Death In The Elizabethan Era

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

Dead?" AlterNet. In this article, Frankie Colmane looks into how dead bodies are treated in the United State even after Mitford's expose of the funeral industry was published. The article takes both a philosophical and scientific issue with the procedure of embalming sighting proven negative effects to human beings and the environment. Colmane shows that even though people are aware of the malfeasance and misappropriations of the funeral industry following pieces like Mitford's, very little has changed. Therefore problems that have been discussed in earlier works should not be forgotten. Rather they should be continually brought up until the issue is solved. During the 1800s, embalming became common practice because the dead family member would lie in state within the home for a period of days or weeks until it would be buried (Colmane 2010). The article shows the duplicity such as when "funeral directors were arguing forcefully against charges that their mediation between the living and the dead translated into social obstruction that barred the stricken from facing death with maturity, realism, and honest" (page 2). This article will be used to illustrate that things have not changed with funereal practices despite the publication of Mitford's essay.

Under the different Kings and Queens of Britain, executions were common in these time periods. The many different types of executions that took place and have many unique differences. Why the executions took place, how were the speeches carried out, and how were they staged is something that needs to be examined. There are many sources that explain these different situations and it is a very interesting subject to examine. Each of these different monarchs varied in the way they carried out these executions and had different reasons in why these executions needed to happen. These executions were dependent on many different factors. One of these factors is the gender of the ruling king or queen calling for the execution in this specific

The main method that was used to execute was the guillotine. The guillotine was a device with a blade which killed people by “beheading” them. This device killed thousands, and amongst those were king Louis XVI and his queen Marie Antoinette. This was “regarded as a humane way to execute criminals” (Document F).

During her reign England had internal peice and gained a surplus in supplies after being in a great debt. Scientific progress was great and navigation skills helped Sir Francis Drake circumnavigate the globe. In addition, England's theaters grew very popular. The theater brought all the social classes together to enjoy the entertainment from the traveling companies. However there was a downside to this when plague broke out. Compared to today the Elizabethan era is different in many ways. People were not as educated, the medical field was not well developed, and punishments were extremely harsh. Overall, it is obvious that the Elizabethan era was a great time for England. The country flourished despite the struggles. There are many reasons

During the Middle Ages, death had a huge impact on people’s live, since you could die at any time, since the advancement of medicine wasn’t very advanced. Especially towards the end of the Middle Ages in the death rise due to the “Black Death”. Death is something that cannot be avoided, it will reach everyone and anyone at a certain time in their lifetime. Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory retold by Keith Baines, illustrates the concept of death that applied to Arthur in order to show their religious belief in death during the Middle Ages.

Death has always been and will be a topic that just a few want to talk, but since time immemorial man has worshiped their dead, and this is reflected in the various rituals and forms of burial. The anguish of death has been considered the deepest anguish of man. Death is the inevitable companion of life, is the final stage. It can occur at any age, suddenly or after a long illness. Despite knowing that someday we will have to die the death of a loved one is a terrible fact, very difficult to accept, that affects everyone around the deceased person. When the link with the deceased breaks, the suffering is so great, that they put into question the fundamentals of being, of human existence and our deepest beliefs, affecting significantly the basic family and social relationships.

When woman was in the water “the women usually drowned.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Another tool was the amputation saw. And the body would be in terrible pain because “it was used to remove a limb slowly and painfully.” (The Renaissance: Crime and Punishment). Beheading was used for the higher-class people, “because it was considered a more honorable way to die.” (Elizabethan Crime and Punishment).

This article’s purpose is to express the danger of breaking the law in England. Most of the punishments of our time are deemed cruel and unusual. The death penalty can no longer be enacted in cases of theft or highway robbery. The following paragraphs will describe the various instruments of punishment (torture) of the period.

Next, the punishments that a person could get will vary on what they committed and how bad the punishment the people thought they should get. The punishments in the Elizabethan Age are very brutal because back then, they believed that violence was acceptable and a natural habit for mankind. The Great Punishment is the worst punishment a person could get. The felon will be hung, but they will not die while being hanged. They will take the felon down, quarter their body while still alive, and bury them in the ground. Quartering someone’s body is to cut their body in quarters. Torturing a person would come next to the Great Punishment. The will put the felon on a rack, in a collar, or even burn them with a branding iron on the cheek, back, or leg. Other general punishments include being decapitated and putting their head on top of a post, they could be branded on the cheek or burned on the left hand, whipped out in public for everyone to see, they could be sent to the military, be sent to correction facilities, hung to die at the place where the felon had committed their crime, or they could even be beheaded. If the crimes were extremely severe the felon would have the reign of “Bloody Mary” put on them. Bloody Mary is a legend that appears in the mirror when her name is called multiple times and appears bloody. The Elizabethan Age was very serious about the punishments that they gave their felons.

The worst punishment you could receive was not execution but did involve hanging the prisoner till they were half dead. Once the prisoner was half dead, their body parts would be ripped open and thrown into a fire. This punishment was used to shame the person. If there was a case of murder or robbery, the culprit would be hanged at the place of commission of the offense. In a murder case, the right hand of the offender would be cut or burnt. If a person committed suicide, their body would be buried with a stake put across their body. Some punishments that were used were The Pillory, The Stocks, whipping, branding, pressing, ducking stools, the wheel, boiling in oil, water, or lead, starvation in a public place, cutting off various body parts, the gossip's bridle, and the drunkard's cloak (elizabethanenglandlife.com

Certain actions that threatened the social order were considered crimes, and the person that completed that action needed to be punished (Elizabethan World Reference). If a citizen of Europe practiced a certain kind of religion that Queen Elizabeth did not approve of, they were burnt to the stake. Being burnt to death was one of the most painful deaths (Alchin). It took a long time to completely die, so the criminal were still alive while being burnt (Alchin). If they were lucky, they would suffocate from the smoke instead of having to live through being burnt (Alchin). Another more serious crime, treason, was punishable by hanging (Harrison). If someone were to betray their country, they would be hung (Harrison). This death took a matter of seconds and was not as painful as being burnt. Many subjects would jump before time so that their necks would break and they died very quickly (Harrison). Another form of torture was boiling (Parry). It is as bad as it sounds. If a citizen of Europe poisoned someone, they were to be boiled to death (Parry). This was another way to die that caused lots of pain. Even stealers were punished were hardly. Many had their right hand cut off so they could not steal anymore, and there was not medicine so the wound usually became infected and resulted in the death of the convict (Lestikow). All these forms of

Geoffrey Abbott, author of Execution: The Guillotine, the Pendulum, the Thousand Cuts, the Spanish Donkey, and 66 Other Ways of Putting Someone to Death, does a particularly well job explaining and detailing almost every method of execution in the different eras throughout history. He tells of how the people being executed felt and how the executioners felt. He also explains how each execution type was carried out. Executions back in the day were very gruesome, but details on the historical events cannot just be exempted out if you want to explain these hectic methods. Just a few categories covered were: the Axe- this was when a person was put on a wooden block with a space between the neck and then was decapitated. Also there was Bastinado-which was to be beaten with a stick on their feet until they die (by far the weirdest way to execute someone in my opinion.) Also there was the guillotine- when the prisoner was placed on a block and then a heavy blade from above come crashing down on the neck of the prisoner decapitating him (this method of execution was one of the coolest methods.) What is cooler way to go than a huge blade chopping off your head? It is by far one of the quickest and most painless. Another method was Torn Apart by Horses- this is when your arms and legs are tied to a horse and then each horse runs in a separate direction ripping your limbs off. What a way to go. I cannot fathom what it would have been like to be executed like that. Those are just some

Mankind’s history of burial practices and funeral customs are as old as civilization itself. There is no specific way to planning a funeral. Every civilization and culture has provided for their dead in different ways. Religion and personal beliefs play an important role in the burial practices and funeral customs of a given culture or civilization. Furthermore, each civilization and cultured ever studied have three things in common: some type of funeral rites, rituals, and ceremonies; A sacred place for the dead; and memorialization of the dead. As far back as the time of Christ, burials have been noted to take place. In time burial and funeral customs have become very distinct, interesting and

The Death Penalty was established “far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes” (“History”). It was also apart of the “Fourteen Century B.C.’s Hittite Code, in the Seventh Century B.C.’s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B.C.’s Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets” (“History”). The Death Penalty was carried out if it was drowning, crucifixion, burning while being alive, impalement, and beating to death. As the time went on by the Eighteen Century A.D. a man named William the Conqueror would not allow people to be hung unless it was a murder case. As the years carried on in 1608 Caption George Kendall was the first man who got executed while being record in his colony. Jane Champion was the first woman who got executed in her colony in 1632. The Death Penalty all started and it did minimize crimes stated in the early 1800.