Good old lady England has never been kind

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The criminal legislation of England from the XI to the XIX century, went down in history, under the unspoken name - "The Bloody Code".

English criminal law provided for the death penalty for 150-200 crimes and England rightfully earned the name of the "classic country of the death penalty", which was punishable by even the most ridiculous offenses:

"Stealing a sheep, rabbit, etc."

"To steal anything more than 5 shillings."

"Forestry law: encroachment on the royal forbidden forest (hunting, felling, picking fruits)"

"Catholicism and Judaism"

"Begging"

"Witchcraft"

"Adultery"

"Receiving a naval sailor's pension on forged documents"

"Posing as a nursing home patient"

"Damage to London and Westminster Bridge"

"Spending time with the gypsies"

"Rebellion"

"For destroying machines" (Luddism)

Etc.

Death sentences were also imposed on poachers, pests of barriers on the roads, and those who took goods washed ashore after shipwrecks, and those who walked at night with their face smeared with soot (because those around them immediately took them for robbers).

If the suspects did not confess, the definition of guilt included: cold water testing for men and hot iron for women.

Initially, a gallows was awarded for murder, for rape - castration, for arson - burning at the stake, and for perjury - cutting the tongue, for killing a deer in the royal forest - blinding, etc. Then there was only, by and large, the gallows.

And even by the beginning of the 19th century in England, death on the gallows was threatened for 225 different crimes.

The first gallows, built in England, was an ordinary tree on the outskirts of London - Tyburn, this tree was actually called the "Tyburn tree", which received the first convict in 1196.

The place of execution was chosen from the "Book of the Last Judgment" - census of the English population and area 1085

years at the behest of Wilhelm to familiarize themselves with the territory and suppress the disaffected. The title of the book refers to the biblical Day of Judgment, when all people should be presented with a complete list of their deeds, and prim England decided not to wait for this day, but to take justice into their own hands …

The first legislation arose in 1071-1087, after the conquest of England by the king of Normandy - William 1. As a result of the Norman conquest, a ruling class of French origin was formed in England, opposing the mass of Anglo-Saxon peasants. The peasants who were able to pay to the treasury for the use of the forest were still not allowed to have a bow, arrows or any other weapon, and his dog had to have its claws pulled out on its front legs so that it could not pursue its prey.

The rest were even less fortunate, although the death penalty was widespread not so much under William as under his descendants, starting with Henry I.

Under King Henry VIII (1491-1547), over 70,000 "stubborn beggars" were hanged for 15 years only under the legislation "On the fight against vagrancy", the vast majority of whom were peasants driven from the land during fencing.

Under Henry VIII's daughter, Queen Elizabeth I, about 89,000 people were executed.

The hands of the condemned were tied in front of the body, and the legs were also tied to prevent attempts to push them apart at the moment the hatch was opened. The height of the fall was calculated in such a way that the jerk would break the cervical vertebrae, tearing the spinal cord and causing instant death, but could not tear off the head.

Reference:

In enlightened Europe, unlike in wild Russia, the method of hanging required an accurate calculation of the height of the fall: according to the doctors of that time, a force of 5600 N (1260 lbf) was required to fracture the vertebrae. In 1886, a commission was formed to investigate the unsuccessful hangings. The result of the commission's work was the "Official Falls Table" published in 1892.

In England, they used a simple noose with a loop at the end of the rope that slides freely along it. Later, it was supplemented - a metal ring was attached to the free end of the rope, instead of a loop, due to which the noose of the stranglehold was tightened much faster. This type of loop resulted in very quick death, usually a rope about 4 m long and about 2 cm thick.

In 1571, the "Tyburn Tree" became known as the "Triple Tree", it was made of wooden beams and was a large structure, in the form of a triangle. In common parlance, it was called "three legged mare" (three-legged filly).

Overlooking the countryside, this Tyburn Tree was also an important landmark in West London and the official symbol of the rule of law.

On such a gallows, several criminals could be executed at the same time, it was also used for mass executions, for example, on June 23, 1649, when 24 people (23 men and 1 woman) were delivered to Tyburn on 8 carts and hanged.

After the executions, the bodies were either buried nearby, or handed over to doctors for anatomical experiments. So, according to a law passed in 1540 by parliament, the Surgeons Guild (guild of surgeons) and the Company of Barbers (society of hairdressers) were merged, and they were allowed to take four bodies of executed criminals annually for study.

But not all got off with only a gallows, for high treason a more complex execution was envisaged: "Hanging, eviscerating (later with modifications, decapitation / drowning) and quartering" Storey (1504-1571), one of the leaders of the Catholic opposition.

The prescription read:

“Take the traitor out of prison, put him on a cart or cart and take him to the gallows, or to the place of execution, where to hang him by the neck and take him out of the noose half-dead. Then release his entrails and burn them. In order for his crime to become especially terrifying for the audience, the executioner ripped out his heart, showed it to the people and declared - this is the heart of a traitor! Then chop off his hand, and quarter the body. After that, put the head and body parts in a public place."

By special direction, these were usually places - City Gates, London Bridge or Westminster Hall.

