{"id":8168,"date":"2021-12-10T11:05:59","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T10:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=194332"},"modified":"2021-12-10T11:22:09","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T10:22:09","slug":"godly-butchery-the-horrifying-history-of-hanging-drawing-and-quartering","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/godly-butchery-the-horrifying-history-of-hanging-drawing-and-quartering\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Godly butchery\u2019: the horrifying history of hanging, drawing and quartering"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Kev Lochun\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Friday, 10 December 2021 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

In 1241, a man named William Marise, the son of an English nobleman, was convicted of one of the worst crimes it was possible to perpetrate against a nation: piracy. His punishment was to be publicly ripped apart into four pieces.<\/p>\n

It was known then as \u2018Godly butchery\u2019 or \u2018three deaths\u2019. Today, we recognise the gruesome method of execution, unique to England, that is seemingly synonymous with the medieval period as being hanged, drawn and quartered.<\/p>\n

Marise, who was executed in 1242, was the first-known person to suffer it. Hanging, drawing and quartering was reserved only for the worst of criminals \u2013 the traitors.<\/p>\n

Committing treason was even worse than murder since it was said to challenge the God-given order of kingdom and society. The Treason Act of 1351 defined it as conspiracy to kill the sovereign or fighting against the sovereign, among others. Piracy, which was an act directly against a monarch, fit into this definition. And as a direct crime against the monarch, treason had to be punished in the most severe way possible.<\/p>\n

So barbaric was the form of execution that it could only be carried out on men, as it was deemed indecent to expose a woman\u2019s body to such treatment. A woman convicted of treason would instead be beheaded or burned at the stake.<\/p>\n

Why were people hanged, drawn and quartered?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
More than a punishment, the purpose of hanging, drawing and quartering was to establish the boundaries of normal behaviour. The people who deserved such an end were not meant to be seen as human, and the pain, humiliation and brutality was intended to create a distinct separation between the audience and the condemned. The message was that \u2018normal\u2019 men would not suffer the three deaths.<\/p>\n
These \u2018death-tortures\u2019 inflicted pain for so long that they practically became an art-form. This served to justify the state\u2019s decision to carry out such a brutal method of execution and to act as a warning to anyone who might consider violating the social order between country and king.<\/p>\n
What happens when you are hanged, drawn and quartered?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Being hanged, drawn and quartered was a multi-pronged process of torture and humiliation, performed in front of large, eager crowds.<\/p>\n
First, the condemned man was dragged to their place of execution by horse, perhaps while lashed to hurdle, leaving them covered with painful lacerations before the real agony had even begun. This is one possible meaning of the \u2018drawn\u2019, as in drawn by the horse \u2013 more on the second possible meaning in a moment.<\/p>\n
The second step was hanging: the condemned having a rope tied around the neck before being yanked off the ground, sometimes by use of a pulley. There he would dangle and thrash around helplessly until just before the moment he fell into unconsciousness, at which point he was lowered to the ground and disembowelled in front of the horrified yet morbidly fascinated audience.<\/p>\n
$\""William\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>