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Some of history's most notable figures, including writers, were present at public executions. They documented their unsettling experiences in letters, journals, and books. Through their vivid prose, these writers captured the grim reality of these public spectacles, letting us today feel the shock, disgust, and terror they endured as they watched prisoners meet their brutal ends—whether by burning, hanging, dismemberment, or beheading.
The identities of certain individuals on this list might surprise you, as it's difficult to imagine that they could have withstood the harrowing scenes of execution. Whether it was the sight of condemned prisoners falling from gallows or losing their heads to sharp blades, these writers' firsthand experiences often influenced their own iconic literary works.
10. Dante Alighieri
Dante Alighieri, the Italian poet (1265–1321), not only witnessed the harrowing sight of criminals burned alive but also saw assassins buried headfirst in the ground, their legs the only part visible. This gruesome scene inspired Dante’s depiction of a similar punishment in his *Inferno*, where the damned sinners' legs stick ‘out of holes in a rock.’
In this vivid portrayal, Dante observes one of the damned sinners, “bending to talk to one of them,” as though acting as a priest listening to “the last words of a condemned man,” who prolongs his confession to delay the “terrible moment when the earth is shoveled in and smothers him.”
9. Samuel Pepys
Amidst a crowd of 12,000 to 14,000 onlookers, the English diarist Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) witnessed the hanging of convicted burglar James Turner in 1664. To get a closer view, Pepys paid a shilling to stand on a cart wheel, enduring “great pain” for an hour as Turner delayed the execution with lengthy prayers and speeches, hoping for a pardon that never came. After the hanging, Pepys returned home, “all in a sweat,” dined alone, and later enjoyed a second meal with friends at the Old James tavern.
This was not the first execution that Pepys had witnessed. On October 13, 1660, he attended the hanging of Major-General Harrison. In addition to being hanged, Harrison was condemned to be drawn, meaning his abdomen would be cut open and his intestines removed, and quartered, meaning his body would be divided into four parts, his head severed. Once his body was cut down, his head and heart were displayed to the public, who responded with 'great shouts of joy.'
In 1649, Pepys recalled, he had the chance to see the beheading of King Charles at White Hall, the royal residence at the time. He proudly remarked that he had witnessed 'the first blood shed in revenge for the blood of the King at Charing Cross.'
8. James Boswell
James Boswell, the Scottish lawyer and biographer (1740–1795), appeared to have an obsession with attending public executions. He was present at several, including that of his client William Harris, who had been sentenced to death for forgery. On the eve of Harris’s execution, Boswell visited him. The following day, May 30, 1770, Boswell witnessed the execution, which he described as leaving him 'much shocked and still gloomy.'
The following year, on September 25, Boswell seems to have witnessed the execution of William Pickford, a convicted robber. On October 20, 1771, he wrote to his friend John Johnston that he had last seen Pickford 'at the foot of the gallows.' Then, on March 24, 1773, after attending part of the trial of Alexander Madison and John Miller, who were convicted of stealing sheep, Boswell watched their hangings. The two were executed alongside John Watson, who had been condemned for breaking into a house. Boswell noted that 'the effect diminished as each one went.'
Boswell’s defense of another client, Margaret Adams, proved unsuccessful. She and her younger sister Agnes stood trial for murder, and Boswell argued that the two should be tried separately. While Agnes was 'later reprieved,' Boswell’s brief note on March 2, 1774, reading 'at M. A.’s execution,' suggests his client was not as fortunate.
On September 21, 1774, Boswell was present at the execution of John Reid, a man condemned for sheep theft. Later, on April 19, 1779, he attended the execution of James Hackman, who had been sentenced to death for the murder of Martha Ray. This event prompted Boswell to write an 'account of the trial and a letter of reflection on Hackman’s fate for the St. James’s Chronicle.'
Boswell’s attendance at executions continued with a series of mass executions. On June 23, 1784, he witnessed 'the shocking sight of fifteen men executed before Newgate.' A year later, he observed the execution of 19 more men at the same prison. On July 1, 1785, ten more men were executed at Newgate. Five days later, accompanied by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Boswell watched as Edmund Burke’s former servant, Peter Shaw, was executed for arson, alongside four other condemned men. Boswell wrote about the event for the Public Advertiser. That year, on August 16 and 17, he witnessed 'seven men and a woman, including siblings Elizabeth and Martin Taylor,' executed for burglary. He interviewed some of the condemned beforehand and published an article about the event in the Public Advertiser. On April 19, 1790, he also interviewed murderers Thomas Masters and Antonio Marini before their executions.
Boswell admitted that he was 'never absent from a public execution,' explaining that his initial shock, along with feelings of 'pity and terror,' gradually gave way to 'great composure.' His curiosity about 'death' motivated him to continue witnessing these events.
7. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
On January 14, 1772, Susanna Margarethe Brandt, a 25-year-old woman from Frankfort, Germany, was executed by beheading. Having been drugged and assaulted, she gave birth to the resulting child, which she subsequently killed, claiming that a demonic force had compelled her actions. It is believed that Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the German dramatist (1749–1832), may have witnessed the execution. If he did, this incident might have influenced his creation of the character Gretchen in his two-part tragedy, Faust, who also commits infanticide.
There are striking similarities between the lives of Gretchen and Brandt, which suggest that the latter may have served as inspiration for the former. Brandt accused her rapist of spiking her wine, just as Gretchen poisoned her mother with wine. Both women attributed their actions to the Devil, and both had brothers who served in the military. Additionally, Brandt’s sister consoled her with the assurance that she was not the first woman to have been seduced, a phrase echoed by Mephisto in Faust, who reassured Gretchen with the same words: "You are not the first."
