METRO
Guy Fawkes’ punishment was one of the most severe in English history – here’s what happens when a body is hung, drawn and quartered
After their infamous plot to destroy parliament was foiled, Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators received one of the most severe judicial sentences in English history: hanging, drawing and quartering. According to the Treason Act 1351 , this punishment involved…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Author
- Michelle SpearProfessor of Anatomy, University of Bristol
That you be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, where you shall be hanged by the neck and being alive cut down, your privy members shall be cut off and your bowels taken out and burned before you, your head severed from your body and your body divided into four quarters to be disposed of at the King’s pleasure.
This process aimed not only to inflict excruciating pain on the condemned, but to serve as a deterrent – demonstrating the fate of those who betrayed the Crown. While Fawkes reportedly jumped from the gallows – which meant he avoided the full extent of his punishment – his co-conspirators apparently weren’t so lucky.
By dissecting each stage of this medieval punishment from an anatomical perspective, we can understand the profound agony each of them endured.
Torture for confession
Before his public execution on January 31 1606, Fawkes was tortured to force a confession about his involvement in the “gunpowder plot”.
The Tower of London records confirm that King James I personally authorised “the gentler tortures first”. Accounts reveal that Fawkes was stretched on the rack – a device designed to slowly pull the limbs in opposite directions. This stretching inflicted severe trauma on the shoulders, elbows and hips, as well as the spine.
The forces exerted by the rack probably exceeded those required for joint or hip dislocation under normal conditions.
Substantive differences between Fawkes’ signatures on confessions between November 8 and shortly before his execution may indicate the amount of nerve and soft tissue damage sustained. It also illustrates how remarkable his final leap from the gallows was.
Stage 1: hanging (partial strangulation)
After surviving the torture of the rack, Fawkes and his gang faced the next stage of their punishment: hanging. But this form of hanging only partially strangled the condemned – preserving their consciousness and prolonging their suffering.
Partial strangulation exerts extreme pressure on several critical neck structures. The hyoid bone , a small u-shaped structure above the larynx, is prone to bruising or fracture under compression .
Simultaneously, pressure on the carotid arteries restricts blood flow to the brain, while compression of the jugular veins causes pooling of blood in the head – probably resulting in visible haemorrhages in the eyes and face.
Because the larynx and trachea (both essential for airflow) are partially obstructed, this makes breathing laboured. Strain on the cervical spine and surrounding muscles in the neck can lead to tearing, muscle spasms or dislocation of the vertebra – causing severe pain. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Fawkes brought his agony to a premature end by leaping from the gallows. Accounts from the time tell us:
His body being weak with the torture and sickness, he was scarce able to go up the ladder – yet with much ado, by the help of the hangman, went high enough to break his neck by the fall.
This probably caused him to suffer a bilateral fracture of his second cervical vertebra, assisted by his own bodyweight – an injury known as the “hangman’s fracture” .
Stage 2: Drawing (disembowelment)
After enduring partial hanging, the victim would then be “drawn” – a process which involved disembowelling them while still alive. This act mainly targeted the organs of the abdominal cavity – including the intestines, liver and kidney, as well as major blood vessels such as the abdominal aorta.
The physiological response to disembowelment would have been immediate and severe. The abdominal cavity possesses a high concentration of pain receptors – particularly around the membranous lining of the abdomen . When punctured, these pain receptors would have sent intense pain signals to the brain, overwhelming the body’s capacity for pain management . Shock would soon follow due to the rapid drop in blood pressure caused by massive amounts of blood loss.
Stage 3: quartering (dismemberment)
Quartering was also supposed to be performed while the victim was still alive. Though no accounts exist detailing at what phase victims typically lost consciousness during execution, it’s highly unlikely many survived the shock of being drawn.
So, at this stage, publicity superseded punishment given the victim’s likely earlier demise. Limbs that were removed from criminals were preserved by boiling them with spices. These were then toured around the country to act as a deterrent for others.
Though accounts suggest Fawkes’s body parts were sent to “the four corners of the United Kingdom”, there is no specific record of what was sent where. However, his head was displayed in London .
Traitor’s punishment
The punishment of hanging, drawing and quartering was designed to be as anatomically devastating as it was psychologically terrifying. Each stage of the process exploited the vulnerabilities of the human body to create maximum pain and suffering, while also serving as a grim reminder of the consequences of treason.
This punishment also gives us an insight into how medieval justice systems used the body as a canvas for social and political messaging. Fawkes’s fate, though unimaginable today, exemplifies the extremes to which the state could, and would, go to maintain control, power and authority over its subjects.
