176:
61:
307:
135:. In the late Middle Ages, executioners used increasingly brutal methods designed to inflict pain on the victim while still alive and to generate a spectacle in order to deter others from committing crimes. The cruelty of the mode of execution (including the amount victims were tortured before the actual execution) was also more or less extreme depending on the crime itself. Punishments often invoked the "purifying" powers of earth (burial), water (drowning), and fire (burning alive). Victims were also decapitated, quartered, hanged, and beaten. Bodies or body parts were often displayed in public places and authorities took pains to ensure that remains would stay visible for as long as possible.
20:
47:. However, the actual efficacy of this form of terror is disputed. They also allowed the convicted the opportunity to make a final speech, gave the state the chance to display its power in front of those who fell under its jurisdiction, and granted the public what was considered to be a great spectacle. Public executions also permitted the state to project its superiority over political opponents.
172:. Enlightenment thinkers were not universally opposed to public executions—many anatomists found executions useful because they supplied healthy body parts to study and experiment on. People also found postmortem torture (which was typically part of a public execution) disrespectful to the dead and believed that it could prevent the victim from getting into heaven.
293:"For as long as there were public executions, there were crowds to see them. In London in the early 19th century, there might have been 5,000 to watch a standard hanging, but crowds of up to 100,000 came to see a famous felon killed. The numbers hardly changed over the years. An estimated 20,000 watched
38:
which "members of the general public may voluntarily attend." This definition excludes the presence of only a small number of witnesses called upon to assure executive accountability. The purpose of such displays has historically been to deter individuals from defying laws or authorities. Attendance
154:
During the seventeenth century, the use of premortem torture decreased; instead bodies were desecrated after death and for display purposes. By the beginning of the eighteenth century, the number of capital punishments in
Western Europe had fallen by about 85% from the previous century as the legal
354:
Amnesty
International's Interim Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Rawya Rageh, criticized Kuwait's execution of five individuals, including one for a drug-related offense, as a return to executions with "vigour," urging the establishment of a moratorium on executions towards
159:
as well as a more rational approach to criminal justice that centered around identifying the best methods for deterrence. However, there were several resurgences throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, especially during times of social unrest. Executions were condemned by
259:
and wait for their sentences to be carried out in the street. As at Tyburn, the crowds who would come to watch continued to be large and unruly. The last public execution in Great
Britain occurred in 1868, after which capital punishment was carried out in the privacy of prisons.
282:
The last public execution in the United States occurred in 1936. As in Europe, the practice of execution was moved to the privacy of chambers. Viewing remains available for those related to the person being executed, victims' families, and sometimes reporters.
42:
While today most countries regard public executions with distaste, they have been practiced at some point in history nearly everywhere. At many points in the past, public executions were preferred to executions behind closed doors because of their capacity for
175:
267:'s death by guillotine emerged and scandalized the process. Disturbing reports emerged of spectators soaking up Weidmann's blood in rags for souvenirs, and in response President
224:
In Europe, the 19th and early 20th centuries saw a shift away from the spectacle of public capital punishment and toward private executions and the deprivation of liberty (e.g.
348:. Kuwait has sometimes executed people in public. The prisoners are taken to the gallows and once a senior police officer gives the signed warrant, the prisoners are hanged.
203:
251:(but still publicly) so that "the entrance to the town should not be annoyed by dragging criminals through the streets." In London, those sentenced to death at the
184:
340:." Amnesty International does not include Syria, Afghanistan, and Yemen in their list of public execution countries, but there have been reports of public
1358:
1239:
792:
547:
1117:
422:
1313:
808:"The Spectacle of Suffering: Executions and the Evolution of Repression; From a Preindustrial Metropolis to the European Experience"
263:
In France, authorities continued public executions up until 1939. Executions were made private after a secret film of serial killer
132:
1334:
60:
1196:
1154:
1127:
1076:
1015:
614:
572:
523:
480:
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abolishing the death penalty. The executions were announced on 27 July 2023, after a pause of five years starting from 2017.
306:
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333:
1213:
768:
741:
674:
1270:
369:
329:
208:
400:
337:
128:
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1174:(This passage was adapted from the book 'Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found.'). p. 27.
