1. THE EXECUTIONER: HIS PLACE IN ENGLISH SOCIETY.
- Author
-
Robin, Gerald D.
- Subjects
CAPITAL punishment ,EXECUTIONS & executioners ,HANGING (Death) ,ELECTROCUTION ,CRIMINAL law - Abstract
In view of the voluminous literature on capital punishment, it is surprising that greater attention has not been directed to the executioner. It is the purpose of this article to explore the phenomena as they apply primarily to the executioner in England. The role of the executioner has varied with time and place: he was a hangman in England, a guillotiner in France and many German states, a garroter in Spain, and an electrocutioner in the United States. Nevertheless, of all methods of administering the death penalty, hanging has been more widely utilized than any other. Accounts of hangings are reported in the earliest literature, and even today hanging is more extensively used throughout the world as a mode of execution than any other device. Unquestionably, England has been the most energetic and persistent supporter of hanging; from England it was introduced to the U.S. and became the general method of execution in that country until the electric chair was invented and gradually adopted by several states.
- Published
- 1964
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