K.A. Levinson
Executioner in a medieval German city:
Official. Craftsman. Witch Doctor
City in the medieval civilization of Western Europe. T. 3. Man inside the city walls. Forms of public relations. - M.: Nauka, 1999, p. 223-231.
The figure of the city executioner, familiar to many from descriptions in fiction, became the subject of attention of historians much less often than, say, many of those who had to experience the skill of the masters of the rack and the scaffold.
Below is an attempt, firstly, to give some general information about executioners in the cities of Central Europe - about the history of the emergence and existence of this profession, about the functions of executioners and their position in the urban community; secondly, to find out how and why that ambiguous attitude towards the figure of the executioner, permeated with different trends from different times, developed and changed, the echo of which is the disgust and fearful disgust that has survived to this day.
The executioner is not mentioned in medieval sources until the 13th century. The professional position of executioner did not yet exist. In the early and high Middle Ages, the court, as a rule, established the conditions of reconciliation between victims and offenders (more precisely, those who were recognized as such): the victim of the crime or her relatives received compensation (“wergeld”), corresponding to her social status and the nature of the offense. The death penalty and many other corporal punishments were thus replaced by the payment of a certain amount of money. But even if the court sentenced the accused to death, the executioner did not carry out the sentence. In old German law, the death penalty was initially carried out jointly by all those who tried the criminal, or the execution of the sentence was entrusted to the youngest assessor, or the plaintiff, or an accomplice of the convicted person. Often the convicted person was handed over to a bailiff, whose duties, according to the Saxon Mirror, included maintaining order during court hearings: summoning participants in the process and witnesses to court, delivering messages, confiscating property according to the verdict and - executing punishments, although it is not clear from the source text whether he should have done it himself or just monitor the execution.
In the late Middle Ages, authorities began to become more actively involved in criminal proceedings. Imperial legislation that established universal peace could not have ensured the end of blood feuds, civil strife and other violent acts if public power had not provided an alternative to private violence in the form of corporal criminal punishment. Now crimes were investigated not only on the claims of the victims, but also on the own initiative of the one who had jurisdiction in a given area: the accusatory process was replaced by the inquisitorial process, i.e. one in which law enforcement agencies took upon themselves the initiation of a criminal case, the conduct of an investigation, and the arrest of suspects. No longer relying on the traditional formalistic ones of the early Middle Ages
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With evidence such as a purification oath or ordeal ("divine judgment"), judicial authorities began to investigate the circumstances of the crimes and interrogate the accused in order to obtain a confession. In this regard, torture has become an integral part of the criminal justice system. In the 13th century, i.e. Long before the influence of the reception of Roman law began to be felt (the end of the 15th century), in Germany there was a spread, in addition to new legal procedures, of more complex corporal punishment, which became typical of the criminal process throughout the early modern period, displacing weregeld as a form of retribution for crime. Although the most common types of execution remained hanging and beheading, wheeling, burning at the stake, burial alive, and drowning began to be widely used. These executions could be made more severe by additional torture, which the convicts were subjected to at the execution site or on the way to it: scourging, branding, cutting off limbs, piercing with red-hot rods, etc. These new procedural norms were the result of the desire of public authorities to pacify society by concentrating the monopoly on the legitimate use of violence in their hands. Thus, in the 13th century, in connection with the new regulation of corporal punishment and the death penalty under the law of peace in the country (Landfriedengesetz), there was a constant need to carry out more and more various torture executions that required already known qualifications - and then professional executioners appeared in the public service. But the monopoly right to carry out death sentences was assigned to them only towards the end of the 16th century.
The new type of criminal proceedings took hold first in the cities. On the one hand, maintaining peace and order in the urban environment was a very pressing task, on the other hand, city authorities with their extensive bureaucracy and well-developed routine management techniques could more easily master new judicial procedures than the territorial states of the Empire, which lagged behind. from them in the process of forming the administrative machine. For the first time in German sources we find a mention of a professional executioner in the code of city law ("Stadtbuch" of the free imperial city of Augsburg in 1276). Here he appears before us as a municipal employee with clearly defined rights and responsibilities.
First of all, the laws of the city establish the monopoly right of the executioner to carry out death sentences and “all corporal punishment.”
Upon taking office, the executioner entered into the same contract and took the same oath as other officials subordinate to the city authorities - depending on the status of the city, either its council or lord; from them he received a salary, an apartment and other allowances on the same basis as all other city employees. His work was paid at a rate set by the authorities: for each execution on the gallows or on the block he was to receive five shillings (this is data from the Agusburg laws, but the rate was different in different cities and at different times). In addition, the executioner got everything that was hoped for.
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Either on the convicted person below the belt - this tradition continued over the following centuries. When, with age or illness, the executioner became too weak to carry out his work, he could retire and receive a lifelong pension. At the same time, at first he had to help the foreman who came to his place with “good advice and faithful instruction,” as was customary in all other positions in the municipal administration. In many cities where there was a uniform for municipal employees, the executioner also wore one. But masks or caps with slits for eyes, which can often be seen in historical novels and films, are not mentioned anywhere in late medieval sources.
So, the executioner was a professional in execution and torture. But since, apart from extraordinary cases of mass repression, this work did not occupy all of his time, and also did not generate income on which he could live, the executioner, in addition to his main occupation, also carried out other functions in the city economy.
Firstly, supervision of city prostitutes. The executioner was actually the owner of the brothel, making sure that women behaved in accordance with the rules established for them by the authorities, and sorting out conflicts that arose between them and citizens. Prostitutes were obliged to pay him two pfennig every Saturday, and the executioner was not supposed to “demand more.” He was obliged to expel prostitutes who did not have permission to live in the city or were expelled for violating the rules from the city, as, by the way, lepers - for this he was paid five shillings every time city taxes were collected.