1394:
1260:
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364:
325:
643:
901:
437:
189:
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In the US, members of the public can visit the jail where an execution is about to take place.
23:
1144:
606:
600:
341:
321:
44:
1092:
1039:
475:, Wellcome Trust–Funded Monographs and Book Chapters, Basingstoke (UK): Palgrave Macmillan,
161:
65:
8:
317:
Most countries have abolished the death penalty entirely, either in law or in practice.
1265:
981:
968:
921:
882:
835:
786:
541:
139:
35:
390:
236:, etc.). This coincided with a general tendency to shield all death from public view.
1192:
1170:
Larson, Frances (November 2014). "Very Short Book
Excerpt: The Allure of Execution".
1150:
1123:
1072:
1045:
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960:
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233:
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84:
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271:
banned public executions in France for "promoting baser instincts of human nature."
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952:
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511:
1186:
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468:
274:
Nazi
Germany utilized public execution by hanging, shooting, and decapitation.
264:
256:
165:
143:
131:, and peaked in the later sixteenth century. This peak was due in part to the
1383:
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878:
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hang in 1936, in what turned out to be the last public execution in the U.S."
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19:
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156:
100:
96:
69:
1359:"Kuwait: Five hanged as Kuwait continues execution spree into second year"
1335:"'There's nothing to prepare you': what it's like to witness an execution"
733:
423:"Public Executions: Understand the "Cruel and Unusual Punishments" Clause"
1240:"ISIS extremist reportedly kills his mother in public execution in Syria"
997:
248:
240:
221:
The first modern abolition of capital punishment was in
Tuscany in 1786.
214:
76:
39:
at such events was historically encouraged and sometimes even mandatory.
1007:
972:
925:
886:
854:
839:
252:
111:
Public executions were common in China from at least the Tang
Dynasty.
1293:"Video: Taliban shoot woman 9 times in public execution as men cheer"
940:
807:
760:
Theatre of horror : crime and punishment in early modern
Germany
758:
664:
562:
513:
469:"Introduction: A Global History of Execution and the Criminal Corpse"
229:
92:
956:
917:
870:
855:"A Pioneer for the Abolition of Capital Punishment: Cesare Beccaria"
823:
324:, in 2012 "public executions were known to have been carried out in
180:
138:
However, the death penalty was not used in all parts of Europe.
199:
698:
1314:"Kuwait executes three for murder (WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES)"
512:
Garland, David. Meranze, Michael. McGowen, Randall (2011).
345:
311:
244:
560:
342:
executions carried out there by state and non-state actors
310:
239:
In Great
Britain, 1801 saw the last public execution at
602:
Public Executions: From Ancient Rome to the Present Day
564:
Tyburn's martyrs : execution in England, 1675-1775
515:
America's death penalty : between past and present
127:
Documented public executions date back to at least the
119:
There are reports of public executions in early Islam.
902:"Bentham's Utilitarian Critique of the Death Penalty"
473:
A Global History of Execution and the Criminal Corpse
1037:
666:
China's golden age everyday life in the Tang dynasty
939:Marland, Hilary; Richardson, Ruth (February 1990).
146:' following his conversion to Christianity in 988.
806:Ruff, Julius R.; Spierenburg, Pieter (June 1986).
938:
288:Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found:
1381:
662:
805:
644:10.4159/dlcl.plutarch-lives_fabius_maximus.1916
1214:"Death penalty statistics, country by country"
1116:Steiker, Carol S.; Steiker, Jordan M. (2019).
1115:
1211:
16:Capital punishment carried out in public view
1033:
1031:
1029:
1027:
791:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
546:: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (
507:
505:
1212:Rogers, Simon; Chalabi, Mona (2013-12-13).
1146:The Criminal Law of Japan: The General Part
594:
592:
467:Ward, Richard (2015), Ward, Richard (ed.),
462:
460:
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456:
454:
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725:The English Execution Narrative, 1200–1700
155:system shifted toward one that considered
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1122:. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 167.
