs all chose death. One of them was given an especially painful death.
The victim was placed into a large cauldron of cold water. His hands were tied to an iron beam
above his head. He was forced to stand with his head and shoulders above the liquid. When the
order was given, the water was slowly brought to a boil. The suffering may have lasted for hours.
Warlords in Japan also used boiling as punishment under the right conditions.
Ishikaw Goem lived from 1558 to 1594. He led a band of outlaws who stole from
wealthy members of Japanese society. In many ways he was the Japanese Robin Hood.
Ishikaw stole from the rich and shared his loot with the poor.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a Japanese warlord who crossed paths with this merry band of thieves.
Unlike most other rulers in Japan, Toyotomi was born into poverty. He earned his power the hard
way and did not like being challenged. Ishikaw didn t like tyrants and he wanted
Toyotomi dead. So, he stealthily entered into the warlord s castle. He even made
it into the living quarters. But somehow a noise alerted guards who captured him.
What exists of the historical record claims that Ishikaw was boiled to death
for this failed assassination. But there are actually three versions of the execution.
We don t know which one is true. In one version, Ishikaw was condemned to
be boiled along with his young son. As the liquid became dangerously hot, Ishikaw held the boy above
his head to spare him from the pain. Toyotomi felt pity and allowed the son to survive.
Yet another variation of the tale says that Ishikaw did hold his son
above the water to spare him. But then after considering how the process would unfold,
he decided to instead push his son to the bottom so that the boy would die more quickly.
The third retelling of the event is the least pleasant.
In this one Ishikaw and his entire family were sentenced
to be killed with boiling liquid. Although it wasn t used very often,
execution by boiling was clearly intended to be the ultimate crime deterrent.
Boiling In The Modern World There are no governments anywhere
in the world today that use boiling to execute prisoners. But there are criminal and terrorist
organizations who do it. Some people have accidentally suffered this fate. And in one case
someone used it as a tool of entertainment. Lester Lake was a stage magician from 1925 to
1960. He is remembered mostly for the various devices he invented to help with his stage act.
One of his most famous acts was performed in 1928.
Lester would allow himself to be placed into chains. Then he would be dropped into
a container full of liquid. Then heat would be applied such that the water would start boiling.
Lester would stun audiences by escaping confinement before the hot water killed him.
Several people in North America have shared the fate of criminals from the past who were boiled to
death. But instead of paying for a crime, they were just trying to rescue a beloved pet.
On July 20th, 1981, David Allen Kirwan was 24 years old. He was driving through Yellowstone
National Park with his friend. His friend had a dog named Moosie.
They parked their truck and walked closer to the hot springs. Moosie escaped from
the vehicle and took off running. He jumped into a spring and began yelping in pain.
David decided he was going to jump in and save the dog. Bystanders tried to talk him out of it,
but he wasn t listening. David dove into the boiling pool headfirst.
He swam to the middle of the spring and grabbed Moosie then tried to bring the dog back to shore.
David then went underwater and had to let go of the dog. He made it to the edge of the
spring and was helped out of the water. As he got out of the spring David said
That was stupid. How bad am I? That was a stupid thing I did.
David suffered a massive number of injuries. He was blind and had third degree burns on
100% of his body. When someone tried to take one of his shoes off the skin came with it.
David was taken to a hospital and died there the next day.
Some organizations use boiling as a tool to instill fear.
The Shining Path was a communist party in Peru that operated from 1980 to 2000.
As they fought for power, they killed people all over the country. Before the conflict ended,
they would kill at least 31,000 people. An unknown number of the victims were boiled to death.
Terrorist organizations in the Middle East also like to boil their victims. In Iraq in 2004
ISIS took control of many areas. When they invaded an area one of the first things they
did was kill people. One witness described an execution he saw:
Some people were boiled alive in oil. Engine oil. They burned wood on a fire for an hour
before throwing the victim into boiling oil. It's the Tunisians who were responsible for that.
Drug cartels have also been known to use boiling liquid to execute people.
Supposedly they reserve it as a special punishment for members who work with the police.
No matter why it happens or who does it, being boiled to death is perhaps
the most painful way to die. -----------------------
We have explored many ways to execute criminals. Cannons, elephants, drowning,
and gas chambers are just a few. All of them seem preferable to boiling to death.
Is this the worst way to die? Or do you know of something that s even worse?
Tell us your thoughts in the comments. If you feel like it.
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Thank you for watching Bad Things In History. ----------------------