CONTENTS
Martyrs, Murderesses and Madwomen
Appendix 1: Types of Torture
Appendix 2: Types of Punishment and Execution
Excerpt
The Law, in its wisdom, did not
differentiate between men and women when it came to passing sentence of
death on those found guilty of capital offences, and so in these pages
you will read how, in some countries, many women were first tortured on
the rack, in the boots, by the bridle, the water torture or the
thumbscrews. They were whipped and exposed to public humiliation in the
pillory; they died by the rope, axe, and sword; by the electric chair,
the gas chamber, the firing squad; by being pressed beneath heavy
weights or boiled to death, by lethal injection or burned at the stake;
by being drowned, or beheaded by the guillotine or Scottish Maiden.
Nor, afterwards, were they all given a decent burial; some were
dissected, others skinned to provide bizarre souvenirs. A few, such as
Margaret Clitheroe and Alice Lisle, were martyrs; some, such as Marie
Brinvilliers and Mary Ann Cotton, were serial murderesses; others, like
Elizabeth Barton and Mary MacLauchlan, were mentally unbalanced and, in
more civilised times, would instead have been given the necessary
psychiatric treatment. Some executions were botched either by the
executioners or by the equipment involved, yet despite the appalling
ordeal they faced, some women were incredibly brave, some resigned to
their fate; a few fought with the executioner, others were hysterical
or in a state of collapse; some indeed were totally innocent, yet
nevertheless were put to death. But even the Law with all its sombre
overtones has its lighter side, and so the cases are interspersed with
quirky quotes.