The executioner, it seems, retained the function of brothel keeper throughout the entire 14th century, and in many cities even the 15th century. Thus, in the Bavarian city of Landsberg, this practice continued until 1404, until the executioner was fired because he participated, along with his charges, in beating a competitor who did not have permission to practice her craft in this city. In Regensburg, the brothel, which was run by the executioner, was located in the immediate vicinity of his home, and in some other cities prostitutes lived right in the executioner’s house, as for example in Munich, until the Duke of Bavaria ordered in 1433 to set up a municipal brothel for them, in which they moved in 1436. In Strasbourg, the executioner supervised not only the industry of the “priestesses of love”, but also the gambling house, also having some income from this. In 1500 he was relieved of this duty, but as compensation he was entitled to receive a weekly additional payment from the Izgorod treasury. In the city of Memmingen, authorities at the beginning of the 15th century. hired a special person to be the brothel keeper, but he also regularly paid the executioner a certain amount. In Augsburg, the executioner was already in the 14th century. was not the only one who controlled prostitution: sources mention a Bandera woman named Rudolfina; by the end of the 15th century. The function of the owner of a municipal brothel is finally transferred to a special official. Likewise in other cities, gradually, starting from the middle of the 15th century. and especially after the Reformation, when brothels in Protestant regions were closed for religious and ethical reasons, the executioners lost this position, and with it a source of income, which was replaced by an increase in salary.
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The second common function of the executioner in cities was cleaning public latrines: this remained his responsibility until the end of the 18th century.
In addition, the executioners were flayers, caught stray dogs, removed carrion from the city, etc., if there was no special employee in the municipal apparatus who would specifically deal with this. Flayers, in turn, were often assistants to the executioners in their work at the execution site (during the execution of sentences and the subsequent cleaning of the execution site), and they were also entitled to a certain payment for this. Often, representatives of these two professions - as well as gravediggers - were related to each other by relationships, because, as a rule, they could not find a bride or groom among “honest” people. This is how entire dynasties of executioners arose, serving in one or neighboring cities.
There are also references to rather unexpected - after all of the above - functions: for example, in Augsburg, according to the above-mentioned code of customary law of 1276, they were entrusted with the protection of grain stored in the market. In early modern times, after the construction of a grain exchange in the city, bags of grain began to be stored in it and guarded by special servants.
Some other trades of executioners will be discussed below, but now we emphasize that with all the diversity of their work and sources of income, they were primarily officials in the service of local authorities, state (municipal) employees. Please keep in mind that these words did not mean “bureaucrat-manager”; they merely indicated that the person worked under a contract with the state, serving government needs. At the same time, the specialty could be very different - from a lawyer or a clerk to a goldsmith or, as in our case, a “backpack” master. The fact that his work consisted of torturing and killing people did not change anything in this status of his: realizing himself as a servant of the state and an instrument in the hands of the law, the executioner, in the own formulation of one representative of this profession, “executed by death some unfortunates for their atrocity and crime , according to the laudable imperial right."
The conflicts that arose in connection with the executioners could be completely similar to those that occurred regarding, for example, the customs clearance of other institutions with controversial subordination. So, let’s say, after the Bamberg executioner Hans Beck asked for resignation from the Council and received it, the new executioner Hans Spengler, who arrived from another city, took the oath not to the city Council, but to the prince-bishop (more precisely, his minister). After that, he received from Bek the keys to the house “where the executioners always lived” and moved into it without the knowledge of the Council. When the burgomasters asked him whether he would swear allegiance to them (especially since he had already served this city before), he replied that he would not. On this basis, they refused to pay him a salary from the city treasury and 226
issue him a uniform, like other employees engaged in the field of justice and law enforcement. The prince-bishop of Bamberg summoned the burgomasters to himself for an explanation, and they argued their decision as follows: “the former prince-bishops did not prevent the Council of the City of Bamberg, if necessary, from hiring an executioner, who was obliged (i.e. swore allegiance) only to him and no one else, therefore, he was paid a salary from the city treasury. According to the new law on criminal proceedings, the prince-bishop took away this right from the city and left it exclusively for himself. This causes great discontent and gossip among citizens: they say that it is forgotten how, when taking the oath to the prince, he made a promise preserve for the Bamberzhians their original rights. If the executioner is now in no way connected with the Council, and it will nevertheless pay him a salary, especially since both places of execution, for execution by the sword and for hanging (if I may say so with Their Princely Grace), erected and maintained from public funds, then the Council cannot be held accountable to citizens for such things.”
Carrying out tasks such as torture and execution required not only appropriate equipment and great physical strength, but also a fair amount of knowledge of anatomy and practical skill. Indeed, in one case it was necessary to inflict more or less severe suffering on the interrogated person, but not kill him or deprive him of the ability to think and speak; in the other - if the court did not determine any aggravation of the execution - the executioner had to kill the condemned as quickly as possible and without unnecessary torture. Since executions were a mass event, it was necessary to take into account the reaction of the people: for an unsuccessful blow, the executioner could be torn to pieces by the crowd, therefore, according to, for example, Bamberg legislation, before each execution the judge declared that no one, under pain of punishment, corporal and property, owed the executioner create no obstacle, and if he fails to strike, then no one dares to raise a hand against him.
