what was the greatest punisment in the 16th century england?

Answer 1

I don't know about the greatest, but probably the worst would be to be hung, drawn and quartered.

Sorry, I meant 'hanged'

Also, as someone below mentioned, the hot collar wasn't too pleasant - a red hot poker up the ar.se.

By the way, Guy Fawkes was hanged, drawn and quartered, however I think that as he was being hanged, he tried to jump off the scaffold in order to break his neck (didn't succeed, unfortunately) so that he would be dead when they did the disembowelling etc.

Answer 2

To be hanged, drawn and quartered was the greatest punishment in 16th century England. This is what happened to Guy Faulks and his followers after their failed attempt to blow up parliament with the king and his court inside.

What is it, to be hanged, drawn and quartered?

First part of this execution is the hanging of the villain or convicted felon and traitor. This usually does not result in death. Stage two is carried out while the convicted traitor is chained to a wooden bench - his stomach is slit open and his intestines are cut out. This part is known as the drawing. When this has been done the traitor is then cut up - his legs and arms hacked off. All this takes place while the traitor is fully awake. Death is allowed only after the above procedure has been carried out.

The above method of death, in the case of Guy Faulks, followed a castration, since the king decided that he was no longer fit to be a man. Guy Faulkes and his followers died long, slow and agonising deaths for being traitors.

God Save the King.

Answer 3

There were many and they were all equally nasty.

Death was the ultimate punishment - but there were many ways of delivering it. Most far more grotesque than we could now imagine.

Drowning
Hanging
Hung, drawn and quartered
tarred and feathered
Boiled in Oil

..just the tip of the iceberg.

many where even worse.

the boot was a classic example. A giant metal boot was fitted to a convicts leg. The space around the foot was then packed with timber and the water. Over time, the timber expanded due to the water and slowly crushed the bones in the foot. the victim usually died over two weeks of gangrene, no doubt in total agony.

if you are really interested in ancient punishments - go to the London Dungeon or the Clink prison - both of which have displays on the history of medieval punishments:


http://www.clink.co.uk/

Answer 4

Depends when you mean in the 16th century. Prior to the reformation one of the greatest punishments would be to be excommunicated from the (catholic) church - meaning your soul would automatically go to hell upon death.

One of the most grisley punishments was certainly being hanged (meat is hung, men are hanged) drawn and quartered - a punishment reserved solely for the worst of criminals, traitors. Being plain hanged was still pretty horrible, as they didn't break the neck like executioners did in later hangings (meaning a near-instant death) but instead left them to strangle to death. Being burnt at the stake would also be pretty horrific. Because of this the nobility were often beheaded, as it was seen as a more honorable death.

Incidentally, Guy Fawkes was NOT burnt at the stake, he was hanged drawn and quartered, though he was practically dead from weeks on the rack anyway.

Answer 5

Well, Guy Fawkes was burned at the stake for attempting to blow up Parliament. That's pretty severe if you ask me.

What's worse is that his torture and execution are CELEBRATED every year in England on November 5. That has to be the greatest punishment, although it happened 6 years following the 16th century (1605 to be precise).

Answer 6

while Guy Fawkes was certainly extreme it was over in minutes. While a Pirate could be locked in a body sized cage and hung near the pier. Here he would stay until; he died of thirst and exposure. This happened to captain Kidd as a warning to all future pirates. The body would be left there until the bones all fell out of the cage. That has to be the worst way to go.

Answer 7

Burning at the stake (heretics)

Hung, Drawn and Quartered (treason)

Beheaded (reserved for Nobility mainly)

Hanging (for common criminals - not a nice way to die as the neck wasn't broken in those days, instead the person would be slowly strangled to death by the weight of their own body)

Answer 8

Until 1870, the full punishment for the crime was to be "hanged, drawn, and quartered" in that the convict would be:

Dragged on a hurdle (a wooden frame) to the place of execution. (drawn)
Hanged by the neck, but removed before death (hanged).
Disembowelled, and the genitalia and entrails burned before the victim's eyes (often mistaken for drawing).[1]
Beheaded and the body divided into four parts (quartered).
Typically, the resulting five parts (i.e. the four quarters of the body and the head) were gibbeted (put on public display) in different parts of the city, town, or, in famous cases, country, to deter would-be traitors. Gibbeting was abolished in England in 1843.

Answer 9

Probably to be hanged(sic) drawn and quartered - watch the Mel Gibson movie Braveheart for an almost graphic portrayal.

Answer 10

Being hung drawn and quartered must have been pretty bad... but how about being excommunicated from the church and then being burned at the stake? Your mind would be full of fear about going to hell, and then you'd see them lighting the fires, and you'd realise what it would be like. Yeah, add a few hours of torture first to make you confess to witchcraft, it'd be a pretty rotten way to end your life...