Methods of Decapitation
A History of the Guillotine
The guillotine was actually not introduced by Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotine. Methods of decapitation, similar to the guillotine were used in Europe long before the French Revolution began. The Halifax Gibbet existed centuries before the Guillotine was introduced. The Guillotine was formerly introduced in France at the time of the French Revolution as a less barbaric and swifter means of execution and was adopted by several other nations following the Revolution.
The Halifax Gibbet
The Halifax Gibbet was introduced in England as early as the 1280s and remained in use until 1650. It was a “monolithic wooden structure which was supposedly created from two fifteen uprights capped by a horizontal beam,” says Robert Wilde. The blade was an axe head that was attached to the bottom of a four and a half foot wooden block. It slid up and down through grooves in the uprights. The device was mounted on a square platform which was about four feet high. “Executions took place in the Market Place on Saturdays,” says Wilde. The Halifax Gibbet remained in use until 1650.
The Introduction of the Guillotine in Revolutionary France
It was Dr. Ignace Guillotin who, in October of 1789, proposed to the Constituent Assembly that all criminals should be beheaded and the old barbaric methods of execution be abolished forever. “The idea of a standardised, quick and humane death was much more in line with revolutionary thinking,” says Jorn Fabricius. So, the Constituent Assembly passed a decree, making beheading the only method of execution on 25 March 1791 and this was made into a national law on the same date the following year.
The idea of beheading by sword, though, did not sit right with the revolutionary government. Beheading with sword took a lot of strength and it sometimes took more than one blow to sever the head. Consequently, Dr. Ignace Guillotin introduced the idea of the decapitation machine, which soon came to bear his name.
The guillotine resembled the earlier Halifax Gibbet in that it was comprised of two tall uprights joined by a beam at the top. Attached to a narrow wooden block was a heavy slanted blade that slid up and down through grooves that were greased with tallow. It was operated with a rope and pulley. The guillotine was mounted on a tall platform that was reached by a set of stairs. This decapitation machine was much larger than the Halifax Gibbet.
The use of the Guillotine during the Reign of Terror
As the revolution progressed guillotines were built in every Department in France. “Models (of guillotines) were made as children’s toys and even as earrings for women,” says Fabricius.
The guillotine was initially only used to execute criminals. However, in 1793, political events created the need for the newly formed Committee of Public Safety to rid France of all enemies of the Revolution. The first people to die underneath the guillotine were aristocrats, including the king and queen.
In the thirteen month period of the reign of terror thousands more people were executed underneath the guillotine. These included political offenders and ordinary citizens who disagreed with the Jacobins. The blade of the guillotine rose and fell from morning to night in virtually every city in France. To Robespierre and the Jacobins, the guillotine symbolized revolutionary justice. It is estimated that, in the thirteen month reign of terror, 40,000 people were executed underneath the guillotine.
The use of the Guillotine after the French Revolution
France was not the only country to use the guillotine as a method of execution. “Many other governments saw the speed and humanity of it compared to the other methods used at the time,” says Fabricius. It was adopted by Algeria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Tunisia and Vietnam. The guillotine was used until it was abolished in 1977.
Sources
Fabricius, Jorn. “The Guillotine: 1792-1977.” http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/guillotine.html (accessed 26 February 2009).
Wilde, Robert. “The Guillotine.” http://europeanhistory.about.com/cs/frenchrevolution/a/Guillotine.htm (2009) (accessed 26 February 2009).
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