6. Lord Byron
The English Romantic poet Lord Byron (1788–1824) articulated an emotional journey that mirrors the one experienced by Boswell.
During a visit to Rome, Byron witnessed the beheadings of three condemned men. He wrote, "The first one left me feeling hot and thirsty, and I was trembling so much that I could barely hold the opera glass; by the time of the second and third (which shows how quickly such things can lose their horror), I am ashamed to admit, I felt no such effect."
5. Hans Christian Andersen
In his autobiography, the Danish fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) recalls having seen a public execution in 1823. Afterward, a father took "a cup of the dead man’s blood" to give to his epileptic child, believing it would cure the illness.
The father’s belief seems to have been based on superstitions regarding the healing powers of blood. For centuries, it was thought that blood could restore health. Specifically, the blood of individuals who died violently or were executed was believed to have restorative qualities, as it was thought to contain "soul-essence," which could impart energy and strength to those who consumed it.
4. William Makepeace Thackeray
The British novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–1863) recounts how "Dash," described as "one of the most eminent wits in London," kept the group waiting to attend the execution of Francois Courvoisier in high spirits. At a club the night before, Dash joked about "the coming event," and Thackeray confessed that he and his companions found the subject of murder to be "a great inspirer of jokes."
After hours of waiting, Courvoisier "bore his punishment like a man": "His arms were bound in front of him. He opened his hands in a helpless manner, clasping them together once or twice. He scanned his surroundings with a wild, imploring look. His mouth tightened into a sad, pitiful smile. He positioned himself directly under the beam."
When the condemned man's face was covered by a "night-cap," Thackeray shut his eyes, and the trapdoor was released, sending Courvoisier falling to the end of his rope. Thackeray was deeply affected by the execution and reported that, even 14 days later, he continued to see "the man’s face continually before [his] eyes."
3. Thomas Hardy
English novelist Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) was only 16 years old when he witnessed a hanging. To get a better view, he climbed a tree near the gallows. Elizabeth Martha Browne, aged 45, had been convicted of murdering her husband, and on August 9, 1856, at 9:00 AM outside Dorchester Gaol, she was about to be executed. At that time, Dorchester's population was 9,000, and a crowd of 3,000 to 4,000 had gathered to watch the event.
Years later, Hardy described the condemned woman as displaying “a fine figure… against the sky as she hung in the misty rain,” with her “tight black silk gown” accentuating “her shape as she spun halfway around and back” at the end of her rope. Some have speculated that the image of Browne's death may have struck an erotic chord in the young Hardy, who might have been intrigued by “her writhing body in the tight dress and [by her] facial features partially visible through the rain-soaked hood.” Regardless, the traumatic experience left a lasting impression on Hardy, inspiring his renowned 1891 novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
2. Mark Twain
American novelist and humorist Mark Twain (1835–1910) was deeply haunted by the memory of a hanging he attended in Nevada during the late 19th century. In recounting the event for a Chicago newspaper, he wrote, "I can still see that straight, stiff corpse hanging there, its black pillow-cased head rigidly turned to one side, and the purple streaks creeping through the hands, pushing the fleshly hue of life away. Ugh!"
Twain was writing about the execution of Frenchman John Milleain on April 28, 1868. Referred to by Twain as "John Melanie," Milleain had been caught selling one of his victim's dresses, Julia Bulette, whom he murdered in January 1867 after ransacking her parlor. An immigrant who spoke little English, Milleain was easily convicted of the crime, though he maintained his innocence until the moment the trapdoor was released.
Twain detailed the hanging in a letter sent from Virginia City, which was later published in the Chicago Republican on May 31, 1868. He described the condemned man’s courageous demeanor as he faced death. However, when the rope took hold, "a dreadful shiver started at the shoulders, violently convulsed the entire body, and faded away with a tense pulling of the toes downward, like a doubled fist," until "all was over."
1. Charles Dickens
On November 13, 1849, English novelist Charles Dickens (1812–1870) witnessed the public execution of Frederick and Maria Manning. The couple was executed at Horsemonger Lane Gaol for the murder of their friend, whose body they buried under the kitchen floor. They killed him for his money, valuing it more than his life. This marked the first time in 150 years that a husband and wife were executed together, and the event was billed as the "Hanging of the Century."
Part of a crowd of 30,000 spectators, Dickens observed the hanging from the comfort of an upstairs apartment he rented near the prison. Though he was physically present at the execution, the author sharply criticized the public spectacle in a scathing letter to The Times, denouncing the event's carnival-like atmosphere. In his letter, Dickens explained that he attended not to witness the hanging of the couple, but to study the crowd, which he described as "thieves, low prostitutes, ruffians, and vagabonds of every kind" whose "foul behavior"—jeering at the condemned and displaying shameless, "brutal mirth"—left him ashamed to be among them.
Despite his stated disgust for such events, this wasn’t the first time Dickens had been present at a public execution. On July 6, 1840, he had attended the execution of Courvoisier at Newgate Prison in London, accompanied by Thackeray and Dash. The condemned man was guilty of slashing Lord William Russell’s throat while Russell lay in bed. Dickens condemned the "odious" crowd for their lack of sorrow, fear, or seriousness, and instead noted their display of "ribaldry, debauchery, levity, drunkenness and flaunting vice in 50 other shapes."
