Beheading tool

Old illustration by Paul Delaroche published on Magasin Pittoresque Paris Medieval beheading of Jane Grey, young woman accompained by a lord to the stump while the hangman wait for her.

China, early 20th century. Public execution, a crowd watches a beheading by sword. Dated 17th Century Woodcut print depicting the execution of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex an English nobleman and general. Vintage or Old Illustration or Engraving Photo by William Saunders , c. The former Nanshi district, literally 'southern city', was the historic heart of Shanghai.

It included the old, walled city as well as the nearby docklands on both sides of the Huangpu River. Shanghai County was established at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

A city wall was built to repel the Wokou, and this Ming Dynasty wall defined the extent of urban Shanghai for the next few centuries. Execution of Robespierre and his supporters on 28 July Handcolored copperplate engraving from G.

Gottlieb Tobias Wilhelm was a Bavarian clergyman and naturalist known as the German Buffon. Nzinga or Xinga, daughter of King Bandi of Angola, ordering the execution by beheading of rival warriors.

Two of his children were permitted to visit him on 29 January and he bade them a tearful farewell. After his death they remained in England under the control of the Parliamentarians. Stained glass window depicting the execution of a martyr in the Saint Gatien Cathedral of Tours, France.

Uprising in Zaragoza, The confrontation of the Justice of Aragon, Juan de Lanuza with Philip II of Spain , led to the execution of the first one by order of the king.

Juan de Lanuza executed by beheading the 20 of December, Japan too used beheading up to the end of the 19th century prior to turning to hanging. Equipment for beheading. There were two distinct forms of beheading - by the sword and by the axe. Where a person was to be decapitated with a sword, a block is not used and they are generally made to kneel down although they could, if short, be executed standing up, or even sitting in a chair.

It weighed around 4 lbs. Where an axe was the chosen implement, a wooden block, often shaped to accept the neck, was required. Two patterns of block were used, the high block, inches mm high, where the prisoner knelt behind it and lent forward so that their neck rested on the top or lay on a bench with their neck over the block.

The neck on a high block presented an easier target due to the head pointing slightly downwards, thus bringing the neck into prominence. It also meant that the axe was at a better angle at that point in the arc of the stroke to meet the neck full on. The high block was favoured in later times in Britain and was standard in Germany up to the 's. Some countries used a low block where the person lies full length and puts there neck over the small wooden block which is just a few inches high.

This arrangement was used in Sweden. The low block presented the executioner with certain difficulties. The arc prescribed by the axe as he brought it down meant that the blade was at quite an angle to the prisoner's neck making it more difficult to sever the head with a single blow. Two patterns of axe were also used - the pattern used in Britain, which was developed from the traditional woodsman's axe, has a blade about one foot 8 inches mm high by 10 inches mm wide with a 5 foot mm long handle.

In Germany the axe was like a larger version of a butcher's cleaver, again the handle was long enough for the headsman to use both hands. Beheading in Britain. In Britain , beheading was used in Anglo Saxon times as a punishment for certain types of serious theft. It was reintroduced during the reign of William the Conqueror for the execution of Waltheof, Earl of Northumberland on the 31st of May on St. Giles Hill, near Winchester.

Waltheof had been convicted of treason for taking part in the Revolt of the Earls against the King and was beheaded with a sword. Beheading was confined to those of noble birth who were convicted of treason and was an alternative to the normal punishments for this crime. Men convicted of High Treason were condemned to hanged drawn and quartered and women to be burned at the stake.

In the case of the nobility the monarch could vary these punishments to death by beheading. Beheading was both far less painful and considered far less dishonourable than these other methods. The majority of English beheadings took place at the Tower of London. For a full listing of executions at the Tower click here.

Seven were carried out in private within the grounds, of which five were of women. A further 86 men were decapitated on Tower Hill outside the walls of the Tower, where there stood a permanent scaffold from Only a very small number of beheadings were carried out elsewhere, as the Tower was the principal prison for traitors of high birth. It should be noted that treason often meant displeasing the monarch, rather than in any way betraying the country.

The spot indicated as "The site of the scaffold" on Tower Green which visitors can see today was not used for all of the 7 private beheadings although the plaque implies this. At various times both the low block and the high block have been used. The axe was the normal implement of execution in Britain , although Anne Boleyn was beheaded with a sword see below. A replica of the scaffold used for the execution of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex has been constructed for exhibition in the Tower.

The original was set up in the middle of the Parade Ground and was made of oak, some 4 feet high and having a 9 feet square platform 1. The prisoner mounted it by a short flight of stairs and was not restrained throughout the execution as it was expected that people of noble birth would know how to behave at their executions!

Devereux lay full length on the platform and placed his neck on the low block with his arms outstretched. The head drops into a pan P into which the blood may be allowed to drip, and the operation is clean and rapid. The cutting edges e of the pair of blades being disposed about the recess or pocket d serve to practically embrace the neck of the fowl so that the same can not slip away from its position during the inward movement of the lobe c.

The blades may be readily sharpened by any form of blade Sharpener without the necessity of remo-val from the members l, 1. It will be seen that the blades 3 are secured to the bowed formation of the lever lat fixed points along the formation, the blades being spaced from the inner edge of the formation between said points.

Working an ender pearl and some obsidian on a weapon has the curious effect of separating the target's head from its body. Just a little off the top? Adding a diamond to the edge of a tool makes it more resilient and increases what the tool can mine. It also makes a fetching fashion statement. Adds a chance to not consume durability Stacks with previous levels of Reinforced Multiple levels.

Reinforced level ten makes the tool unbreakable and is the maximum level. This includes shurikens having unlimited ammo. Each redstone dust increases mining speed by a small amount Increases attack speed Multiple levels. Haste - 1 to 50 Redstone Cost; 0. Each redstone adds a speed increase following the previous pattern. Heals when dealing damage Add more bones to increase the heal Multiple levels. Affixing an emerald to a tool's weakest point makes it especially resilient and fabulous.

Villagers may also covet your tool, be wary. Each consecrated soil adds more undead damage Each level costs one modifier Five levels in total Each level has a maximum of an additional 7 HP taken away from undead enemies Twenty-four consecrated soil is the cost for a higher level of smite.