Decapitation
Decapitation, or beheading, is death caused by removing a living being's head. This may be done by hand with an axe, sword, or knife, or by guillotine. In rare cases it may also be the result of an explosion, being driven over by a train, etc.
Separation of the head from the rest of the body causes inevitable death in humans: even if the bleeding would be stopped, obviously the brain would not get oxygen. No medical treatment could be fast enough to save the patient.
This is also the case for the vast majority of other living creatures, but is not an absolute. See also: Mike the Headless Chicken.
Alternatively, decapitation may be applied to someone who is already dead, i.e. to a corpse. This would have probably made the most sense for the purpose of displaying the head to prove the fact of the individual's death or to instill fear in the populace by illustrating the likely fate of an enemy of the authorities.
Decapitation throughout history
Decapitation has been used as a form of capital punishment for millennia. The modern legal terminology capital offence or capital crime, as well as the term capital punishment itself, derives from the punishment for qualifying serious offences having been the removal of one's head. Political prisoners (labelled traitors) and serious criminals often had their heads removed and placed on public display for a period of time. For instance, in medieval England, the heads were displayed on the walls of the Tower of London. On the other hand, execution by beheading with a sword could be at times considered an "honorable" way to die for an aristocrat, who, presumably being a warrior, could generally expect to die by the sword in any event. This would be distinguished from a "dishonorable" death on the gallows or through burning at the stake.
If the headsman's axe or sword was sharp and his aim was true, decapitation was a quick and relatively painless form of death. If the instrument was blunt or the execution clumsy, however, it was considerably more painful. The person to be executed was therefore advised to give a gold coin to the headsman so that he did his job with care.
Decapitation by guillotine was a common form of execution invented shortly before the French Revolution (although an earlier version of the guillotine, the gibbet, was used in England until the 17th century). The aim was that only one form of execution, involving no torture, should exist. It was used in France until 1977.
In Japan, decapitation was historically performed as the second step in ritual seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment). After slicing his own stomach open, the warrior's second would strike his neck from behind, leaving the head connected by only a flap of skin.
It is of note that in the biblical Book of Revelation beheading is named as a method of execution of Christian martyrs during a great persecution (Rev. 20:4). There is no historical record of such an event, so most commentators believe that this verse refers to the last great persecution of the church that is expected to occur shortly before the Second Coming of Christ.
Decapitation in the modern world
The use of decapitation has been discontinued in part because of suspicion that the severed head may in certain cases continue to be alive to some extent and capable of feeling pain. Some evidence for this was gathered by studying the presence of death-related chemicals in the brains of beheaded animals. There have also been many apocryphal stories from France about the severed heads of guillotined persons that would change facial expression or move their lips. Certainly another major reason for the end of the practice of beheading is the violent and messy nature of the practice.
Decapitation by sword has in modern times occurred in jurisdictions subject to Islamic Sharia, and by militant Islamists.
Some famous individuals who have been beheaded
- Marie Antoinette
- Georges Danton
- Madame du Barry
- Louis XVI of France
- Antoine Lavoisier
- Maximilien Robespierre
Modern era: