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Carts were often used for judicial punishments, both to transport the condemned – a public humiliation in itself (in Ancient Rome defeated leaders were often carried in the victorious general's triumph) – and even, in England until its substitution by the whipping post under Queen Elizabeth I, to tie the condemned to the cart-tail (the back ...
Execution wheel (German: Richtrad) with underlays, 18th century; on display at the Märkisches Museum, Berlin The breaking wheel, also known as the execution wheel, the Wheel of Catherine or the (Saint) Catherine('s) Wheel, was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages up to the 19th century by breaking the bones of a criminal or ...
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. [1] [2] It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthaginians, and Romans, [1] among others. Crucifixion has been used in some countries as recently as the 21st century. [3]
On the sheriff's orders the cart would be taken away (or if a ladder, turned), leaving the man suspended in mid-air. The aim was usually to cause strangulation and near-death, although some victims were killed prematurely, the priest John Payne 's death in 1582 being hastened by a group of men pulling on his legs.
It was about three miles (5 km) from Newgate to Tyburn, but as the streets were often crowded with onlookers, the journey could last up to three hours. The cart usually stopped at the "Bowl Inn" public house in St Giles High Street. This was the "halfway house". Here the condemned were allowed to drink strong liquors, wine or strong ale. [29]
The carts temporarily stopped by a cross by the Neuhaus gate where they were, according to custom, led in chains to say a prayer. The condemned were led to the cross, and on their way back to the carts, given wine by two municipal officials before proceeding to the place of execution.
The thieves, their confessors and the ghoulish spectators who surround the cart are all in contemporary dress. In Bruegel's day public executions were well attended occasions which had the air of festivals or carnivals. Here Bruegel shows the absolute indifference of the gawping crowds to the fear and misery of the condemned men.
In this use, the carts were sometimes covered. The two wheels allowed the cart to be tilted to discharge its load more easily. [3] [2] Many tumbrels also had hinged tailboards for the same reason. The word is also used as a name for the cucking stool and for a type of balancing scale used in medieval times to check the weight of coins. [4]