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Hung, Drawn and Quartered
Facts and
interesting information about Medieval Torture and Punishment, specifically Hung, Drawn and Quartered,
during the era
Torture and
Punishment - Hung, Drawn and Quartered
During the Medieval times inflicting pain and torture was an accepted form of
punishment or interrogation. The cruel and pitiless torturers were induced to inflict the horrors
of torture or punishment, including the Hung, Drawn and Quartered, on the pitiful prisoners.
Different types of torture or methods of punishment were inflicted, depending on the
crime and the social status of the victim,
using various methods and various types of devices
or instruments.
The Law, Crime,
Torture and Punishment - Hung, Drawn and Quartered
There were no laws or rules
to protect the treatment of prisoners
who faced torture or punishment, such as the Hung, Drawn and Quartered.
No matter what the type of torture or punishment
was used it was seen as a totally legitimate means for
justice to extract confessions, obtain the names of accomplices, obtain
testimonies or confessions or to
impose a penalty, sanctioned by law for a wrong committed.
The following description provides facts and information about the Hung, Drawn and Quartered.
The History of the Hung, Drawn and Quartered
form of Execution
This evil and sadistic form of execution was invented in 1241,
specifically to punish a man called William Maurice who had been
convicted of piracy. This form of execution was no respecter of rank. It
was used to execute traitors to the English, including those of royal
birth. In 1283 David, the last Welsh Prince of Wales (Dafydd ap Gruffydd
(c. 1235 – 3 October 1283) , was tried for treason against King Edward I
and was sentenced "to be drawn to the gallows as a traitor to the King
who made him a Knight, to be hanged as the murderer of the gentleman
taken in the Castle of Hawarden, to have his limbs burnt because he had
profaned by assassination the solemnity of Christ's passion and to have
his quarters dispersed through the country because he had in different
places compassed the death of his lord the king".
Braveheart -
William Wallace was Hung, Drawn and Quartered
William Wallace
(circa. 1270 – 23 August 1305) now famous as 'Braveheart' was hung,
drawn and quartered at Smithfield on 23 August 1305. His limbs were
displayed, separately, in Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling, and Perth. In
the 1500's, a total of 105 Catholic martyrs were hanged, drawn and
quartered at Tyburn in London. Guy Fawkes and his fellow "Gunpowder
Plot" conspirators were also victims of this terrible punishment.
Method of inflicting the
terrible death by being Hung, Drawn and Quartered
The most terrible punishment of the Middle Ages was being Hung, Drawn
and Quartered. This barbaric form of execution was reserved for the most
hated prisoners who had usually been convicted of treason. The form of
execution referred to as being Hung, Drawn and Quartered was described
by a chronicler called William Harrison:
"The greatest and most grievous punishment used in England for such as
offend against the State is drawing from the prison to the place of
execution upon an hurdle or sled, where they are hanged till they be
half dead, and then taken down, and quartered alive; after that, their
members and bowels are cut from their bodies, and thrown into a fire,
provided near hand and within their own sight, even for the same
purpose."
The Quarters of the the body were then hung in prescribed locations in
the City of London as a deterrent to all English citizens.
Medieval Torture and Punishment - Hung, Drawn and Quartered
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