Thursday, July 31, 2014

Question from Elina - Clothing requirements for women's executions

If woman was sentenced to death, what sort of requirements was there for her clothing (if there was any), and did execution method bring its own requirements (for example, was she supposed to wear lighter dress/clothes for burning than for beheading)?

3 comments:

Roland H. said...

For a beheading, common sense, rather than a 'requirement', would dictate a dress with a low collar, and some sort of close fitting cap to hold the hair in place.

It seems that the condemned provided her own blindfold, rather than the presiding officials or the headsman. Mary Queen of Scots, for example brought a Corpus Christi cloth to bind her eyes at her execution.

Laura said...

For execution by burning, the condemned would usually have their head shaved and be dressed in a simple robe of burlap or other rough material, The idea being that more clothing and a person's hair would catch fire and burn more quickly, causing a quicker and therefore less painful death, and execution by burning was done for a maximum of suffering.

Anonymous said...

How would they further punish someone who dressed incorrectly at her execution?