Throughout the centuries, there have been many different execution methods used to inflict
death onto a condemned prisoner.
Some of the methods used include animals such as elephants that would crush someone, and
also horrific weapons such as axes and swords.
Beheading and hanging, drawing and quartering was made infamous during the Medieval and
Tudor period, with King’s such as Henry VIII ordering the executions of two of his
wives, and some of his closest friends.
There was a Tudor Monarch who became infamous for her use of in particular one execution
method.
Mary I, the eldest daughter of Henry VIII became known as Bloody Mary for her horrific
heretical burnings of Protestants at the stake.
Burning at the Stake was a horrendous and traumatic death, and often those people who
would flock to witness executions would be disgusted by what they would see.
Join us today as we look at one of History’s most brutal execution methods, and remember
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Death by burning was a horrific execution method used throughout history and it was
used for centuries.
There were many examples of burning alive used in Ancient Egypt, and it was linked to
the idea of showing no mercy.
In Egyptian times, some women were burned to death who committed adultery, and those
who were involved in plots were also burned at the stake.
It was written also that Celts would burn humans alive in the form of druidic sacrifice,
and the practice was linked to the idea of giving sacrifices to the gods throughout the
centuries.
But in Christian countries it was used throughout to burn those who were considered religious
criminals or heretics.
Burning heretics was used strongly during the Spanish and Medieval Inquisition in Europe,
and the punishment was written into law.
In England, Lollards were burned in this way for over 100 years, and there were even recorded
accounts of many Jews being burned throughout the Medieval times.
The persecution of Jews occurred centuries before, and many massacres resulted in Jews
being burned alive.
In York’s Clifford’s Tower, many were trapped inside the castle building, and then
this was set on fire resulting in the deaths of dozens of the cities Jews.
In 1514, a Jewish Man in Halle in Germany, Johannes Pfefferkorn was charged with impersonating
a priest, and was tortured and killed.
He was lashed on a pillar, and then a ring of glowing coal was placed around him, and
this turned to fire and he was pushed towards it and was slowly roasted to death.
The Spanish Inquisition continued the heretic burning, and it’s believed that between
30,000 to 50,000 people succumbed to a fate being burned at the stake because of the Inquisition.
In many different towns and cities, dozens of people were being burned each month, and
things continued as the influence of the inquisition spreader.
One of the most famous accounts of an individual being burned at the stake was Joan of Arc,
the heroine of France.
During the 100 years war, she led the fightback for the French against the English and lifted
the Siege of Orleans, but after capture she was handed over to the English who tried her
and burned her at the stake.
Many believed they had burned a saint that day.
Those who wished to change and reform religion also incurred the same fate, for example John
Frith and William Tyndale who worked on the Bible and translating it.
Both of these men burned, and many during the 16th century became martyrs because of
this.
But it’s during the reign of Bloody Mary I that the punishment became synonymous with
her reign and rule over England.
Mary when she came onto the throne had to deal with the fact she had to restore Catholicism
as the religion of the country over the prospering Protestantism.
To reinforce her message, she sought many high profile executions of Protestants and
religious reformers who would not return to Catholicism.
In Oxford, today the martyrs memorial marks the site where Bishops Latimer, Ridley and
Cranmer were executed.
All 3 were high profile churchmen and refused to return to Mary’s religion, and they were
all burned at the stake.
It was said of Cranmer’s execution, ‘As the flames drew around him, he placed his
right hand into the heart of the fire, calling it the unworthy hand,’ the flames rose up
around him and he succumbed to his fate.
Ridley and Latimer were both burned together in this way, and were burned on the same stake.
It was said that one in particular suffered more with the fact the smoke did not make
one pass out.
Often to make things quicker and less painful, an executioner could take pity on the alleged
heretic, and would place a small bag of gunpowder around the neck of the person tied to the
stake.
With this, the flames would then get higher and the gunpowder would explode instantly
killing the person on the fire.
The Marian persecutions continued throughout England, and in this it solidified Mary I’s
reign as a brutal one, and cemented her place as a feared ruler.
The traditional punishment for women found guilty of treason was at the time being burned,
and this was different from men.
The last woman condemned to death for petty treason was Mary Bailey in England who was
sentenced to be burned in 1784, and the final woman burned for high treason was Catherine
Murphy in 1789, who was burned for coin clipping and coin foregry.
She was actually hanged before hand, and then her body was burned publicly, which casts
doubt that she was the last to be burned at the stake.
In England the final case of a woman being actually burned at the stake was that of Catherine
Hayes who died in 1726.
She had murdered her husband, and it said of her death, ‘The fuel being placed round
her, and lighted with a torch, she begg’d for the sake of Jesus, to be strangled first:
whereupon the Executioner drew tight the halter, but the flame coming to his hand in the space
of a second, he let it go, when she gave three dreadful shrieks; but the flames taking her
on all sides, she was heard no more; and the Executioner throwing a piece of timber into
the Fire, it broke her skull, when her brains came plentifully out; and in about an hour
more she was entirely reduced to ashes.’
As mentioned, it was also a common punishment for witches and following witch hunts often
women would be burned at the stake.
In England and Wales, the preferred execution method was hanging, but it has been estimated
that roughly 50,000 people were executed for witchcraft in Europe with many of them being
burned alive.
Another practice linked to burning alive is Sati, used on the Indian subcontinent.
This involved a woman setting fire to herself following her husband’s passing, but jumping
on her deceased husband’s funeral put.
This emerged in the 400s, and it was used a lot in India.
The East Indian Company when they were involved in India then began to compile accounts of
Sati and there were around 600 women a year being burned in that manner, and later the
practice was banned and outlawed.
There were other methods closely linked to burning, such as the use of the brazen bull.
This was a hollow metal structure shaped like a bull, in which a condemned criminal would
be forced inside of.
This would then be placed over a fire and slowly the person inside would roast to death
inside of the hot structure.
Some cultures even poured molten metals and compounds down a criminals throat and ears
which would cause immense pain.
It was said that one Spanish conquistador in the Americas in the 16th century had been
captured by natives and had molten gold poured down his throat as the onlookers mocked saying,
‘Eat gold Christians.’
It was said of burning at the stake that, ‘“If the fire was small…the convict
would burn for some time until death from heatstroke and loss of blood plasma.
When this method of execution was applied with skill, the condemned’s body would burn
progressively in the following sequence: calves, thighs and hands, torso and forearms, breasts,
upper chest, face; and then finally death.
On other occasions, people died from suffocation with only their calves on fire.
Several records report that victims took over 2 hours to die.”
Being burned at the stake has gone down in History as one of the most brutal and barbaric
execution methods.
One saving grace for someone being killed was that often they would pass out due to
the smoke, and that they would be unconscious in their final moments.
There were accounts when burnings went wrong, which resulted in someone being slowly roasted
to death in a rather terrible scene, and there were some blundering executioners who struggled
to light the fire prolonging the ordeal, and also prolonging death.
It was linked closely to religious crimes, and those who dared to think differently during
times of oppression.
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