In the Middle Ages, Botched Executions Were a Sign

In 1234 King Henry III of England was informed that one Walter of Pyonne, hanged for murder, had been found alive by those who had come to bury him. Learning of this, the king decreed that divine clemency must have allowed the man to survive his hanging, ordered his release, and cleared him from further prosecution for the crime.

In 1394, in France, a woman named Perrenelle Horrie was sentenced to death by drowning for having killed her infant daughter. But although she was bound and thrown into the Charente River, the woman did not die. Her bonds loosened and she floated to safety. Many who witnessed this attempted execution declared it a miracle, and she was returned to prison while the authorities deliberated their next steps.

The attempt to execute Smith took place after the Supreme Court, in a 6–3 vote, rejected Smith’s lawyers’ last-minute plea that their client not suffer through such an ordeal, given the state’s recent record of difficulty in successfully carrying out executions by lethal injection. GOP Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, in a statement

, ordered a pause on executions in the state and a review of procedures, somehow managing to place the blame for these incidents not on the prison staff but on mysterious “legal tactics and criminals hijacking the system.”And so, our minds have turned to the history of botched executions, and how people have responded to them in the past. Our two medieval examples, from England and from France, might at first seem as if they must have been exceptional.

Escape from prison, if not necessarily surviving a hanging, did not take a miracle at all. Medieval prisons were not always so confining. Often enough, the warden, or wardeness, could be overpowered in a jailbreak, or doors and walls broken open, without any need for saintly intervention to pry open bars or break chains.

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Türkiye condemns Israel for 'summary executions' in occupied West BankTürkiye strongly condemns the “summary executions” and recent escalation of violence and civilian casualties in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem ❤️☝️🇹🇷🇯🇴
Source: trtworld - 🏆 101. / 63 Read more »

Denver Cops' Botched Use of Find My iPhone App Behind SWAT Raid on GrandmotherA minute of Googling could have prevented the problem.
Source: denverwestword - 🏆 315. / 61 Read more »

San Jose State botched probe of trainer accused of sexual misconduct, report findsSan Jose State University failed to properly investigate sexual misconduct complaints against former athletic trainer Scott Shaw, review finds. Instead of doing internal investigations how about these schools start calling the police when these thing happen?
Source: latimes - 🏆 11. / 82 Read more »

The 10 Very Best Disposable Masks for All AgesWe tested expert-approved disposable masks to find the best N95, KN95, KF94, and surgical masks you can buy online. Just stop it . Enough.
Source: NYMag - 🏆 111. / 63 Read more »

Leeches are still used in medicine—yes, really. Here’s why.Aside from the yuck factor, the use of leeches in modern medicine often surprises patients—given that these blood-sucking parasites were long dismissed as quackery Bit of a misleading tweet; the act of bloodletting using leeches to cure a whole bunch of things that would never be cured by that is the quackery. That hasn't changed. I prefer traditional medicine. Leeches taste disgusting and are too chewy. Tablets and pills for me. Maggots do great work for burn victims. I support bugs as medicine.
Source: NatGeo - 🏆 537. / 51 Read more »

10 Los Angeles middle schoolers treated for suspected overdosesWhile has not been confirmed what, if anything, the students may have consumed, the LAFD said it may have 'possibly' been 'cannabis edibles.' They also noted that fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, was not involved. Could you guys rewrite this in English? Also, it’s impossible to overdose on pot. Unless they were just suddenly too chill.
Source: YahooNews - 🏆 380. / 59 Read more »