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State-sanctioned beheadings are more recent than many assume: Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer, was the last individual executed by guillotine in France on September 10, 1977—months after the release of Star Wars, making decapitation ironically more contemporary than R2-D2.
Beyond this grim fact, beheading has mostly faded into history, with its various euphemisms (such as “the patriotic haircut” or “sneezing into the basket”) softening the brutality of a practice that endured for centuries. The guillotine, named after Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, who in 1789 proposed a gravity-driven blade for a supposedly painless execution, was efficient but not the only method. Here are eight intriguing facts about this brutal form of punishment.
1. The Halifax Gibbet served as an early version of the guillotine.
Long before Guillotin championed the guillotine, a similar device called the Halifax Gibbet was used in 16th- and 17th-century England to punish minor crimes like theft. It featured two tall pillars with a wooden block holding a blade, secured by a pin and rope. When the pin was pulled, the block would drop, ending the prisoner’s life. For added spectacle, a horse was occasionally used to yank the rope, creating a dramatic execution.
If this doesn’t seem vastly different from its successor, it wasn’t—except for the fact that little care was given to the blade’s sharpness, and victims often suffered crushed necks rather than clean cuts.
Over time, public opinion turned against decapitation as a penalty for theft, leading Oliver Cromwell to dismantle the device. Ironically, Cromwell himself was posthumously beheaded by political opponents, with his head displayed on a spike. A non-functional replica of the gibbet can still be seen in Halifax today.
2. Bribes could influence beheadings.
Executioners using axes had the power to control the level of suffering inflicted. This sometimes meant either prolonging or minimizing the agony of the condemned. Jack Ketch, a notorious 17th-century executioner in London, allegedly accepted bribes from the condemned for a swift death or from their enemies for a gruesomely drawn-out execution. His most infamous failure was the botched beheading of the Duke of Monmouth in 1685, where he struck five times with an axe before resorting to a knife. Legend has it that after the first ineffective blow, the duke lifted his head from the block to glare at Ketch in frustration.
3. Winning a foot race could save you from the blade.
Executions in the Ottoman Empire carried an element of psychological torment. Condemned individuals were given a drink; a white sip meant survival, while red signaled death. For the wealthy or elite, beheading was the fate—unless they could outpace the executioner in a foot race, which granted them a pardon.
The race spanned roughly 300 yards around Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. Success meant banishment instead of death, though few prisoners won, as executioners were more familiar with the terrain. This practice continued into the 18th century.
4. Executioners rarely wore hoods.
Contrary to popular depictions, executioners in history seldom wore hoods to conceal their identities. While masks existed, many regions proudly showcased their executioners rather than hiding them. In medieval Scandinavia, for example, executioners were marked with mutilated ears or facial brands, making them easily recognizable.
Executioners might have fared better with masks. In France and elsewhere, they were often ostracized, compelled to live in isolation from mainstream society. Their children were also restricted to socializing with other executioners' families, eventually inheriting the grim profession.
5. Madame Tussaud drew inspiration from beheadings.
What could one do with a recently severed head? For Marie Tussaud, the pioneering wax sculptor, it became a source of inspiration. Tussaud honed her craft by making casts of guillotined heads, even balancing a bloody head on her knee to accurately capture its features, as she recounted in her memoirs. Arrested as a royalist during France’s Reign of Terror, she narrowly escaped execution. After her release, she resumed her work and later relocated to London, where she established her now-famous museum.
6. Some execution swords featured engraved messages.
While axes were favored for beheadings due to their weight and efficiency, swords were also used, often inscribed with poignant phrases. One such sword, displayed at the Cleveland Museum of Art, bears the inscription, “When I raise this sword, I pray this poor sinner attains eternal life.”
7. Cephalophores were said to use their heads post-execution.
Throughout history, beheadings have been accompanied by legends of individuals who defied death momentarily. Certain Christian saints, known as cephalophores, were believed to hold their severed heads and continue functioning. Saint Justus, for instance, reportedly prayed and requested to see his mother before passing. Similarly, St. Denis was said to have walked six miles while carrying his head, preaching along the way. While scientists debate whether consciousness briefly remains after decapitation, walking such distances is almost certainly impossible.
8. A man once laughed during his own beheading.
Beheadings were rarely lighthearted affairs, but Lord Simon Fraser found humor in his grim fate. In 1747, the Scottish nobleman was executed in London for treason during the Jacobite rebellions. Before his execution, Fraser reportedly taunted his executioner and even laughed when a spectator stand collapsed, killing nine onlookers. Sometimes, laughter is the only response left.