It was possible to acquire such abilities only through special training: a person who decided to become an executioner (either because his father was engaged in this business, or in order to avoid criminal punishment), first adopted his science from the senior master, working as his assistant, and in order to become a master himself, he had to perform a “masterpiece” - behead the condemned man well. The customs, as we see, are the same as in other crafts. In the literature there is information about guild-like corporations in which executioners were united, although I did not come across information about such: perhaps it was they who supervised the quality of the work of newcomers.
Many categories of civil servants, in addition to executing orders from their superiors, provided services to individuals and corporations on a completely legitimate basis, receiving a certain set fee for this. In relation to executioners, this principle was implemented somewhat differently: due to the monopoly of public authorities on legal proceedings and the execution of punishments, only it could instruct the master to carry out torture or execution. Therefore, the “customers” were not individuals or corporations, but bodies
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Justice - local courts of various levels - although payment for the services of the executioner was made partly by the treasury, and partly by the accusing party in the process (if the local government itself did not act as such). On orders from the population, the executioners carried out a number of other trades, which they engaged in as private individuals and with which the state had and did not want to have anything in common, and sometimes even tried to suppress them.
Thus, executioners traded parts of corpses and various potions prepared from them: various healing properties were attributed to them, they were used as amulets. Moreover, executioners often practiced as healers: they could diagnose and treat internal diseases and injuries no worse, and often better, than other specialists in this field - bathhouse attendants, barbers, even medical scientists.
Since the executioner had a lot to do with the human body in its most varied states, as a result of long-term observations he could acquire considerable experience in ways of analyzing the state of its organs. Of course, this knowledge was not acquired during torture and execution; it required a separate special study of the human body: the position of executioners had the advantage that they had unlimited legal access to corpses, which they could dissect for educational purposes, while doctors For a time, they were deprived of this right - for anatomical studies they secretly bought corpses from the same executioners. Struggling with serious competition, doctors regularly demanded that the authorities ban executioners from practicing medicine. These efforts, however, as a rule, were not crowned with long-term success: the reputation of the “backpack masters” as good healers was high, and among their clients were representatives of the nobility, who themselves sabotaged the prohibitions issued by the authorities in which they were meeting.
In addition to somatic medicine, which the executioners practiced, they were also exorcists. The very idea of torture or execution in the Middle Ages is connected with this function: by means of influencing the body, to expel the evil spirit that prompted a person to commit a crime. The art of inflicting suffering on the body, which would not kill a person, but would allow his soul to be freed from the power of the demon, had its application outside the criminal process, in medical practice.
This last point brings us to the question of the position of the executioner in urban society, of the attitude towards him of those who coexisted with him in the narrow space of the city and were potentially candidates for his patients or victims.
Despite the fact that the executioner was an official, his person did not enjoy sufficient immunity, and he was entitled to security when he walked around the city or outside it. We constantly read about the “danger to life” to which they are exposed in petitions from executioners and trade unionists. Obviously, attacks on the person or life of the executioner were not uncommon. In Bamberg, the one who called the executioner (if his services were required in the territory of the bishopric, but outside the city of Bamberg), paid a certain sum as a guarantee that he would return safe and sound.
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Harmful. In Augsburg, the executioners for some reason considered the time when the Reichstags were held there to be especially dangerous for themselves. Perhaps it was because a lot of strangers (in particular, armed soldiers) were arriving and the situation in the city was becoming somewhat anemic. Among the most likely targets in the event of explosions of violence were, apparently, representatives of the lower social classes, the marginalized, and, above all, those who aroused fear and hatred.
The question of whether executioners belong to the category of “dishonest” is quite complex and debatable. The situation was somewhat ambiguous in this sense. On the one hand, the various functions of the executioner were associated with dirty, humiliating and “dishonorable” (unehrlich) activities, which clearly indicates his low status. And in public opinion in many regions of Europe, the executioner was placed on the same level as other despised and persecuted social groups: Jews, buffoons, vagabonds, prostitutes (the latter were called “varnde freulin”, literally “vagrant girls”) - and thus, although They lived permanently in one place and were equated in status to vagabonds. Dealing with them was unacceptable for “honest” people, so supervision was entrusted to the executioner as a figure close in status to them.
But in medieval normative texts, strange as it may seem, the executioner was never explicitly ranked among the “dishonest” people, and nowhere do we find any indication of restrictions on his legal capacity or other discrimination that is observed in relation to “disenfranchised people” (rechtlose lewte) in such codes such as the Saxon and Swabian "Mirrors". In the list of the Augsburg city law of 1373, the executioner is called a “son of a whore” (der Hurensun der Henker), but here again we do not see any legal consequences arising from this low status.
Only at the end of the Middle Ages and at the very beginning of the early modern period, in the legal norms of other cities and territories of the Empire, we find examples of restrictions on the legal capacity of executioners associated with their dishonor. One of the earliest examples of this is a regulation issued in Strasbourg in 1500: here the executioner is ordered to behave modestly, give way to honest people on the street, not touch any products in the market other than those he is going to buy, and stand in church in a specially designated place, in taverns, do not approach city citizens and other honest people, do not drink or eat near them. In Bamberg, according to the new law (early 16th century), the executioner was not supposed to drink in any house other than his own, and was not supposed to play anywhere or with anyone, and was not supposed to keep any “poor daughter” (that is, a maid). , working for grub), except for his own, should not have been grumpy, but “with people and everywhere” peaceful. In the church, the executioner was ordered to stand behind the door; when distributing the sacrament, he was the last to approach the priest. As a rule, he was not excommunicated (although this was practiced in some regions), but was placed on the very edge of the community - in the literal and figurative sense.
