Tudor Executions

Throughout history, an execution has been seen as an excellent day out for all the family! Now the death penalty has been abolished but if it hadn't and you took your family to see a murderer being hung or beheaded then society would be slightly concerned... This post will tell you exactly what happened at executions and how you could be executed if you committed a serious crime. Please remember that these are mainly the common and most well known methods.

Beheading

When people think of the Tudors, they usually think of beheadings. Beheading was considered the best way to be executed because it was the quickest way to die if you had a decent executioner. This way of execution meant that you were decapitated. It was usually reserved for the upper classes who have been found guilty usually of treason. and several queens have been executed this way- Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, Lady Jane Grey and Mary Queen of Scots.  

Hanging

Hanging was the common way to die. A rope was tied around your neck and a trap door was opened meaning you would swing and suffocate. This was a punishment for crimes such as theft, witchcraft and adultery. 

Burning at the stake

This method is normally associated with women being executed for witchcraft but in actual fact if you were found guilty of witchcraft, you were most likely to be hung. Many accused heretics, such as Archbishop Thomas Crammer who was burnt in Mary I's reign, were burnt at the stake. You would be tied to a pillar of wood and then a pyre would be built around you and it was lit. You were likely to suffocate on the smoke but if the executioner was feeling nice then he might hang a bag of gunpowder around your neck meaning it would explode as the fire reached it. 

Hung, drawn and quartered

Without going into to much detail because this was cruel and gruesome, you would first be hung until you were nearly dead, then taken down and have your guts pulled out in front of your eyes, then if you were lucky beheaded first, and hacked into four pieces or tied to horses who were then ridden. This was the harshest punishment used for treason. Guy Forks in 1605 was executed this way for attempting to blow up parliament.