Throughout history and the centuries, different countries used many different methods of execution
and many rulers became linked to brutally putting the population to death. Henry VIII
for example is known for ordering the beheading of two of his own wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine
Howard. But also within his country, many people were hanged, drawn and quartered especially
those who were found guilty of treason. Mary I was also known as Bloody Mary for the fact
she burned many Protestants at the stake. But there was a ruler known as Vlad III, or
Vlad Dracula who became infamously known for his chosen method of execution. Vlad the Impaler
is regarded as one of the most important rulers in Wallachia, and also he’s regarded as
a hero in Romania. But it was for his executions that Vlad is most famously known. Join us
today as we look at Impalement, one of History’s most brutal execution method. To support our
channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Impalement was used as a method of torture and execution, and it involves having a wooden
stake, metal pole, spear or any other instrument being driven through the torso or part of
the body. It was used as a public method of execution to send a clear message to the people
in which crimes against the King, ruler or government would not be tolerated. It was
considered a very brutal and horrific method of capital punishment and execution, and it
was used at times to punish rebels, traitors and those who had gone against the rules of
the military. Often some crimes that were hated by the population were punished by impalement,
and examples were made of those who did things such as robbing graves, or those who were
highwaymen or robbers.
There were different methods of implement, and one of these was Longitudinal impalement.
This is where an individual would be impaled through their body, in a vertical manner.
This was used in many different countries, and one account of an implement from Egypt
in the 1600s unveiled how brutal it was. It was said, ‘They lay the malefactor upon
his belly, with his hands tied behind his back, then they slit up his fundament with
a razor, and throw into it a handful of paste that they have in readiness, which immediately
stops the blood. After that, they thrust up into his body a very long stake as big as
a mans arm, sharp at the point and tapered, which they grease a little before; when they
have driven it in with a mallet, till it come out at his breast, or at his head or shoulders,
they lift him up, and plant this stake very streight in the ground, upon which they leave
him so exposed for a day.
One day I saw a man upon the pale, who was sentenced to continue so for three hours alive
and that he might not die too soon, the stake was not thrust up far enough to come out at
any part of his body, and they also put a stay or rest upon the pale, to hinder the
weight of his body from making him sink down upon it, or the point of it from piercing
him through, which would have presently killed him: In this manner he was left for some hours,
(during which time he spoke) and turning from one side to another, prayed those that passed
by to kill him, making a thousand wry mouths and faces, because of the pain he suffered
when he stirred himself, but after dinner, the Basha sent one to dispatch him; which
was easily done, by making the point of the stake come out at his breast, and then he
was left till next morning, when he was taken down, because he stunk horridly.’
In terms of how long someone could survive through longitudinal impalement depended on
where the stake or spike had been placed. Some people would live a few seconds if their
internal organs were penetrated by the spike, or some could live a few hours and even a
few days. In the Dutch East Indies, it was noted that one man survived 6 days whilst
being impaled, and some surgeons claimed someone could last longer than 8 days, but this depended
on how the stake was stuck through the body. If the stake was inserted to follow the spine,
then the impalement would not necessarily damage vital organs, meaning that someone
could last longer.
The other type of impalement was Transversal impalement. This was where a spike was pushed
through the body from the front to the back. This means a spike would be driven through
the chest or sometimes through the heart, and in the Holy Roman Empire this was used
for women who were accused and found guilty of killing their children. They were placed
in open graves and a stake was hammered through the heart, almost like witches. In one account,
a grave was dug and a woman was placed in it and had her hands and feet hammered into
the ground with nails being driven through them. The executioner then put a thorn bush
on her face, and then drove a wooden stake through the heart and the assistants of the
executioner buried her. After the grave was covered up, a red hot iron rod was then hammered
through the woman’s body, and a scream was heard.
Gauching was another form of impalement, where a condemned victim was hoisted up on a rope
over a row of sharp metal hooks. When released, they would fall onto the hooks and these would
impale in the body. In the city of Algiers, hooks were embedded in the walls of the city,
where people were thrown from the battlements and were then impaled in the hooks. It was
said that, ‘they are hung up by the neck over the battlements of the city walls, or
else they are thrown upon the hooks that are fixed all over the walls below where sometimes
they break from one hook to another, and hand in the most exquisite torments, thirty of
40 hours. Other variations of impalement, include hanging by the ribs where someone
was impaled with an iron meet hook through the ribs and then they were left to die slowly,
and also bamboo torture used by the Japanese upon POWs during the Second World War. A victim
would be tied above a bamboo shoot, but the fast growing sharp shoot would then go through
a victims body.
In Europe, Impalement was used for a huge amount of crimes, including heresy and murder.
Often some crimes which were considered so brutal included a number of different execution
methods, including being broken on the breaking wheel, but also then impalement afterwards.
So a victim would be beaten on the wheel before being impaled. Also beheading was used with
impalement, meaning they would have their heads cut off before being a stake was driven
through their corpse.
But it’s Vlad the Impaler who is considered the most notable user of the execution method.
During the 15th century, he would go on to harshly deal with many of his enemies using
impalement, and there were scores of people who were killed in this way. It was said that
in the capital of Vlad’s lands, there was a forest of 20,000 impaled and decaying corpses,
and this even put the Turks off invading Vlad’s lands.
But Impalement was a shocking method of execution that carried a horrific visual for enemies
of a king or ruler. Vlad the Impaler’s use of the method resulted in a huge propaganda
boost and many feared his wrath. It was a savage way of killing, and within the method
there were other ways that different rulers put their spin on the method. It punished
a huge variety of crimes, from heresy to treason and murder. Today it’s remembered as the
weapon of Vlad the Impaler, but as a brutal execution method that today is not seen around
the world.
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