The Unspeakable Things The Executioners Did During The Middle Ages

In the merciless days of the 15th and 16th centuries, one figure loomed large and ominous, an embodiment of terror and the unyielding grip of justice: the executioner. One such man, Franz Schmidt, served as the official executioner of Nuremberg from 1578 to 1617. Shrouded in darkness, this grim and enigmatic individual held the power of life and death in his very hands. With a single swing of the axe or the tightening of the noose, the executioner could silence the cries of the condemned forever. It was a profession that often brought notoriety and social isolation, but also a morbid fascination.

Clad in a dark hood to shield their identity from the vengeful gaze of the crowd, the medieval executioner was both despised and revered. In a time when gruesome punishments such as the breaking wheel, drawing and quartering, and burning at the stake were commonplace, the executioner's skill and precision were crucial to a swift and, if possible, merciful end. Franz Schmidt, in his lifetime, recorded carrying out a staggering 361 executions and numerous other punishments.

The Middle Ages spanned from the 5th to the 15th century, with execution methods varying across time and place. In England, the notorious Tower of London was a center for executions, with the position of executioner often passed down through generations. Infamous figures such as Jack Ketch, active in the late 17th century, were known for their brutal executions, including that of Lord Russell and James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth.

In France, during the reign of Louis XVI (1774-1792), Charles-Henri Sanson served as the royal executioner. His career peaked during the French Revolution, where he notably conducted the execution of Louis XVI himself in 1793 using the guillotine - an innovation of the era that was ironically presented as a more humane method of execution.

Various anecdotes and curiosities surround the lives of these grim figures. For instance, executioners often had side occupations as healers. They would sell 'hangman's rope', believed to have healing properties. This odd practice was rooted in the belief that those who dealt in death also had the power to heal.

Famous phrases associated with the executioner's role include "The king's justice", a term often used in England to denote the perceived fairness and finality of the executioner's task.

Executioners also faced societal ostracization. They often lived in designated areas outside of town and were forbidden from marrying outside their caste. Ironically, while their work was feared and despised, it was also deemed a necessary part of maintaining law and order.

Despite their dark profession, these executioners were merely fulfilling a role that society deemed necessary. As the Middle Ages gave way to the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, views on justice, punishment, and the value of human life began to change, leading to the eventual decline of public executions. However, the figure of the executioner remains a potent symbol of the complex interplay between life, death, and justice throughout history.

But beyond the bloodstained scaffolds and the horrifying spectacle of public executions, who were these men of death? Were they heartless killers, or reluctant servants of a brutal system? As the famed French philosopher Voltaire once remarked, "It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished, unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets." Venture with us into the shadowy world of the medieval executioner and explore the complex nature of their lives and duties. Welcome to the diary of Julius Caesar.

00:00 A Brief History of Executioners
1:50 The Making of Medieval Executioners
5:29 Instruments of Retribution
11:00 The Veiled Identity of Medieval Executioners
14:27 Outcasts by the Blade
17:55 Blood Money
20:45 Grim Shadows
23:42 The Rituals of the Medieval Executioner
26:17 The Dark Emperors
29:04 A Macabre Spectacle
31:49 The Evolution and Transformation of the Executioner's Role

[michaelgarrow]

Um, , , blocking out pictures of people who have been dead 500 years is silly. And distracting…

[michaelpistey]

A solid 8-10 minutes of information . Padded, stretched and repeated into a painful 35 minutes.

[rowbearly]

Blurring out medieval pictures???ARE YOU FKN KIDDING??? I was going to subscribe, but not if I'm to be treated like a child.

[savhanna]

I have to agree with the other comment, why are drawings blurred? They’re not real pictures they’re drawings. I like to watch asmr it helps me sleep, my point, last night I had auto play on and the video that played right after the video I picked was a girl using asmr as a shield to have basically soft core porn on YouTube. She was doing sexual things to the mic. Soooo that’s allowed these days but art isn’t? It’s history!! It’s ridiculous that drawings are blurred but YouTube allowed sexual material. What a joke !

[rayoneil]

I can’t believe that the drawings are
fuzzed out so you can’t see certain things. I mean come on what is going on with things today.
really like we have to shield ourselves from everything
this country is out of control with controlling what you see and hear
you can’t even watch a show on history without someone telling me what is okay to see and what is not
this is very upsetting

[Trillock-hycf]

Too much censorship in some drawings, from books probably available in Libraries...

[jerryaubert]

Ahh... what the h*ll with pixelating paintings from the middle ages?!?
Ok. Ive had it. Stop the planet. I want to get off.

[sharonbland]

Love your channel. No unnecessary information, factual and to the point, and, of course, very interesting.

[esomethingoranother]

There was alot of incorrect information in this vid. The one that stands out the most is that the executioner wore a hood over there head to hide their identity as well as black dark clothing. Everyone knew the executioner of their town and they made good money so they usually wore expensive clothes with with colorful garments.

[timfirth]

Why the blurring of the images? It leads to the question; are the images fake? Its treating us as children! You blur these images, you blur the integrity of what you are presenting.

[MikeM-wzmh]

Find it sad that you tube finds 600 year old illustration’s offensive

[matthewoconnell]

Can't believe Pierrepoint wasn't mentioned, got to be the most famous executioner of all time surely?

[lwj]

Your narration is extraordinarily repetitive; the French revolution is NOT the Middle Ages, nor is the American West or the execution of Charles I. Your research is lacking.

[janstan]

What's with the blurring of classical paintings? Was that your choice, or was that because of YouTube guidelines? You'd think a few hundred years (or a thousand) would take the curse off public viewing.

[rendezvouzwithrama]

These weren't even the worst methods. How about pressing, or sawing? In the latter, the victim was hanged by the feet, then a large two manned saw was placed in the groin - you can guess the rest. The process ensured that blood got to the brain and kept them alive and conscious for as long as possible.

[ulie]

It is said that in our local church (build in the early 13th century) a special place was made for the local executioner. It is a chair with a higher seat right beside a small door in the side of the church. Thus the executioner could attend the service in the church, but his feet wouldn't touch the sacred ground of the

[ernestclements]

Ironically Tom Horn was the first man to be hanged using a new device wherein his own weight on the trap door triggered a mechanism that caused water to run until it's weight triggered the traps release opening it he was also hanged with the horse hair rope that he was pictured braiding, he refused a hood, and his last words were, that he had never seen such a sorry, before the trap doors release cut off whatever he intended to say.

[duudsuufd]

So much blurred images.. It's ridiculous. They are only drawings!

[shesaknitter]

Many years ago, decades ago, really, I read a book by Barbara Levy, about the Sanson family of French executioners mentioned in this video.. The book's title was "Legacy of Death." I highly recommend it for anyone interested in learning more about this gruesome profession and its effect on the executioner families.

Thanks for this excellent exploration of medieval executioners!

[rosannavitale]

Splendidly and conscientiously done. Thank you.