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This regulation of the behavior, movement and location of the executioner, in all likelihood, was not an absolute innovation: it most likely reflected ideas about what was proper that existed before. With some caution, we can assume that to a large extent it acted as an unwritten law in the 15th century, and perhaps even earlier, but we have no documentary evidence of this at our disposal at the moment, so the most that can be said is - this is that at the end of the Middle Ages, sentiments apparently intensified, delimiting the executioner from the rest of society and bringing him closer to other representatives of marginalized crafts, which was reflected in changes in legislation.
The nature of the regulation to which the executioner’s behavior was subjected during this period is interesting. It, as you can see, was very detailed (which, however, is generally characteristic of the era of “ordinances” and “regulations”), and it was aimed not only at strengthening discipline, but, in my opinion, also - or primarily - to prevent potentially dangerous contacts between the executioner and “honest” people. We see that many norms are designed to exclude the very possibility of a conflict with his participation. The point here was, on the one hand, that, as mentioned above, the executioner could very easily become a victim of emotional actions, on the other hand, that other people also had to fear him. With his healing arts (which are one step away from witchcraft), he could greatly harm the offender; Moreover, the mere touch of the “dishonest” was in itself dishonorable. Anyone who has been under torture or on the scaffold, even if he was later acquitted or pardoned, could almost never regain his good time, because he had been in the hands of the executioner. Even an accidental touch, much less a blow or curse received from an executioner on the street or in a tavern, would be fatal to honor - and therefore to the entire fate of a person.
This situation, however, did not suit the authorities, who soon began to actively “return” marginalized groups to the fold of an honest society: laws were issued that abolished legal restrictions for representatives of crafts that had hitherto been considered dishonest, as well as for Jews and other outcasts of society. There is evidence that at the beginning of the early modern period, the executioner - at least in Augsburg - could already have the rights of citizenship: two petitions, written by a notary, signed "burger". Moreover, they say that the City Council assured the executioner Veit Stolz “of all mercy and favor.” To one of the petitions, the answer to the executioner was personally conveyed by the burgomaster.
We see, therefore, that executioners simultaneously existed in the sphere of relations, from a Weberian point of view, rational (service) and irrational: they were an instrument of justice and engaged in semi-witchcraft practice, were a constant target of affective actions and were generally a highly mythologized figure, although They themselves often emphasized the purely natural, artisanal nature of their activities, be it work on the scaffold or medicine.
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The range of terms for executioner, for example, in late medieval and early modern German, is an excellent illustration of the connotations associated with this figure in the minds of his contemporaries: Scharfrichter, Nachrichter, Henker, Freimann, Ziichtiger, Angstmann, Meister Hans, Meister Hammerling, - these different names reflect different aspects of its socio-legal and cultural status. He is an instrument of justice (one root with the words “court”, “judge”), he is the one who is given the right to kill “freely”, the one who “punishes”, the one who is “feared”, and the “master”, i.e. .e. artisan The name "Master Hemmerling", by the way, is also found in the folklore of miners, where it refers to a mysterious creature that lives underground. In astrology, executioners had the same zodiac sign as blacksmiths - both were people associated with chthonic forces through their work with fire and iron.
At the border of these two areas, a kind of “diffusion” took place, that is, irrational mass ideas about the place of the executioner in the community and about the behavior appropriate to him and in relation to him, were partially adopted into the normative, more rationalized sphere, after which a reaction followed, and the rationalizing force of state power tried to “disenchant” and rehabilitate the figure of the executioner, which, however, it was not completely successful, so the sentiments against which the laws of the 16th century were directed have persisted to this day.
LITERATURE
Conrad H. Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte. Karlsruhe, 1962. Vol. 1: Frilhzeit und Mittelalter.
Dulmen R. van. Theater of Horror: Crime and Punishment in Early Modem Germany. Cambridge. 1990.
Keller A. Der Scharfrichter in der deutschen Kulturgeschichte. Bonn; Leipzig, 1921.
Schattenhofer M. Hexen, Huren und Henker // Oberbayerisches Archiv. 1984. Bd.10.
Schmidt E. Einfiihrung in die Geschichte der deutschen Strafrechtspflege. Gottingen.1951.
Schuhmann H. Der Scharfrichter: Seine Gestalt - Seine Funktion. Kempten, 1964.
Stuart K.E. The Boundaries of Honor: "Dishonorable People" in Augsburg, 1500-1800. Cambridge, 1993.
Zaremska A. Niegodne rzemioslo: Kat w spotoczenstwe Polski w XIV-XV st. Warsaw. 1986.
People have never lived in peace and harmony. To resolve conflicts, they invented a court for themselves. If in ancient times justice could be administered by masters or feudal lords, then with the development of the judicial system it was necessary to expand the staff of employees. This is how a new profession appears - the executor of the sentence. It has many names: Latin “carnifex”, Greek “speculator”, Lithuanian “kat”, Russian “swordsman”. But most often a specialist of this kind is called an “executioner.” This word itself has two versions of origin. One at a time, from the Turkic word “pala”, meaning a large knife or dagger. According to another, the executioner comes from the Russian “chamber” (meaning the royal chamber, the royal chambers), and thus was originally the tsar’s bodyguard.
The first mention of the executioner as a profession dates back to the 13th century. The medieval executioner was a strong, physically developed man. Images of executioners hiding their faces behind masks are an exaggeration. In small towns, the executioner was a well-known, and even proud, person. There are entire dynasties of executioners who managed to accumulate considerable wealth. And yet, the attitude of people towards executioners has always been hostile. Sometimes whole scandals happened. The nobles did not accept executioners in their homes, and a raging crowd could beat the executioner. Many executioners had to perform other duties in the city: monitor the cleanliness of public restrooms, catch stray animals. It was difficult for the executioner to find a wife, so often a representative of one dynasty wooed the daughter of a representative of another. Prostitutes also became wives of executioners.