629:
589:
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305:
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59:
18:
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906:Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology
852:
133:witch trials of the early modern period
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1188:The Handbook of Crime & Punishment
1169:
995:
989:
941:"Death, Dissection, and the Destitute"
286:Frances Larson wrote in her 2014 book
1184:
1142:
1093:"Executions in York: History of York"
899:
721:
430:Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly
1065:Chambliss, William J. (2011-05-03).
756:
466:
420:
55:
1044:. SAGE Publications. pp. 4–5.
561:McKenzie, Andrea Katherine (2007).
414:
13:
699:"Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica"
122:
14:
1406:
114:
1271:Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
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370:Public executions in North Korea
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243:, after which all executions in
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859:Journal of the History of Ideas
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722:Royer, Katherine (2015-10-06).
715:
421:Blum, Steven A. (Winter 1992).
247:took place within the walls of
142:abolished the death penalty in
1333:Cameron, Claire (2020-12-12).
1119:Comparative Capital Punishment
945:The American Historical Review
812:The American Historical Review
757:van., DĂĽlmen, Richard (1991).
691:
656:
636:Digital Loeb Classical Library
623:
554:
382:
1:
1038:William J. Chambliss (2011).
996:BANNER, STUART (2009-06-30).
518:. New York University Press.
401:Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
375:
301:
26:, copperplate engraving, 1793
1002:. Harvard University Press.
605:. Chartwell Books. pp.
7:
1191:. Oxford University Press.
669:. Oxford University Press.
358:
194:, on 4 January 1879 at the
10:
1413:
1185:Tonry, Michael H. (2000).
1143:DandĹŤ, Shigemitsu (1997).
900:Bedau, Hugo (1983-01-01).
853:Maestro, Marcello (1973).
50:
663:Benn, Charles D. (2004).
599:Cawthorne, Nigel (2006).
365:Public executions in Iran
1097:www.historyofyork.org.uk
436:(2): 415. Archived from
204:attempted to assassinate
106:
632:"Lives. Fabius Maximus"
567:. Hambledon Continuum.
396:Encyclopedia Britannica
1242:. Fox News. 2016-01-08
314:
299:
218:
72:
27:
24:Execution of Louis XVI
1363:Amnesty International
1071:. SAGE Publications.
734:10.4324/9781315654676
322:Amnesty International
309:
291:
178:
63:
22:
391:"Capital punishment"
129:late medieval period
66:Crucifixion of Jesus
1008:10.2307/j.ctvjght8w
763:. Basil Blackwell.
160:eighteenth-century
1390:Capital punishment
1266:Cable News Network
315:
219:
213:the King of Spain
185:Juan Oliva MoncusĂ
140:Vladimir the Great
73:
36:capital punishment
28:
1395:Public executions
1295:. CNN. 2012-07-09
1261:"ISIS Fast Facts"
1198:978-0-19-514060-6
1156:978-0-8377-0653-5
1129:978-1-78643-325-1
1078:978-1-4522-6643-5
1017:978-0-674-02051-1
999:The Death Penalty
703:iranicaonline.org
630:Plutarch (1916).
616:978-0-7858-2119-9
574:978-1-84725-171-8
525:978-0-8147-3266-3
482:978-1-137-44401-1
234:community service
196:Campo de Guardias
68:, as depicted by
56:The ancient world
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1149:. F.B. Rothman.
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1041:Corrections
330:North Korea
249:York Castle
241:Tyburn Hill
215:Alfonso XII
207: [
188: [
79:in ancient
1384:Categories
1369:2023-07-31
1344:2022-12-02
1319:2024-02-08
1299:2016-05-30
1246:2016-05-30
1225:2015-12-13
1102:2020-04-13
818:(3): 652.
708:2022-09-19
649:2022-09-19
496:2022-09-19
404:Retrieved
376:References
344:, such as
302:Modern day
253:Old Bailey
144:Kievan Rus
45:deterrence
1277:9 October
965:0002-8762
879:0022-5037
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787:cite book
779:229423501
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542:cite book
534:630468201
406:3 October
230:probation
181:garroting
93:Phoenicia
89:Jerusalem
81:Macedonia
77:crucified
491:27559562
359:See also
101:Carthage
982:5379396
973:2163011
926:1143143
887:2708966
840:1869169
338:Somalia
179:Public
51:History
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