One of the most savage execution methods used throughout History was beheading or decapitation.
It was used for centuries as a way of putting to death some of the worst criminals in society,
and some Kings have infamously been linked to the practice. The Axe and the Block which
the executioner performed the death sentence of someone on is one of the most rudimentary
forms of the execution method, as it was considered sometimes unreliable. Later machines ended
up carrying out executions using beheading with contraptions such as the Guillotine being
used at times such as the French Revolution. Still today there are countries that use the
method of execution, but every time there was an execution by axe inside city, huge
crowds would flock to witness the bloody and grisly proceedings. It was the way that many
commoner’s were executed, and also two queens of England were executed using an axe. Join
us today as we look at this, and remember to support our channel please make sure to
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Beheading has been used as a method of execution for millennia, and it was used to punish serious
offenders. In Ancient Rome and Greece they considered it an honourable and noble death,
and throughout the Middle Ages in Europe it was considered still a method of execution
for the royalty and the high class. It was during the French Revolution that was standardised
as a method of execution for any criminal regardless of their class or wealth. But it
was used also by the Japanese during the Second World War, but one of the most common weapons
used to enact the punishment was an axe. Later we will look at swords and other execution
machines used to take off a head. But in terms of the axe, if the weapon was sharp and the
aim was precise with the executioner being skilled, then it was considered a quick and
painless method of execution. The skilled axemen were considered skilled if they could
take a head off in one quick and swift blow from the axe. But if the axe was blunt and
the executioner clumsy, then it could take a number of swings of the axe to take the
head off, and this was considered a much more painful and distressing experience for the
condemned and the thousands of people that came to visit. Inside the walls of the Tower
of London, Robert Devereux the 2nd Earl of Essex during the reign of Tudor Queen Elizabeth
needed three swings of the axe, and also Mary Queen of Scots’ had her head struck off
but it took two full swings and then one to sever the final sinews.
Another key part of executions using axe was the block, usually a wooden piece of oak that
would allow someone to rest their head on it before the axe was swung. For the best
success, it required someone to law rather still and calm, which is surprising considering
their death was impending. One example of an execution using axe that did not go well
was said, ‘She refused to lay her head on the block, or submit to a sentence where she
had received no trial. She told the executioner, that if he would have her head, he must win
it the best way he could: and thus, shaking her venerable grey locks, she ran about the
scaffold; and the executioner followed her with his axe, aiming many fruitless blows
at her neck before he was able to give the fatal stroke.’
Many beheading axes were two handled axes, which had big blades attached to them. Some
other executioners used smaller weapons that would be quicker when they were swung as they
were lighter also. In Britain, the axe was used famously during the Tudor Period to take
the heads off even queens, but it was used also for hangings, drawings and quarterings.
During the quartering part of the horrific execution, the condemned’s head was usually
cut off and then displayed in public on places such as London Bridge to serve as a warning.
But it was used even by the Celts in a head hunting ritual in Britain. It was said, ‘They
cut off the heads of enemies slain in battle and attach them to the necks of their horses.
The blood-stained spoils they hand over to their attendants and striking up a paean and
singing a song of victory; and they nail up these first fruits upon their houses, just
as do those who lay low wild animals in certain kinds of hunting. They embalm in cedar oil the
heads of the most distinguished enemies, and preserve them carefully in a chest, and display
them with pride to strangers, saying that for this head one of their ancestors, or his
father, or the man himself, refused the offer of a large sum of money. They say that some
of them boast that they refused the weight of the head in gold.’
During the Tudor Period, and particularly during Henry VIII’s reign the axe was used
to brutally put down the King’s enemies, and even some of his closest friends. It’s
estimated that Henry executed 70,000 people during his time on the throne, and many of
these were performed by axe. There were many crimes that people could be executed for,
the most famous that attracted execution by axe was treason. The standard sentence for
men who were condemned to die for treason was hanging, drawing and quartering, but the
most famous people to face the axe were close to the King and their sentence was then commuted
to beheading by axe which was considered quicker and less painful. During Henry VIII’s reign,
two of his wives were executed by beheading, but only one faced the axe. Anne Boleyn was
executed by sword, as Henry VIII saw this as more reliable than the axe, and he brought
over a swordsman from France to perform the job.
But Catherine Howard, Henry’s fifth wife would face the commoner’s axe, as she was
spared no such kindness. Inside of the Tower of London, which became associated with the
axe on the 13th February 1542 the young teenage Catherine came onto the scaffold. Her scaffold
was covered in hay to soak up the blood, and she lay her head on the block before quickly
her head was struck off, the young girl being condemned for allegedly cheating on the King.
Also her close friend Jane Boleyn was executed by axe too shortly after, and it was noted
that the executioner that day performed his job well with no known botches. Jane Boleyn
was forced to kneel in the blood of her former mistress.
Before this though, there were more high profile executions carried out by axe. Another which
occurred inside the Tower of London was Margaret Pole’s the Countess of Shrewsbury. Her execution
has been described as one of the worst and most disturbing of the Tudor period. Margaret
Pole was one of the remaining members of the House of Plantagenet, and with her execution
Henry VIII eliminated a woman who did have a claim to the throne. At the age of 67 she
was imprisoned in the Tower of London and on the 27th May 1541 she was summoned from
her cell in the Tower as she had been told she was to die in the next hour. She claimed
she had been sentenced of no such crime, but there was no scaffold at the Tower of London.
Instead in the Tower of London on a courtyard, there was just a low wooden block which was
found on the cobbled stone floor. Margaret was expected to rest her head on it, but she
did not go to her death submitting. The elderly lady in front of 150 witnesses refused to
go down, and her execution was performed by a ‘wretched and blundering youth who literally
hacked her head and shoulders to pieces in the most pitiful manner.’ As the executioner
who was not the most skilled plunged his axe into her, she kept turning her head and this
caused a number of issues, and it’s claimed that it took at least 7 swings of the axe
to take her head off, and some claim more.
