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and fasten'd to the several
Quarters of the Room. This done, he has a great Weight of Iron and Stone laid upon him. His Diet, till he dies, is of three Morsels of Barley bread without Drink the next Day; and if he lives beyond it, he has nothing daily, but as much foul Water as he can drink three several Time, and that without any Bread: Which grievous Death some resolute Offenders have chosen, to save their Estates to their Children. But, in case of High Treason, the Criminal's Estate is forfeited to the Sovereign, as in all capital Crimes, notwithstanding his being pressed to Death.
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in 1772, and the last known use of the practice was in 1741. In 1772 refusing to plead was deemed to be equivalent to pleading guilty. This was changed in 1827 to being deemed a plea of not guilty. Today in all common-law jurisdictions standing mute is treated by the courts as equivalent to a plea of
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In medieval Europe the slow crushing of body parts in screw-operated ‘bone vises’ of iron was a common method of torture, and a tremendous variety of cruel instruments was used to savagely crush the head, knee, hand and, most commonly, either the thumb or the naked foot. Such instruments were finely
232:
in her house. She died within fifteen minutes under a weight of at least 700 pounds (320 kg). Several hardened criminals, including
William Spigott (1721) and Edward Burnworth, lasted half an hour under 400 pounds (180 kg) before pleading to the indictment. Others, such as Major Strangways
197:
The elaborate procedure was recorded by a 15th-century witness in an oft-quoted description: "he will lie upon his back, with his head covered and his feet, and one arm will be drawn to one quarter of the house with a cord, and the other arm to another quarter, and in the same manner it will be done
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For such as stand Mute at their Trial, and refuse to answer Guilty, or Not Guilty, Pressing to Death is the proper
Punishment. In such a Case the Prisoner is laid in a low dark Room in the Prison, all naked but his Privy Members, his Back upon the bare Ground his Arms and Legs stretched with Cords,
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Many defendants charged with capital offences nonetheless refused to plead, since thereby they would escape forfeiture of property and their heirs would still inherit their estate; but if defendants pleaded guilty and were executed their heirs would inherit nothing, their property
162:("stood mute") would be subjected to having heavier and heavier stones placed upon his or her chest until a plea was entered, or as the weight of the stones on the chest became too great for the condemned to breathe, fatal
201:"Pressing to death" might take several days, and not necessarily with a continued increase in the load. The Frenchman Guy Miege, who from 1668 taught languages in London says the following about the English practice:
228:, who, in order to avoid a trial in which her own children would be obliged to give evidence, was pressed to death on March 25, 1586, after refusing to plead to the charge of having harboured Catholic
248:, after he refused to enter a plea in the judicial proceeding. According to legend, his last words as he was being crushed were "More weight", and he was thought to be dead as the weight was applied.
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that has a history during which the techniques used varied greatly from place to place, generally involving placing heavy weights upon a person with the intent to kill.
173:. They considered themselves to lack jurisdiction over a defendant until he had voluntarily submitted to it by entering a plea seeking judgment from the court. Since a
997:
603:
McKenzie, Andrea. "'This Death Some Strong and Stout
Hearted Man Doth Choose': The Practice of Peine Forte et Dure in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century England".
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Due to religious beliefs, it was at times viewed as better to execute prisoners without the shedding of blood. The means with which it could occur would vary.
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404:
Law, Litigants, and the Legal
Profession: Papers Presented to the Fourth British Legal History Conference at the University of Birmingham 10–13 July 1979
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system that tried and punished only those who volunteered for trial and punishment was practically unworkable, this was the means chosen to coerce them.
233:(1658) and John Weekes (1731), refused to plead, even under 400 pounds (180 kg), and were killed when bystanders, out of mercy, sat on them.
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273:, the screenplay also written by Arthur Miller, Corey is crushed to death for refusing to reveal the name of a source of information.
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threaded and variously provided with spiked inner surfaces or heated red-hot before their application to the limb to be tortured.
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ed E. W. Ives & A. H. Manchester, 116-125. Royal
Historical Society Studies in History Series 36. London: Humanities Press.
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in exchange for what she thought would be a reward of jewelry. She was instead crushed to death and her body cast from the
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269:(1953), where Giles Corey is pressed to death after refusing to plead "aye or nay" to the charge of witchcraft. In the
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method of crushing, therefore becoming the ‘crushed demon’ that stalks his reincarnation, John, later in the game.
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A common method of death throughout South and
Southeast Asia for over 4,000 years was crushing by elephants. The
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495:"Drug Control and Asset Seizures: a review of the history of forfeiture in England and colonial America"
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with his legs; and let there be laid upon his body iron and stone, as much as he can bear, or more ..."