Executioners were treated well in medieval Germany, as evidenced by the story of Master Franz. Franz Schmidt, the son of an executioner, inherited his father's profession and became a famous executioner in Nuremberg. He married the daughter of another wealthy executioner, and his life passed in prosperity and tranquility. Master Franz was responsible and conscientious, and sometimes even asked to replace the painful executions of prisoners with quick, painless ones. After his death, Franz was awarded a magnificent burial in a famous cemetery.
French executioners did not enjoy a good reputation. People were simply afraid of them. The most prominent dynasty of French executioners is the Sansons. Charles Sanson carried out the sentences of the Parisian court, and right in his state mansion. He enjoyed considerable privileges. For example, his servants could take the required amount of food from merchants for the owner every day for free. They took in plenty, so the excess provisions were sold in Sanson's shop. Here, any alchemist could acquire parts of human bodies left over from those executed.
The English executioners were the most inept workers. All because they were paid little. Recruiting a person to be an executioner was not easy. For example, the Earl of Essex overturned the death sentence of the criminal Thomas Derrick only for him to accept the job of executioner. Derrick never learned to wield an axe. Subsequently, the Earl of Essex himself was condemned to death, and Derrick was only able to cut off his head the third time. Another London executioner, John Ketch, horrified a crowd of onlookers when he failed to kill the condemned Lord Russell with one blow. The second blow did not kill him either. The executioner had to write an explanatory note, in which he claimed that the executed person himself had incorrectly placed his head on the block. To kill another prisoner, the Duke of Monmouth, Ketch needed five blows with an ax and then sawed his head off with a knife.
In Spain, executioners wore insignia. They wore a black cloak with a red border and a yellow belt. Their hats had a picture of a scaffold on them. The executioner's house was painted red.
In Russia, it was difficult to recruit executioners, or masters of the backpack. Many small towns did not even have their own professional execution officers. But those who were, had to not only execute, but also carry out torture and corporal punishment. Basically, the criminals themselves became executioners by force. And even then, working against your will as an executioner for more than three years was prohibited by law. Hired executioners were trained in the profession, received a salary and lived in prisons.
In the 18th century, the revolution in France hit the executioner's wallet hard. Not only did bright minds call for the abolition of the cruel death penalty, but also all the privileges of the executioners were abolished. At that time, a representative of the same Sanson dynasty, Charles-Henri, was working in Paris. One day he learned about a cunning machine for cutting off heads - the creation of Ignace Guillotin. The idea was to the liking of the executioner, who now had to endure considerable expenses for the maintenance of his instruments. And it worked. Many people were even upset that the machine could easily and simply chop off everyone’s heads, without creating any confusion or confusion.
Now the execution of criminals has taken on the appearance of a conveyor belt. In the 19th century, the profession of executioner lost its uniqueness. If earlier this craft had to be learned, mastering the slightest subtleties, now everyone could handle the guillotine. Attitudes towards executioners also changed. They looked in the eyes of the crowd as a wild and shameful medieval custom. The executioners themselves began to feel burdened by their work. The last representative of the professional Sanson dynasty, Henri-Clément, put an end to it by ruining the family and selling the guillotine for debts.
Profession is of great importance in a person's life. There are prestigious, humane, highly paid ones, and there are those that are not customary to be proud of. They are hidden, but it turns out that someone still has to do this kind of work. Profession: executioner.
Since the beginning of its development, society has gone through different stages. And those members who did not comply with certain rules and requirements were punished. The most frequently used measures were expulsion or execution.
Such cruelty for a modern person was easily explained at that time. It’s just that the culprit could, by his behavior, pose a threat to the entire system, so it was necessary to isolate him, but due to small food supplies and difficulties in obtaining them, it was easier to simply kill a person than to contain him. And to perform such work, a certain person was also required. And the profession of executioner appeared.
Who became the executioner?
Who was hired for this job? What qualities should a person have in order to be able to deprive his fellow man of licking?
Nowadays it is customary to hide one’s face from the public, since the profession is not on the list of prestigious ones and is condemned by humanely minded humanity.
But in the Middle Ages, executioners could walk without a mask. And the stereotypical image of a hooded kata may be considered misleading. There was no need to hide, the executioner was known personally and there were no complaints against him, because he was an ordinary performer.
And the most remarkable thing is that the profession was passed down from generation to generation. And this was understood as a natural process. It turns out that entire dynasties were formed. And they did not look for girls from noble families as wives, but, for example, the daughters of gravediggers or flayers. This was probably common sense, since it was easier for people in their own circle to find a common language.
Both in Russia and in other countries, executioners were considered the lowest class. They, as a rule, were at the very bottom of society. Not every person was able to carry out executions every day and still remain sane. Therefore, former criminals received offers to become executioners.
We can say that the profession was assigned to a person for life, as if dooming him. Because it was considered impossible to refuse to fulfill duties, that is, taking the lives of other people. Therefore, the people used the expression “curse of the executioner.” It meant that having once taken on this mission, a person was doomed to carry it out constantly until his death. Otherwise, he would have been considered a deserter and severely punished. Perhaps, in this case, the executioner would change places with his victim.
Executioner's salary
How much was society willing to pay for such unpleasant work? It turns out that not so much. But the executor of the sentence had a so-called social package. He could take the things of the executed person and did not buy food at the market, but simply took what he needed. Why did this happen? It can be assumed because the khat enjoyed a special location. But this is not so, the merchants simply refused to take money from hands washed in blood. The ancestors believed that this could bring misfortune. And at the same time, the executioner needed food. There was only one way out - take it for free.
