The Gunpowder Plot in 1605, was the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament and to kill King James I by a group of Catholic conspirators. These men included the famous Guido 'Guy' Fawkes and Robert Keyes. All of these men who lived long enough to be tried were sentenced to execution by being hanged, drawn and quartered.
About Being Hanged, Drawn and Quartered
This barbaric and sadistic form of execution was invented in 1241 to punish a man called William Maurice who had been convicted of piracy. It was used to execute many famous men who were convicted as traitors to the English, such as William Wallace who is more commonly known as 'Braveheart'.
This dreadful punishment was even applied to those of royal blood, such as the Welsh Prince of Wales, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, in October 1283, who was tried for treason against King Edward I.
This form of execution was used in England from the thirteenth century until 1790. Even after this time, men were still being sentenced to death by this method, which was not carried out. This form of punishment was often reserved for the most serious crimes such as treason and high treason.
This method of punishment was in place solely to inflict the most terrible methods of torture and execution. These methods and instruments were used to inflict the most harrowing physical and mental suffering. The victims had no rights and there were no laws or rules which protected the treatment of the men who faced this grisly end.
During this violent execution, the victim would be hanged from the scaffold and taken down whilst still alive. The internal organs including the genitals were then removed and the victim's head was cut off. The rest of the body was hacked into four quarters and was then displayed over various well-known places around the United Kingdom, such as London Bridge.
The Death of the Gunpowder Plot Conspirators
There has been some debate whether 'drawn' refers to the dragging of a live victim to the butcher's block or the drawing of the victim's internal organs. A possible account of the execution of Robert Keyes, one of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators is that after he fell, he was drawn to the block (still alive) where he had his bowels removed before his body was divided into four parts. If this account is true, than the drawing referred to both the movement of the body whilst still alive and the removal of the internal organs.
How Guido 'Guy' Fawkes Escaped Being Hanged, Drawn and Quartered
On January 31st 1606, Guy Fawkes managed to jump from the gallows and subsequently broke his neck in the fall and avoided the agony of the next stage of being 'drawn'. His body was still quartered and the body parts were placed at the four corners of the United Kingdom, this was done to warn other traitors of their terrible fate.
Women who were convicted of such serious crimes were not hanged, drawn and quartered but were burnt at the stake instead. This was for obvious reasons of public decency.
Where These Executions Took Place
These executions were held in public places, and were very popular with the public during the Middle Ages. This is clearly stated in the following entry made on the 13th October 1660, in The Diary of Samuel Pepy's, A New and Complete Transcription, Volume I.
"To my Lord's in the morning, where I met with Captain Cuttance, but my Lord not being up I went out to Charing Cross, to see Major-general Harrison hanged, drawn and quartered, which was done there, he looked cheerful as any man could do in that condition. He was presently cut down, and his head and heart shown to the people, at which there was great shouts of joy."
Prisoners who were convicted of high treason were sentenced to the torturous death of being hanged, drawn and quartered. This included many Catholic priests who were killed by this method during the Elizabethan era and several of the male prisoners who were involved in the execution of King Charles I in 1649.
The crime of high treason, remained on the United Kingdom's statute books over a long period of the nineteenth century legal reform. The sentence of being hanged, drawn and quartered was changed to drawing, hanging the victim until he was dead before the final act of beheading and quartering.
This punishment became obsolete in England in 1870, and the death penalty for treason was abolished in the United Kingdom in 1998.
Sources:
The Law of Treason in England in the Latter Middle Ages, John Bellamy, Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower and the Gunpowder Plot, Fiona Bengsten, Trafford Publishing, 2005.
Tracey White - A photojournalist and history writer who specialises in UK/ Scottish history and travel especially of the Tudor era.
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