Скачать или смотреть Execution by Axe or Sword - Which was Worse?

In the long history of capital punishment there have been many different ways to carry out the grisly sentence. While commoners were often hanged, a method usually reserved for nobility was beheading by either axe or sword. Back then people didn't get a choice of what they would prefer, but if they did... which one would have been "better"?

Let's take a look at a few real examples to see if the historical accounts can give us an idea of which (hopefully) sharp blade might have been quicker and less likely to result in a botched job. Due to source availability and my background knowledge the scope is limited to European cases between the 16th and 18th century.


** Sources / credits **

https://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/b...
The Faithful Executioner: Life and Death, Honor and Shame in the Turbulent Sixteenth Century by Joel F. Harrington (2013)
https://amzn.to/4iXuONd (affiliate link)
Anne Boleyn
https://englishhistory.net/tudor/anne...
https://thefreelancehistorywriter.com...
Catherine Howard
https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/th...
Margaret Pole, countess of Salisbury
https://books.google.ca/books?id=EOW1...
https://www.britannica.com/topic/behe...
https://www.luminarium.org/encycloped...
Mary, Queen of Scots
https://archive.org/details/originall...
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executi...
Lord William Russell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William...
James Scott, duke of Monmouth
https://books.google.ca/books?id=hXQq...
https://dirtysexyhistory.com/2016/09/...
ketch/
https://ota.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/reposit...
Arthur Elphinstone, lord Balmerino
https://books.google.ca/books?id=1lEK...
Execution block for the last beheading in Britain, in 1747
https://royalarmouries.org/collection...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Executioner’s axe, 1550-1700
https://www.ima-usa.com/products/orig...
Executioner’s swords
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1916...
https://royalarmouries.org/collection...
https://art.thewalters.org/object/51....
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
List of confirmed executions at the Tower of London
https://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/t...
Other images
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...


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