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556:"Mackenzie, The Practise of Peine Forte et Dure in 16th and 17th Century England"
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the public execution by crushing of the fictional Lady
Dorothy Dibdale (based on
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Giles Corey was pressed to death during the Salem witch trials in the 1690s.
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Summerson, Henry (1983). "The Early
Development of Peine Forte et Dure."
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uses crushing to torture Lange's character after she inherits a haunted
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The common law courts originally took a very limited view of their own
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Crushing is also reported from pre-Columbian
America, notably in the
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one of the flashback victims Joseph Lambert is subjected to the
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583:"The bloody truth – why BBC's Gunpowder had to be so violent"
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244:, who was pressed to death on September 19, 1692, during the
431:"Dining with the Mongols — One of the Cruelest Ways to die"
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998:
Resolutions concerning death penalty at the United Nations
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Tait, William; Johnstone, Christian Isobel (11 May 1851).
417:"How the Mongols Executed Enemies with No Blood Spilled…"
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The most famous case in the United Kingdom was that of
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for "forceful and hard punishment") was a method of
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263:is referred to in Arthur Miller's political drama
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607:, Summer 2005, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 279–313.
581:Greig, Hannah; Cooper, John (31 October 2017).
628:Reference Number: t16760823-6 (23 August 1676)
543:The present state of Great-Britain and Ireland
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95:maiden who betrayed the city of Rome to the
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54:described this Central Indian execution in
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620:Forfeiture in England and Colonial America
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381:Roman historical sources and institutions
276:In the 1970 American made-for-television
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315:The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope
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1003:Capital punishment for drug trafficking
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457:, v. 2, pp. 650–651 (Cambridge; 1968;
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1008:Capital punishment for homosexuality
516:. W. Tait – via Google Books.
481:Commentaries on the Laws of England
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76:also used this method on occasion.
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626:The Proceedings of the Old Bailey,
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931:Most recent executions by country
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107:Crushing in pre-Columbian America
240:in American history was that of
983:Religion and capital punishment
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339:) is shown in graphic detail.
271:1996 film version of this play
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926:Enforcement or use by country
527:Francoeur, A. (11 May 2010).
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86:early history of ancient Rome
484:(1769), vol. 4, pp. *319-324
103:, which now bears her name.
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853:Hanged, drawn and quartered
514:"Tait's Edinburgh Magazine"
384:. Macmillan. pp. 1–47.
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454:The History of English Law
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119:Crushing under Mongol rule
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531:– via ora.ox.ac.uk.
449:Frederic William Maitland
154:legal system, in which a
127:Crushing under common law
672:Current judicial methods
278:supernatural horror film
605:Law and History Review
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226:St Margaret Clitherow
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150:formerly used in the
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43:Execution by elephant
545:" London 1715, p.294
378:Sanders, H. (1904).
37:Crushing by elephant
816:Republican marriage
745:Damnatio ad bestias
433:. 27 November 2022.
320:peine forte et dure
261:Peine forte et dure
238:peine forte et dure
187:Peine forte et dure
139:Peine forte et dure
133:Peine forte et dure
16:Execution technique
988:Wrongful execution
900:Suffocation in ash
756:Blowing from a gun
664:Capital punishment
476:William Blackstone
337:Margaret Clitherow
256:In popular culture
246:Salem witch trials
236:The only death by
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1029:Execution methods
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993:Botched execution
501:on 28 April 1997.
445:Frederick Pollock
189:was abolished in
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702:Nitrogen hypoxia
697:Lethal injection
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560:the original
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946:Executioner
786:Crucifixion
761:Brazen bull
751:Blood eagle
732:Ancient and
712:Gas chamber
541:Miege, G.:"
242:Giles Corey
164:suffocation
1023:Categories
910:Waist chop
874:Mazzatello
868:Ishikozume
863:Impalement
858:Immurement
848:Guillotine
796:Decimation
365:References
295:Paul Burke
291:Hope Lange
183:escheating
152:common law
144:Law French
968:Last meal
941:Death row
843:Gibbeting
717:Beheading
332:Gunpowder
156:defendant
66:Sasanians
31:execution
21:Death by
973:Penology
885:Scaphism
823:Elephant
811:Drowning
791:Crushing
685:Shooting
343:See also
60:in 1868.
27:pressing
23:crushing
1034:Torture
895:Stoning
838:Garrote
833:Flaying
828:Falling
781:Burning
766:Boiling
736:methods
722:Stoning
680:Hanging
349:Stoning
329:series
327:BBC One
230:priests
148:torture
97:Sabines
89:Tarpeia
84:In the
880:Sawing
776:Burial
566:29 May
461:
223:martyr
91:was a
72:, and
70:Romans
936:Crime
303:coven
160:plead
93:Roman
951:list
568:2009
459:ISBN
447:and
443:Sir
301:, a
297:and
312:In
25:or
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