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"gunpowder" Bbc1 Naked Female Execution

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RedOrc

RedOrc

Magistrate
I was watching episode 1 of "Gunpowder" on Saturday and was quite surprised when the executioner said: "The law demands that you die naked", stripped the condemned woman, tied her spread-eagled and placed a board and heavy weights on her until she died! The woman in the scene is elderly which adds to the horror of the execution.

"Gunpowder" is a lavish production based on the Gunpowder Plot which inspired Guy Fawkes Night. It is currently available on BBC iPlayer and well worth a watch. It does not whitewash the savage religious persecution of the time, with one Catholic priest hanged, drawn and quartered and another racked and water tortured. Tolerance in Spain is no better, as we see a Jewish man and woman burnt at the stake.

The pressing to death at a public execution is not historically accurate. Some-one convicted of treason would forfeit all the lands and property to the Crown, but there was a legal loophole that an accused person who refused to enter a plea could not be convicted. They were tortured by pressing until they made a plea or died. There were rules for how much bread and water the victim was allowed each day so plainly this was meant to be prolonged torment. Death by pressing was unpleasant, but at least the accused's heirs got to inherit their lands and possessions.
 
RedOrc said:
I was watching episode 1 of "Gunpowder" on Saturday and was quite surprised when the executioner said: "The law demands that you die naked",
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Honestly, I have my doubts about that. It sounds like "the law" as quoted by our own Tree in the "trials" he holds here on CF. Pressing was real and you are correct that it was used to extract a confession rather than as a means of execution per se, though death was not uncommon. At least one of the Salem witches (a man) died from pressing before he confessed. But none of the accounts I've seen have the victims naked and clothing would hardly be an impediment to suffering from pressing.
 
windar said:
Honestly, I have my doubts about that. It sounds like "the law" as quoted by our own Tree in the "trials" he holds here on CF. Pressing was real and you are correct that it was used to extract a confession rather than as a means of execution per se, though death was not uncommon. At least one of the Salem witches (a man) died from pressing before he confessed. But none of the accounts I've seen have the victims naked and clothing would hardly be an impediment to suffering from pressing.
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Actually I think the instance used seems to have been based on an actual of a woman who was pressed to death in the reign of Queen Elizabeth IIRC. She was according to the record indeed stripped naked but as Redorc and yourself point out the purpose of pressing was not as a judicial execution but as a means of forcing a plea to be entered so a trial could proceed.

Ah found it

http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/tudor-stuart/margaret-clitherow
 
RacingRodent said:
Actually I think the instance used seems to have been based on an actual of a woman who was pressed to death in the reign of Queen Elizabeth IIRC. She was according to the record indeed stripped naked but as Redorc and yourself point out the purpose of pressing was not as a judicial execution but as a means of forcing a plea to be entered so a trial could proceed.

Ah found it

http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/tudor-stuart/margaret-clitherow
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Your citation doesn't say she was naked.

My point is that some rogue judge might have ordered someone stripped, but I don't think "The law demands that you die naked" is an accurate statement. In fact this judge was a rogue, since execution by pressing was really extralegal.
 
Jollyrei said:
Must be a first for the BBC - any number of people seem to have complained about the graphic detail of the executions in Gunpowder. :eek::eek:
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I actually felt while flawed in the particulars the purpose of the violence was justified in narrative terms. Too often portrayals of the Gunpowder plot just have them act almost it would seem out of a snit. The harsh opening gave a much more realistic impression of the sense of panic and pressure they were under as Catholics in a hostile England. If the violence is souped up that is perhaps because the producers did not have a prior two or three seasons to build up the continual slow drip of persecution Game of Thrones style.
 
windar said:
Your citation doesn't say she was naked.

My point is that some rogue judge might have ordered someone stripped, but I don't think "The law demands that you die naked" is an accurate statement. In fact this judge was a rogue, since execution by pressing was really extralegal.
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I was just finding the woman's name, there is a primary source whose title I cannot recall off the top of my head. That did mention her being stripped. The character and exact run of events within the show were narrative licence but the point I am trying to make is that it is likely based on a real event albeit transplanted in time and place.
 
windar said:
Honestly, I have my doubts about that. It sounds like "the law" as quoted by our own Tree in the "trials" he holds here on CF. Pressing was real and you are correct that it was used to extract a confession rather than as a means of execution per se, though death was not uncommon. At least one of the Salem witches (a man) died from pressing before he confessed. But none of the accounts I've seen have the victims naked and clothing would hardly be an impediment to suffering from pressing.
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I wish for the sake of accuracy Tree is a crappy defense attorney that only reports trials more accurately than the fake news Crux Chonicle.

...Fucking 'Spike Sharp'!!!:mad::mad::mad:

Tree
 
The wine was rich and fruity and the powder was full with yellow and black dust.

The breeze, the flies and the Lords will ......................

?
 
Last edited:
AHHHH!


And a
bromance
Is
Born!


:p
 
RedOrc said:
I was watching episode 1 of "Gunpowder" on Saturday and was quite surprised when the executioner said: "The law demands that you die naked", stripped the condemned woman, tied her spread-eagled and placed a board and heavy weights on her until she died! The woman in the scene is elderly which adds to the horror of the execution.

"Gunpowder" is a lavish production based on the Gunpowder Plot which inspired Guy Fawkes Night. It is currently available on BBC iPlayer and well worth a watch. It does not whitewash the savage religious persecution of the time, with one Catholic priest hanged, drawn and quartered and another racked and water tortured. Tolerance in Spain is no better, as we see a Jewish man and woman burnt at the stake.

The pressing to death at a public execution is not historically accurate. Some-one convicted of treason would forfeit all the lands and property to the Crown, but there was a legal loophole that an accused person who refused to enter a plea could not be convicted. They were tortured by pressing until they made a plea or died. There were rules for how much bread and water the victim was allowed each day so plainly this was meant to be prolonged torment. Death by pressing was unpleasant, but at least the accused's heirs got to inherit their lands and possessions.
Click to expand...

Would this be it?

TDS018s.jpg nintchdbpict0003618717302.jpg

That she is an older woman accorded no dignity in her death makes it all the more powerful. Remarkable decision by the BBC though.
 
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