tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post2034291555726539303..comments2024-03-23T12:38:46.260+00:00Comments on The History Girls: ExecutionsMary Hoffmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241989732624913706noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-59113866439598321292015-10-15T19:52:52.098+01:002015-10-15T19:52:52.098+01:00I used the term psychopath much too inaccurately. ...I used the term psychopath much too inaccurately. I was referring to his lack of empathy with his victims rather than actual mental illness. <br /><br />I'm always think people of previous centuries knew more than we credit them with. They would have been far more familiar with the effects of beheadings than us and had the same powers of observations.<br /><br /><br />Marie-Louise Jensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18006940874591015786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-67826922153606178702015-10-15T13:26:46.762+01:002015-10-15T13:26:46.762+01:00Margaret Pole and Anne of the little neck were the...Margaret Pole and Anne of the little neck were the first two accounts of beheadings I recall ever reading, and Anne's has its power, but for sheer brutality the aged martyr's execution still stands alone.<br /><br />On a side note ... having been close to those with mental illness, posthumous diagnoses of psycopathy based on brutality make many who love or suffer from mental illnesses extremely itchy. We have a modern cultural narrative that certain cruel figures of history must have been mentally ill; and, while it may even be true, the net result is that those who suffer from it today are either invisible or stigmatized. Not all mental illness equates automatically to murderous intent.<br /><br />And, honestly - not all murderous intent is implemented by those who suffer mental illness.<br /><br />While I'd say Henry certainly had periods when his emotional health was very bad indeed, the fact was he had ultimate power and no consequences loomed over him. And we have all seen the harm sane folks are willing do, who DO face penalties.<br /><br />Not all murder is madness. And not all madness is murder.DLMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08768285199864217885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-88921040923677218622015-10-15T13:11:39.369+01:002015-10-15T13:11:39.369+01:00Sadly, Sue, the human race has always been brutal,...Sadly, Sue, the human race has always been brutal, still is and probably always will be.<br /><br />Marie-Louise - thank you for a very interesting post. I was struck by the idea that the heads were held up to show them their own body. I never heard that before.<br /><br />I've read of experiments done in France in, (as I remember) the 19th Century, when criminals were still guillotined. A doctor spoke to freshly severed heads, and said they opened their eyes and focussed on him. He repeatedly spoke to them, and said that they looked at him and apparently saw him, for roughly 8 seconds. After that, speaking to them drew no response.<br /><br />Assuming that what the doctor observed really was proof of consciousness - do you think this was common knowledge in previous centuries? Or, at least, something well known to executioners and their clients?<br /><br />I suppose it might well have been since there were plenty of beheadings, and presumably the executioners observed the same responses that the later French doctor did. Interesting!Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5502671101756463249.post-15247269891193965432015-10-15T09:38:47.554+01:002015-10-15T09:38:47.554+01:00It's all horrible. But as you suggest, almost ...It's all horrible. But as you suggest, almost the worst thing about it is that these practices don't remain safely in the past. I used to assume that such brutality was something from the history books - it clearly isn't.Sue Purkisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09084528571944803477noreply@blogger.com