The sentence of hanging, drawing and quartering was officially removed from English law as part of the Forfeiture Act of 1870 .
METRO
Man indecently abused another victim while on probation, but ‘the judge said he shouldn’t go to prison’ because of this!
Just about everyone does online shopping these days. How could we not, with just how convenient it all is?
You buy something without ever leaving the house, pay for it, and then it shows up on your doorstep a few days later!
For folks that have mobility or health issues, or aren’t able to get to the shops in time, online shopping is basically a godsend.
There is just one tiny problem – people have realized that there are more and more valuable goods simply left out on the front porch unattended, often for hours at a time.
And with this vulnerability comes the potential for theft. When you are desperate or just greedy, parcels left sitting in front of the door is just easy pickings…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
And it doesn’t help that most deliveries are conducted during office hours – the times where most people won’t be available, which is why they chose online shopping in the first place.
(This is probably why Amazon Key is now a thing – you can’t lose your purchases if they were left inside your house.)
So as convenient as it is to just have packages waiting for you once you reach back home, the risk of losing them can be grave, as this family found out the hard way.
While most people would be incredibly upset that they had their parcel stolen (and be set back a sizeable amount of money), this teenager has bigger problems to worry about.
14-year-old Gage Haynes is now in a life-or-death situation after about $40,000 worth of medication was swiped from the doorstep of his house in Summerlin, Nevada on one February day.
Diagnosed with systemic mastocytosis at only 6 months old, Gage has spent the pretty much most of his life staring at the inside of hospital walls as much as he has being outside them. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Because of the rarity of his cancer, finding the right treatment for him was a massive struggle that consumed most of Gage’s life.
Then, Gage and his mother, Shakala, found the miracle they had been searching for – a new chemotherapy medication called Rydapt.
8 pills a day eases Gage’s symptoms to the point he can attend school and worry about his grades for a change – a massive quality-of-life change.
But the new medication came at a steep cost.
Shakala had to work herself to the bone to gain both financial assistance and earn enough money to afford the monthly $40,000 cost necessary to keep her son alive.
To top things off, the medication wasn’t approved by the FDA for those under the age of 18, making it hard to get.
So when the unidentified thief made off with two packages in broad daylight, he just made it a lot harder for Gage to survive.
The teen has since put out a public plea for the thief to return the costly and life-saving medication he desperately needs.
Here’s to hoping the thief has at least a shred of humanity left in him and returns the medication once he realizes what he has done.
Lexi Lindsey is one high schooler you won’t soon forget about.She attends Bedford North Lawrence High School in Indiana as a senior this year.
Along with her regular high school studies, she is also enrolled at North Lawrence Career Center which helps her decide what career path will be best for her.
She has already received training in first aid, CPR, and the process for responding to a medical emergency.
This training must have been on her mind when she least expected to be using it.
While Lexi and a friend were on their way to a concert, they noticed a car that was parked to the side of the road.
They could tell that the driver was trying to be noticed…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Lexi recalls that the driver was waving his arms around and then he dropped to the ground. This is when she yelled for her friend to stop the car.
Lexi then ran over to the man who had fallen out into the road. She pulled him back to safety and called 911.
He was able to let her know that he had an internal defibrillator.
This was due to heart issues from the past and how he was currently suffering from arrhythmia.
While she was accessing him, he began to have a seizure.
Lexi was able to place him on his side and keep him safe, while waiting to perform CPR if he needed it.
She was able to keep the man awake and calm until the ambulance was on site.
The man was happy to tell the EMTs that Lexi was the reason he was still alive.
She later learned that the man she saved was Brian Putt.
He has two children and is a Navy veteran. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
After Brian recovered, he was able to obtain Lexi’s name.
He wanted to meet her and thank her for saving him.
This is when he made the decision to visit her in her classroom at NLCC.
He walked into the classroom carrying a beautiful bouquet of flowers for the girl that gave him another chance at life.
Brian was able to talk to the class and bragged on Lexi.
He explained how he had seen grown adults in the Navy loose it under stress but that wasn’t in Lexi’s nature.
She had a true gift of how to react in the time of need.
He went on to talk of her character and how she was an astounding person for the choices that she made.
He then took out a pin that was adorned with dolphins by a submarine.
Brian explained that it took him 20 years to earn this pin. It wasn’t a small task either.
He revealed the date that he was pinned on October 19th, 1993.
Then, he placed the pin on Lexi and told her that she had earned the dolphins.
Lexi was quick to stop and help. Without her, Brian’s life may be nonexistent.
She is a true hero and will make a great addition to the medical field.
Be sure to share this story and hopefully you can inspire someone else to make the decision to help others in need.
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