But time passed and traditions changed. Society began to treat money less pickily, and one could turn a blind eye to “blood money.”
History knows one case. In Paris there was a dynasty of executioners, the Sansons. But during a certain period it turned out that there were no orders for the death penalty. Perhaps no one dared to break the law and therefore the executioner was forced to go into debt and starve. But he found a way out - he laid a guillotine. And as if by a twist of fate, it was at that moment that he was called upon to do his job. But since the moneylender had the weapon, the executioner encountered a problem and was fired.
And he could have worked and worked, right up until 1981, until the death penalty was abolished in France.
The executioner and religion
How did the clergy treat the executioners? Here, as often happens, there is no categorical acceptance or refusal. Kats were allowed to attend church and confess, but under one condition. They should have been located right at the entrance and not attracted the attention of parishioners. But to exorcise demons, executioners were used with great willingness, since the torment of the body was considered holy and helped to expel evil spirits from the soul.
It turns out that the tradition of selling various souvenirs was introduced by executioners. But unfortunately, these are not cute little products at all, but what would you think? Parts of the executed person's body or his belongings. In old times, people attributed alchemical properties to human bones, skin and blood; they were used by healers to prepare various potions and potions. Therefore, the executioner had something to get hold of. The most harmless of the souvenirs was the rope on which the man was hanged.
But in Russia, it was customary to nail the hands of criminals and other parts of the body along the road, so that those who traded in theft would remember the inevitable punishment that awaits them for criminal acts.
This scary profession is necessary. After all, the existence of the death penalty implies that someone will carry it out. The image of a person who, by the will of the law, takes a life is always ominous. Cinema gives us images of a man naked to the waist with his face covered with a mask.
In life, everything is completely different. Executioners most often do not stand out from the crowd outwardly, but in the depths of their souls, real hell is unfolding. Few people can “boast” that they have killed a hundred people with impunity. To press the coveted button, you need remarkable willpower and a special mentality. Executioners are amazing and mysterious people, and the story will be about the most famous people of this profession.
Albert Pierpoint (1905-1992). In photographs this man is usually smiling, nothing suggests that this man has taken the lives of at least 400 people. The Englishman grew up in an unusual family - his father and uncle were executioners. Henry Pierpoint himself chose this profession and, after repeated requests, he was hired. During 9 years of service, Albert's father hanged 105 people. All this time, the man kept a diary where he wrote down the details of the execution. The growing Albert read this book. Already at the age of 11, the boy wrote in a school essay that he dreams of following in the footsteps of his father. Such a desire was understandable - a rare profession would allow one to stand out from the faceless crowd. I was greatly impressed by the story of my father, who told how respect his father was treated. Albert submitted several applications until, in 1931, he was hired as a staff member at a London prison. The young executioner's career developed rapidly. A special burden fell on the executioner during the war and after its end. In 6-7 years he had to hang 200 war criminals. Pierpoint achieved real mastery - the entire procedure, from the prisoner's procession from his cell to pressing the lever, took the executioner up to 12 seconds. I must say that such a position was quite profitable. The executioner was paid by the piece - first 10, and then 15 pounds per execution. Pierpoint's work during the war brought him good capital, he was even able to buy a pub in Manchester. Interestingly, in England it is believed that the identity of the executioner should be hidden, but Pierpoint was declassified by journalists. After retiring in 1956, Albert sold the story of his life to the Sunday newspaper for the princely sum of £400,000. The executioner's story served as the basis for many notes and even a documentary film. Pierpoint became a celebrity, the subject of an interview. It is interesting that he himself spoke out for the abolition of the death penalty, since he did not see the fear of death in the eyes of criminals.
Fernand Meyssonnier (1931-2008). And this French executioner had a family profession. My father was engaged in killing people for profit and benefits. After all, it allowed him to travel for free, earn good money, have military weapons and even financial benefits. Fernand first became involved in bloody work at the age of 16. He recalled that when a person was executed with a guillotine, blood splashed, as if from a glass, 2-3 meters away. Fate decreed that Meyssonnier, a fan of theater and ballets, was forced to become an executioner, unofficially helping his father. In 1958, Fernand was appointed first assistant executioner, serving in the bloody position until 1961. The peak of executions occurred between 1953 and 1957. Then the liberation movement in Algeria gave the executioners many convicts. During this time alone, Meyssonnier executed more than 200 rebels. Father and son tried to do their work as quickly as possible, so as not to prolong the torment of the doomed. The executioner scolded his American colleagues for deliberately delaying the ceremony. Fernand recalled that the guillotine was the most painless execution. The executioner also became famous for being able to catch his head without letting it fall. It happened that after the execution Fernand found himself covered in blood from head to toe, shocking the guards. After retiring, the executioner shared his memories and even demonstrated the instrument of his labor. The “48” model did not cut well; I had to help with my hands. In addition, convicts often pulled their heads into their shoulders, which prevented a quick execution. Meyssonnier says that he does not feel any remorse, since he was simply the punishing hand of Justice.
Richard Brandon. A historical fact is this man's tenure as hangman of London in 1649. Many sources say that it was he who carried out the death sentence imposed on King Charles I. Richard's father, Gregory Brandon, was also an executioner, sharing his skills with the heir. Historians have found evidence that the family descended from an illegitimate descendant of the Duke of Safflk. Father and son earned a sad reputation in London. The city even has a sad jargon - “Gregory trees”. This is what people began to call gallows. And the name Gregory itself became a household word, meaning executioner. The Brandons gave their profession another nickname - “Squire”. The fact is that through their service they achieved the right to a coat of arms and the title of Esquire, which later went to their descendants. Little is known about the execution of the king. It was believed that Richard refused to do this, but he may well have been forced to change his mind by force. After Brandon's death, a small document was released that revealed the secrets of his profession. So, for each execution the executioner received 30 pounds sterling, and in half-crowns. Brandon's first victim was the Earl of Strafford.