During the reign of King Charles II, a symbolic execution took place in Tyburn over the leaders of the English Revolution, combined with the desecration of their corpses. On January 30, 1661, on the anniversary of the execution of King Charles I, the remains of the dictator of England, Oliver Cromwell, who died in 1658, were removed from the grave in Westminster Abbey, delivered to Tyburn, first hung on a "tree", then drowned in the river, and then quartered. The same fate awaited the bodies of John Bradshaw (1602-1659), the judge who sentenced Charles I to death, and General Henry Ayrton (1611-1651), one of the illustrious generals of the parliamentary army. On July 11, 1681, Oliver Plunkett, the Catholic Primate of Ireland, condemned as a traitor, was hanged, beheaded and quartered.

Executions at Tyburn have always been a favorite pastime of Londoners. The residents of Tyburn eagerly used this for commercial purposes, constructing wooden stands before executions and selling places on them. The day of execution in Tyburn was a day off for many citizens - "Gala Day" comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for "Day of the Gallows" and encouraged the gathering of the public demanding spectacles.

If the condemned man courageously accepted his execution, the people would say: "He died well!" ("Good dying!"). If not courageously, then they booed and insulted. Also, the audience usually insisted on the last word of the convict ("last dying speech"), in which it was customary to repent of the crimes committed and blame the victims. Sometimes such speeches for criminals were pre-printed and read by them from a sheet.

Tyburn has entered many English sayings and phrases:

Those who wished for all sorts of misfortunes were said to "take a ride to Tyburn".

The one for whom the noose was already crying was called "Lord of the Manor of Tyburn".

There were also smaller gallows in England, built along the roads in the shape of the letter "U". Gallows and hanging bars "were such a common feature of the British countryside that the first English travel guidebooks used them as road markers." London with its suburbs was called "the city of the gallows". Sometimes the gallows were made collapsible and removed after the execution. Often the gallows was erected near the scene of the crime, so that local residents could see the triumph of justice.

In Tyburn (Tyburn Convention), there is also an infamous Benedictine convent dedicated to the memory of more than 350 Catholic martyrs who were executed there during the Reformation.

The pirates were hanged separately at the Execution Wharf in Wapping, parts of London on the north bank of the Thames and their bodies left on the gallows, lowered to water level until three tides washed over them.

In 1659, bonfires were added to the gallows - "For intercourse with evil spirits" 110 people were burned in this one year alone. And during the years of parliamentary rule, up to 30,000 witches were executed.

The last execution took place at Tyburn's gallows on November 3, 1783, and street robber John Austin was hanged. Currently, the place of execution in Tyburn is reminiscent of three brass tablets lined with a triangle on the pavement corner of London's Bayswater Road and Edgewer Road.

After 1783, the plaza in front of Newgate Prison became the site of public executions.

Lord Byron in 1812 opposed unjustified executions and new laws regulating them:

"Isn't there enough blood already in your code of laws, or it needs to be shed even more so that it reaches the sky and testifies against you there? And how are you going to apply this law? Build a gallows in each village and hang on each person in intimidation to others? " Then he decided to publish in the newspaper an exposing poem - "Ode to the authors of the bill against the destroyers of machine tools":

O R (aider) and E (ldon) worthy of a mite

You have brought in to strengthen England's power

But ailments cannot be cured by such recipes,

And they can, perhaps, only ease death

A mob of weavers, this is a herd of troublemakers

Howling from hunger, calling for help -

So whip them up in bulk to the beat of the drums

And this will correct an involuntary miscalculation

They rob us shamelessly and cleverly

And their greedy mouths are always unsatisfied -

So let's put the rope into action immediately

And we will pull the treasury out of the clutches of poverty

Building a car is harder than conception

More profitable life lousy stocking

Trade and Democracy

A row of gallows would help bloom

To pacify the plebeian offspring

Twenty regiments are awaiting orders

An army of detectives, a swarm of cops

A pack of dogs and a crowd of butchers

Other nobles in their crimes

They would have dragged in the judges without knowing the shame

But Lord Liverpool refused his approval,

And now the reprisals are carried out without trial

But at the hour when hunger asks for help

Not everyone likes to tolerate arbitrariness

And see the value of the stocking being extolled

And the bones are broken for the broken bolt

And if the reprisal goes in earnest,

I do not intend to hide my thoughts

The first to hang the bastards

Who likes to heal with a loop

However, he quickly left the country.

And in 1830, a 9-year-old boy was hanged for stealing crayons …

Subsequently, in 1850, the number of crimes punishable by death was reduced to 4:

"Treason"

"Murder"

"Piracy"

"The burning of the royal shipyards"

Since 1868, according to the law then adopted, executions have been carried out outside the walls of Newgate Prison, without public access. Largely thanks to the efforts of Sir Robert Peel, Charles Dickens and John Howard. Dickens launched a large campaign against public executions, which was crowned with success in 1868.

The last public execution on August 13, 1868 took place over 18-year-old Thomas Wells, according to other sources, over Michel Barratt.

But, witnesses, including reporters, were admitted until 1910.

Between 1830 and 1964, around 2,000 people were hanged in this country.

Wiltshire, Hereford and Essex were the leaders in the number of executions carried out in the 19th century.

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