Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So the other day I was watching a video on historical misconceptions and found out that despite the belief that the witches were burned at the stake, in reality they were all hanged. I found that to be interesting. So where did the idea they were burned at the stake come from?
So the other day I was watching a video on historical misconceptions and found out that despite the belief that the witches were burned at the stake, in reality they were all hanged. I found that to be interesting. So where did the idea they were burned at the stake come from?
All but one were hanged - Giles Corey was pressed to death with stones.
He had refused to plead either guilty or not guilty, and so was pressed in an attempt (ie, torture) to make him enter a plea. He did not, and eventually the pressing killed him. Apparently they were too scrupulous to execute someone who refused to plead, but not too scrupulous to use lethal force to get him to plead so they could then find him guilty and execute him.
The fact that burning at the stake was the traditional means of disposing of witches in Europe probably accounts for the widespread assumption that the executions at Salem were by the same method.
As was stated, "burned at the stake" was taken from the traditional middle age era method for execution of witches (which still, in fact, varied by region - some were beheaded, some drowned, some hanged, many burned).
In Salem, as contradictory as it seems, they still had to obey some semblance of modern English Law of that day, which required criminals (witches included) to be hanged by the neck. Not sure about the "pressed" victim.
@OP: I imagine because those accused of witchcraft (as well as heretics and Jews) were commonly burned at the stake in Europe.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