Another Queen to lose her head using axe inside the Tower of London was Lady Jane Grey who’s
referred to as the 9 day Queen. Following her short time on the throne, she was imprisoned
by Mary I or Bloody Mary, and following the threat of rebellion her execution was ordered.
But only those who were considered of royalty of immense nobility were allowed an execution
by axe within the Tower’s walls, Jane was granted this and she knelt sadly at the executioner’s
feet on Tower Green and her head was taken clean off.
In terms of how executions by axe went, it followed a rather similar and traditional
procedure. First the condemned would be brought to their site of execution which was usually
a public scaffold in a town or somewhere where many people could see. Their crimes and death
sentence was then read out for everyone to hear, before they were handed over to the
executioner. The condemned would be allowed time to repent for their sins and their crimes,
and there were accounts throughout history where people remained indignitant against
their crimes until the very end. In high profile executions, the condemned would hand over
a significant amount of money over to the executioner and this was done to almost bribe
the headsman to perform his job well. Often executioners would perform a variety of other
execution methods too, but then also asked the condemned for their forgiveness before
they struck the head off. Following the swing or swings of the axe, the executioner then
held the head aloft to the crowd so that everyone could see, and if it was a high profile execution,
some members of the crowd would dip handkerchiefs in the blood of the executed.
But there was an executioner who became known for his botching kills with the axe. Jack
Ketch is referred to often as History’s worst execution and during two executions
by axe he made a horrendous mess of the proceedings. On the 21st July 1683, Ketch was in charge
of executing William Russel Lord Russel, a leading member of the Country Party and a
rebel in Parliament following the Succession of James II as the King of England. Russel
had been held inside of the Tower of London inside a cell for a few weeks before he was
sentenced to death for treason. His execution took place at Lincoln’s Fields Inn which
was one of the largest sites in London, and thousands flocked to watch his high profile
execution in the huge public space. But as the public looked on towards the scaffold,
Ketch made a terrible mess of the execution of Russel. He was later forced to make an
apology for his accounts and wrote the pamphlet, ‘The apology of John Ketch Esquire,’ and
he claimed he did not dispose himself as the most suitable and that he was interrupted
and disrupted whilst taking aim.’
Russel was to break beheaded, and his execution was not clean. It was said by onlookers, ‘On
that occasion, Ketch wielded the instrument of death either with such sadistically nuanced
skill, or with such lack of simple dexterity, nobody could tell which that the victim suffered
horrifically, blow after blow, each excoriating but not in itself lethal. Even amongst the
bloodthirsty people of society that attended English beheadings, the gory and bloody display
had created such anger that Ketch felt forced to write a public apology.’ Lord Russel’s
head was not taken off in one clean strike and it took many for Ketch to take his life,
with each blow not killing him until the last, and Russel was left suffering on the block.
But his worst work came executing James Scott the Duke of Monmouth. It was said as the duke
approached Ketch on the scaffold he said, ‘here are 6 ginueas for you. Do not hack
me as you did my Lord Russel, I have heard you struck him three or four times. My servant
will give you some more gold if you do the work well.’ It’s not known if Ketch took
this as an insult bringing up his poor work, but he may have lost focus and his temper.
The Duke of Monmouth was then demobbed, and he touched the edge of the axe that was in
KEtch’s hand, and he claimed that the axe was not sharp enough to take his head clean
off with one strike. He was reassured that it would, and then he placed his head onto
the executioenrs block. Ketch then struck the first blow, and it only gave Scott a small
wound, and then he struggled on the block as the instinct to escape kicked in. Ketch
struck again and the job still hadn’t been done, and two further blows continued by James
Scott, the Duke of Monmouith’s head had not come off. The crowd at this were disgusted
and outraged. They were all for witnessing public executions but demanded that it was
performed with some professionalism and decorum, but this wasn’t.
Ketch then saw Scott’s cut neck, and it’s claimed may have tried to give up saying’
I cannot do it, my heart has failed me,’ but then he was forced by the Sheriff of London
to finish the job. He told him ‘to take up the axe man’ and finish, and it took
two more swings of the axe to kill the Duke, but then his head was still not severed, so
Ketch grabbed his butcher’s knife to cut through the last sinews. As he held the head
up of James Scott the Duke of Monmouth, he noticed that the crowd had become incredibly
angry, and the guard were the forced to usher him to safety as it looked like a riot would
have broken out, and the angry crowd would have killed Jack Ketch. It was said that,
the crowd were so incensed that had he not been guarded and taken away, they would have
torn Ketch to pieces. The Duke of Monmoiuth’s execution was considered too much, and following
this Ketch was fired from his job as London’s executioner.
These were performed on Tower Hill, and it was this scaffold which became known as the
Public Heading Spot where executioners chopped heads off criminals using the axe. Some of
those to meet their end on Tower Hill by axe were Sir Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Guildford
Dudley husband to Lady Jane Grey, George Boleyn brother of Anne Boleyn and the final being
Simon Fraser the 11th Lord Lovat. Tower Hill was then abandoned as a site of execution
and a garden was laid out there.
But there were dozens of countries that carried out executions by axe throughout the years.
It was even carried out a couple of times whilst Hitler was coming into power in Germany
in the 1930s, but it was a brutal execution method that has become one of the most infamous
in History. It was not always the most reliable, and was not always performed by the most skilled
axemen, and when this happened it was very distressing for crowds to see. Execution by
Axe without doubt has to be one of History’s most brutal execution methods.
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