John Ketch. This executioner gained his infamous fame during the time of King Charles II. The Englishman had Irish roots. It is believed that he assumed his position in 1663, although the first mention of his name dates back to 1678. Then a miniature was drawn in the newspaper in which Ketch offered a kind of cure for rebellion. The fact is that the 80s of the 17th century were marked by mass unrest. Therefore, there were quite a lot of executions; the executioner was not without work for a long time. Anthony Wood's autobiography contains a passage commemorating the hanging of Stephen College. The author tells how the already dead body was removed, and then quartered and burned by an executioner named Ketch. This man stood out even among his colleagues for his excessive cruelty, and sometimes even strange clumsiness. For example, the famous rebel Lord William Russell was executed rather sloppily. The executioner was even forced to officially apologize, explaining that he was distracted just before the blow. And the suicide bomber ended up on the chopping block unsuccessfully. The story goes that Ketch often inflicted painful but not fatal blows on the victim, causing him to suffer. Either the executioner was really awkward, or he was a sophisticated sadist. The last option seemed to the common people the most truthful. As a result, on July 15, 1685, James Scott, Duke of Monmouth, paid his executioner 6 guineas to execute him efficiently. After the action, Ketch was guaranteed an additional reward. However, John made a mistake - even after three blows he was unable to separate his head. The crowd went wild, to which the executioner generally responded by refusing to continue what he had started. The sheriff forced Ketch to complete the execution and two more blows finally killed the unfortunate rebel. But even after this, the head remained on the body; the executioner had to cut it off with a knife. Such cruelty and unprofessionalism outraged numerous spectators - Ketch was taken away from the chopping block under guard. The cruel executioner died in 1686, and his name became a household name for people of this profession. Ketch's name has been mentioned by many writers, including Dickens himself.
Giovanni Bugatti (1780-1865). This man devoted his entire life to such an ignoble profession. As it turned out, the Papal States also had their own executioner. Bugatti worked in this position from 1796 to 1865, even receiving the nickname “Master of Justice.” Already in old age, the executioner was retired by Pope Pius IX, assigning a monthly pension of 30 crowns. Bugatti called the executions he carried out the execution of justice, and his convicts themselves - patients. From 1796 to 1810, the executioner killed people with an axe, a wooden hammer, or using the gallows. The guillotine became popular in France in those years, and this tool also came to the Papal States. The executioner quickly mastered the new murder weapon. At the same time, the guillotine used was unusual - its blade was straight, and not beveled, as in France. Even the image of Bugatti has remained in history - he was a plump and short man, well dressed, childless, but married. In addition to his service, Giovanni and his wife sold painted umbrellas and other souvenirs for tourists. The executioner's house was located on a narrow street in the Trastevere district, on the western bank of the Tiber. Bugatti could leave this place only for work. This measure was invented solely for his protection, if suddenly the relatives of the executed wanted to take revenge on the executioner. That is why the appearance of Bugatti on the Bridge of the Holy Angel, which separated his area from the main part of the city, told Rome that the execution would soon take place and it was time to get ready to watch this spectacle. Today, the attributes of the famous executioner - his axes, guillotine and blood-spattered clothes can be seen in the Museum of Criminology in Via del Gonfalon.
Jules Henri Defourneaux (1877-1951). This man came from an old family of executioners, dating back to the Middle Ages. Like other Frenchmen of this profession, Defourneau used the guillotine for his work. The first execution for the executioner took place in 1909, he acted as an assistant to Anatole Deibler. When he died in 1939, rushing to his 401st execution, Defourneau was appointed the country's chief executioner. It was Jules Henry who carried out the last public execution in the country on June 17, 1939. Then serial killer Eugene Weidman was executed on the boulevard square in Versailles. Those events also went down in history because they were filmed from the windows of a private apartment. The executioner insisted that the execution take place during the day. At this time, a crowd was having fun near the prison, music was playing, and cafes were open. All this convinced the authorities that in the future criminals should be executed behind closed doors and away from the eyes of curious citizens. During the Second World War, the executioner worked for the Vichy regime; he was forced to carry out executions of communists and members of the Resistance movement. Defourneau agreed to this, but his assistants refused. The name of the executioner is associated with the first beheading of a woman since the 19th century. In 1943, the underground midwife Marie-Louise Giraud was executed, and she also became the last woman officially killed by the state. After the war, the executioner was so filled with fear for his actions that he fell into drunkenness. This even caused his son to commit suicide. This is how a difficult profession left its mark on a person’s personal life. Defourno worked as an executioner almost until his death, barely balancing on the brink of madness.
Clément Henri Sanson. The Sanson dynasty of Parisian executioners had served the state since 1688. Charles Henri became famous for the execution of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, as well as Danton. It was under him that the guillotine appeared in France. And his son executed Robespierre. The last representative of the dynasty was Clément Henry. He received his position in 1840, but his career in this position lasted only 7 years. The fact is that in those years there were practically no executions in Paris. And the executioner worked piecework, so his bloody profession did not bring him money. As a result, Clement Henri incurred so much debt that he even pawned his main tool - the guillotine. And as luck would have it, the state immediately ordered the execution. However, the moneylender refused to give up the unusual collateral without money. As a result, the unlucky executioner was fired. But if not for this unfortunate incident, the professional dynasty could have existed for another hundred years - the death penalty was abolished in the country only in 1981. When the book “Notes of an Executioner” appeared in France, many attributed its creation to Henri Sanson. After all, the book told about the bloody era of the French Revolution and about Charles Henri Clement, who personally executed more than two thousand people. However, twenty years after publication it became known that the author was in fact Honore de Balzac. That deception continued. In 1863, another “Notes of an Executioner” was published, in 6 volumes. The editor was the same Clément Henri Sanson. However, 10 years later it turned out that this too was a fake. An enterprising journalist found the executioner in the early 1860s and bought the right to publish on his behalf for 30 thousand francs.
