Whats The History Of Executioners As A Societal Class? Im Ready

Whats the history of executioners as a societal class? Im ready

In some cases, butchers were roped in to become executioners, or convicts were offered the job as an alternative to their own deaths. But typically, executioners came into the jobs through family ties; most in the profession were men whose fathers had been executioners before them, Harrington explained. Even the diarist Schmidt was descended from an executioner. His father had unwillingly received the job when randomly ordained by a prince as a royal executioner.

Over time, this passing of the baton from father to son created what Harrington called long-standing "execution dynasties" that spread across Europe during the Middle Ages.

But the existence of those dynasties also reveals the poor image executioners had at the time. People were trapped in this family cycle of employment because, in reality, they had few other opportunities to work, according to Harrington. People whose professions revolved around death were people that the rest of society did not want to associate with. So executioners were typically consigned to the fringes of society — and even forced to literally live at the edge of town.

"People wouldn't have invited executioners into their homes. Many executioners were not allowed to go into churches. Marriage has to be done at the executioner's home," Harrington said. "Some schools would not even take the children of executioners."

This social isolation meant that executioners were left to consort with others forced to occupy society's underworld, "undesirables" such as prostitutes, lepers and criminals. That only boosted public suspicion of executioners and their families.

Executioners, therefore, were a conundrum: crucial for maintaining law and order, yet shunned because of their unsavory work. "Attitudes toward professional executioners were highly ambiguous. They were considered both necessary and impure at the same time," said Hannele Klemettilä-McHale, an adjunct professor of cultural history at the University of Turku in Finland who has studied representations of executioners.

this article provides a pretty good quick but in-depth summary on the subject. it's a really interesting case study in social exclusion and class/caste system dynamics!

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history executioners

Inhuman nature

DnD OC Bloodhound

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reblog cute art

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wardenwyrd

5 months ago

A digital drawing of Anthy Himemiya and Nanami Kiryuu, done in saturated reds, oranges, and greens. They are both skewered through on the sword of Dios. Anthy is behind Nanami, glaring tiredly up at her, her posture limp. Nanami twists around on the blade, staring with fear and rage back at Anthy, one hand clawing at the air and the other pinned by a bread knife that Anthy’s stuck through it. Anthy is wearing her flashback outfit, and Nanami is wearing her nightgown. The background is plain and dark.

takes one to know one.

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reblog cute art

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wardenwyrd

4 months ago

Hello fictional man, you badly need therapy. Unfortunately, what I'll be giving you instead is men and more feelings.

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NEED to be a god in pantheon so i can do this yes unsuspecting citizen come near I offer 1 block of gold in exchange for letting me hit you with the queer situationship ray this will alter you beyond recognition : )

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wardenwyrd

1 year ago

warning!! modern ‘poetry’ is turning our daughters into beautiful bisexual men!!

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reblog

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wardenwyrd

5 months ago

how bright can his shirt get do you think?

(ko-fi)

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dead boy detectives payneland mommy's fav gays

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wardenwyrd

8 months ago

im making this its own post actually

found family is "i have endured the fucking horrors with these guys. i would both kill and die for them. i would rip my own bones out to make splints to heal theirs. there is no name for the bond we share"

found family is NOT "this guy is so dad-coded and these guys are so sibling-like and—"

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nodding my head viciously

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wardenwyrd

1 year ago

Thumbprint Challenge

Thanks for the tag @moondust-bard !

RULES: Look back on your work, both past and present, finished and unfinished. What are five to ten narrative elements or tropes that continuously pop up in your work? Give a list of these things!

Inhumanity as a neutral thing rather than 'good' or 'bad

Things™️ are not what they seem to be

Body horror

Fae or fae folklore inspired elements

Intricate magic systems heavily interconnected with the setting

Gods as eldritch entities

Neurodivergent characters. Everywhere.

Misfortune striking but the character is just a bit too fucked up to be bothered all that much

Distorted environments

Tagging: @sparrowrising, @violets-in-her-arms-writes, @tea-and-mercury

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writeblr tag game writer writeblr community