Following on from last week's Claire Chats video talk on hanging, drawing and quartering, this week I'm looking at other methods of execution used in England, and also Scotland, during the Tudor period. Brutal times!
I mention how the Scottish beheading machine, the Maiden, still survives today and you can see a photo of it at https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/the-maiden/.
Notes, Sources and Further Reading
- A forum discussion on death by boiling - http://www.kenthistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15975.0
- Stacy, William R. (1986) Richard Roose and the Use of Parliamentary Attainder in the Reign of Henry VIII, The Historical Journal, 29, I, p1-15
- Kesselring, K.J. (September 2001) A Draft of the 1531 ‘Acte for Poysoning’, The English Historical Review Vol. 116, No. 468, pp. 894–899.
- 'The Chronicle of the Grey Friars: Henry VIII', in Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London Camden Society Old Series: Volume 53, ed. J G Nichols (London, 1852), pp. 29-53. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/camden-record-soc/vol53/pp29-53
- 'Henry VIII: May 1535, 1-10', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 8, January-July 1535, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1885), pp. 242-262. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol8/pp242-262, also documents 895 and 566 in the same volume - for details on the suffering of the Carthusian martyrs.
- Morris, John (1872) The troubles of our Catholic forefathers related by themselves, Burnes and Oates, London. This includes John Mush's account of Margaret Clitherow's execution, as well as a biography of her. Read online at https://archive.org/details/troublesourcath00morrgoog, p. 331 onwards.
- The Origins of Judicial Hanging - http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/origins.html
- Tudor Justice: The Horrors of Execution - https://tudorstuff.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/tudor-justice-the-horrors-of-execution/
- Timeline of capital punishment in Britain - http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/timeline.html
- Knox, John (1899) The history of the reformation of religion within the realm of Scotland, Adam and Charles Black, London, p. 5-6. Read online at https://archive.org/details/historyofreforma00knoxuoft
- The Maiden, National Museum of Scotland - https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/the-maiden/
- The Maiden, Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maiden_(beheading)
- ed. Pitcairn, Robert (1833) Ancient criminal trials in Scotland, Compiled from the original records and mss.; with historical illustrations, &c., Volume II, Part Second, Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, p. 448-450. Read online at https://archive.org/details/ancientcrim42pt202pitcuoft
- Moore, James (2016) The Tudor Murder Files, Pen and Sword.