I love The Graveyard Book myself, but it took reading up on the Monmouth, Assizes (and Russell) executions for me to realise that "Jack Ketch" was an actual historical person before he became a proverbial figure. After the Russell execution, he wrote a pamphlet defending himself by saying essentially "I didn't do it intentionally" and "it was his fault, he moved!!!!", but by the time of the Monmouth execution, he didn't bother anymore.
Note that both Russell and Monmouth were executed with the axe, while Katte got his one stroke with a sword. Dimly recalling my Anne Boleyn facts, I think one reason why the sword worked generally better but was far less often used was that precisely because it was used more rarely, a sword was generally sharper, and the executioner had to put more effort and precision into swinging it.
"The Faithful Executioner" by Joel Harrington, right? It's very readable and provides a good general picture of the lives of executioners and their families in the HRE.
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Re: Jacobites and treason
Date: 2021-11-10 05:28 am (UTC)Note that both Russell and Monmouth were executed with the axe, while Katte got his one stroke with a sword. Dimly recalling my Anne Boleyn facts, I think one reason why the sword worked generally better but was far less often used was that precisely because it was used more rarely, a sword was generally sharper, and the executioner had to put more effort and precision into swinging it.
"The Faithful Executioner" by Joel Harrington, right? It's very readable and provides a good general picture of the lives of executioners and their families in the HRE.