Are headsmen/executioners held responsible for the death of the innocent but wrongly accused victims?
Are they to be blamed for the suffering of the fair if the government/king/judge ruled them as guilty?
Have there been any incident in history where they refused to carryout the rulers' order?
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>Are headsmen/executioners held responsible for the death of the innocent but wrongly accused victims?
>Are they to be blamed for the suffering of the fair if the government/king/judge ruled them as guilty?
Of course not.
>Are headsmen/executioners held responsible for the death of the innocent but wrongly accused victims?
Yeah, they even got blamed for the guilty. There is a reason they wore the mask
No one cared about them until they wore the mask.
For you xxD
>Have there been any incident in history where they refused to carryout the rulers' order?
28. May 1444, the Swiss execute the Prisoners they took at the siege of Greifensee, 62 in total. Following an age old right and tradition, the executioner claims every tenth man for himself, but Ital Redding, the Swiss commander, refuses the executioner and forces him to kill each and every man.
The day lives on in infamy as the Murder of Greifensee, cheating the henchman is a serious thing.
If you are really interested in the lives of executioners, I'd recommend you "The Faithful Executioner" by Joel Harrington, about Franz Schmidt ( en.wikipedia.org
Did you know that executioners were said to have powerful magical powers and were seen as servants of the gods in early medieval, this did continue deep into Christian middle ages.
Did you know that executioners often was sought after medics, responsible for torturing and then healing again prisoners they developed a vast medical knowledge and often was passed on from father to son. Also, they had access to fresh human blood, a state of the art drug of the time.
Did you know that executioners where ritually uinclean and virtually untouchable? If they ate at an in, their plate and glass would be immediately broken after the meal. Their touch alone could make another person unclean and strip them of all civil honors.
Did you know executioners where often rich, not only was job payed well, but they often had control of every dishonorable business in town, as king of the unclean people, this included whores, latrine diggers, dog catchers, knackers and other dishonest trades.
>Also, they had access to fresh human blood, a state of the art drug of the time.
Interdasting, in what sense?
Befehl ist Befehl
>mask
neither axes nor masks where common with executioners.
Fresh Human blood was a sought after medicine for all sorts of sicknesses. Beheading a couple dudes every month and having a few gallons of fresh blood gets you into the trade. Other items like body fat and certain organs where also traded. And thus the executioner became one of the most important suppliers to local apothecaries.
That is fascinating, I always imagined executioners as loyal oafs, simple but honor bound to their duties and probably fairly well behaved considering how intimate their relationship was with those who dealt in unfavorable business. To hear they were considered essentially the king of the dishonest trades was quite surprising also all the other stuff you mentioned. Thanks for sharing!
>Are they to be blamed for the suffering of the fair if the government/king/judge ruled them as guilty?
By law and logic no, they aren't. Even if you dislike the "I was just following orders" excuse you'll have to accept that the ultimate guilt is not on him. Of course, the mob doesn't give a shit about law or logic.
This. There's no point on wearing a mask, back then everyone knew who was who. The town executioner was known as such by everyone and he and his family were pariahs.
>Following an age old right and tradition, the executioner claims every tenth man for himself
What does that exactly mean?
The executioner had the right to claim every 10th men in a mass execution for himself, meaning he could pardon every 10th guy.
>Of course, the mob doesn't give a shit about law or logic.
The mob is pretty lenient with the executioner, save for when you botch an execution, fucking up an execution was the worst thing that could happen to an executioner and often where the cause for getting fired or killed on the spot.
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No, tard
Executioners is a tool with no decision power
Even if he refuses (thus screwing himself up), someone else will take his place
Oh, thanks.
Dunno, man. His pariah position in the society means that he they weren't that lenient towards them. A part was superstition, of course, but superstition like that doesn't arise out of nowhere.
Yo, there is sources on executions gone wrong and the mob taking care of the executioner.
>Did you know that executioners were said to have powerful magical powers and were seen as servants of the gods in early medieval, this did continue deep into Christian middle ages.
This was the case in China as well.
Except in China, there were two kinds of executioners: the lowly kind who was the meme pariah class (these guys. Albeit one is able to afford a Katana. An expensive exported weapon). And then there were the Executioners from the Scholar-Bureaucrat aristocracy, who oversaw executions of state crimes.
In Europe entire clans of executioners developed, on one hand they where pariah, on the other hand they were the best earners of all pariah. Since the job was so lucrative and the pariah status was hereditary anyways they founded dynasties. I once saw a overly rich decorated and well made executioners sword, unusual piece, because it had family arms but no city arms, turned out it was a wedding gift between two executioner clans marrying.
Did you know that the French executioners where called maitre de haute oeuvre (master of the high justice) while a German one would be called Scharfrichter or Nachrichter ( sharp judge or after judge.
The estrapade was a punishment often used in France, the victim would have his hands bound behind his back, then dropped from a tower so the fall would rip out his arms from the joints. the procedure was repeated until death.
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