Johann Reichhart (1893-1972). This German had many executioners in his family. Only by the middle of the 18th century there were already 8 generations of people in this profession in the family. Reichhart's career began in 1924, he was an executioner both during the Weimar Republic, which tried to instill democracy in Germany, and under the Third Reich. This man kept meticulous records of all his executions; as a result, researchers counted more than three thousand people. Their largest number occurred between 1939 and 1945, when the executioner killed 2,876 people. During the latter part of the war, Reichhart's main clients were political prisoners and traitors. Anti-fascist students from the White Rose organization passed through the hands of the executioner. This execution, like others like it, took place on the Fallschwert guillotine. This low design was a reworked version of the French instrument. Reichhart had a fairly large amount of work, however, he strictly followed the rules for executing the sentence. The executioner wore the traditional attire for people of his profession - a white shirt and gloves, a black jacket and bow tie, as well as a top hat. Reichhart's duty took him to various places in German-occupied Europe, including Austria and Poland. To better do his job, the executioner even asked the government for the right to speed during his travels between execution sites. During one of these trips, Reichhart was surrounded by Allied troops and drowned his mobile guillotine in the river. After the surrender of Germany, no charges were brought against the executioner; the occupation authorities even hired Johann to help execute the main Nazi criminals. Although Reichgart is considered one of the most effective executioners, he strived to do his job conscientiously and quickly, minimizing the victim's suffering. The executioner modified the design of the guillotine, which reduced the execution time to 3-4 seconds. His profession made Johann a lonely man, and those around him avoided him. His wife left him, and his son committed suicide. In the 1960s, Reichhart called for the return of the death penalty, arguing that the guillotine was best suited for this purpose.
Franz Schmidt (1550-1635). This man went down in history as Master Franz. From 1573 to 1578 he worked as an executioner in the city of Bamberg, and then Nuremberg used his services until 1617. Only by leaving his job was Schmidt able to get rid of the stigma of being “dishonest.” That was the name of prostitutes, beggars and executioners in those days. Later, shepherds, millers and actors began to fall into this group. The trouble was that such a stigma extended to the entire family, which made it difficult to join a guild or conduct a normal funeral. Master Franz himself turned out to be a true virtuoso of his craft. In those days, a wide variety of sentences were passed. The executioner killed with a rope and a sword, a broken wheel, burning and immersing in water. The wheel was intended for the most notorious scoundrels; homosexuals and counterfeiters were burned at the stake. According to the judicial rules of the Holy Roman Empire, adopted in 1532, female child killers were executed by immersion in water. However, Schmidt himself, with the support of the clergy, succeeded in replacing this type of execution with cutting off the head with a sword. Throughout his career, the executioner kept a diary in which he indicated the punishments he had committed over the years of work. The pages contain memories of 361 executions and 345 punishments. The executioner also flogged people, and also cut off ears and fingers. The first entries contain very little information, but over the years Schmidt became more talkative, even describing the details of the convicted person’s crime. The executioner's diary turned out to be a unique document from the point of view of both legal history and social history. The original has not survived to this day, but the modern edition says there are four handwritten copies. They were made in the 17th-19th centuries; today they are kept in the libraries of Bamberg and Nuremberg. Schmidt’s diary was first published back in 1801.
William Colcraft (1800-1879). The official number of executions of this executioner is unknown. However, researchers believe there were about 450 victims, about 35 of them women. One of the most famous victims was Francois Courvoisier, who robbed and then killed his master lord. The execution took place on July 6, 1840. The executioner himself was born in the provincial town of Baddow and received the profession of a shoemaker. Colcraft worked as a night watchman. While selling meat pies outside the prison, he met the executioner John Foxton of Newgate Prison. He gave William a job, and Colcraft began flogging juvenile criminals for 10 shillings a week. When Foxton died in 1829, Colcraft was officially appointed as his successor. On April 13, 1829, just 9 days after taking office, the executioner executed his first woman, Esther Hibner. The criminal whom the press dubbed the “Malicious Monster” starved her apprentice girl to death. Those events turned out to be so resonant that after the execution of the sentence, a large crowd chanted “Hurray for Colcraft!” For the first time since 1700, a married couple was executed, Mary and Frederick Manning suffered for the murder of their wife's wealthy lover. The last public execution took place on May 26, 1868, after which, according to English law, people were killed in private. A little earlier, the executioner carried out the last public execution of a woman - 2 thousand people watched as the condemned Frances Kidder struggled in a noose for 2-3 minutes. It was Colcraft who became the first to execute privately. The executioner's career spanned 45 years. Colcraft's contemporaries recall that he was incompetent in his field. Historians suggest that by delaying the execution and torment of the victim, the executioner simply entertained the public, which sometimes attracted up to 30 thousand people. Colcraft sometimes swayed on the feet of those who had been killed, and sometimes even climbed onto the shoulders, trying to break the neck. As a result, the executioner was forced into retirement for incompetence. He was given a pension of 25 shillings. In his old age, William turned out to be a sullen man with long hair and a beard and shabby black clothes.