Is it true that the executioners wore masks?

In the mass culture, the image of the executioner is common, the face of which is hidden under a mask or hood. We decided to check whether this was really part of the executioner uniform.

The executioners are often depicted in cinema masks - and not only in historical. So, the executioners who executed Anna Bolein in "Tudor" And Near Stark in "The game of thrones", as well as the executioner, which was supposed to chop off the head of Hippogrith in "Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban". At the executioner from the cartoon "Ilya Muromets and Nightingale-robber" The face is covered with a hood with the slots for the eyes. The executioner in the game looks similarly Alice: Madness Returns. This image is possible Meet V TV show. Figures executioners In masks or hoods - frequent attribute Museums medieval torture around the world. So dress Animators On thematic events And Reconstructors.

We were not able to find in historical documents Certificates The fact that the executioners were put on masks during the executions. Moreover, on medieval and later engravings and pictures of the face of the executioners are usually open: this is how the execution is depicted Anna Bolein, Maria Stuart, Jacques de Mole and his sales brothers, Robespierre And many other executions. Not in the mask, none of the many actors on engraving, depicting the execution of Francois Ravalyak, the killer of Henry IV. 

Hannel Clementtil, a historian specializing in the Middle Ages, studied the image of executioners in literature, historical documents and image art. In his book “The embodiment of evil: Images of executioners in northern France and the Netherlands in the late Middle Ages” Writesthat the now popular image of the executioner, whose face is hidden by a deep hood with slots for the eyes, is also found in Italian legal illustrated manuscripts of the late Middle Ages, therefore, apparently, there the executioners really hid their faces. This is due to that, the historian writes that in small cities in Italy at that time there was often no individual person who performs the executioner's functions. Therefore, death sentences were carried out by members of a secular brotherhood, which included responsible and high -ranking citizens. Sometimes it was the same person who pronounced the verdict. It is clear that they wanted to remain anonymous in order to avoid revenge on the part of the relatives of the executed and censure, which professional executioners usually felt on themselves. In France and Burgundy, where the executioners were official faces, no one wore any masks - and nobody also attributed them to them in the visual and other art. Moreover, the wearing of masks in the Middle Ages was condemned by the church, was considered a devilish and pagan phenomenon. For a person who was guarding the law, this was unacceptable.

Museums are nevertheless found Exhibitsthat are described as masks of medieval executioners, but some of them are already Recognized late hoax.

But why would executioners hide faces? It is assumed that it was a shameful profession and they wanted to remain anonymous. Yes, these people were really often social OutsitesHowever, their face was by no means a mystery. Firstly, this kind of activity was often transmitted Inherited - Up to the point that the daughter of one executioner could only go out for the son of another. In fact, the son of the executioner often had no choice: to continue the family business was the only affordable way to make money. They tried not to communicate with the executioners, they often did not even want to take money from them, their children were not accepted into schools. This almost caste system would not have developed if the personality of the executioner was a secret. Secondly, the executioners, despite their socially unchanged occupation, had some privilege. So, for example, they could take food in local markets for free, and for this, of course, merchants had to know them by person.

Henri Sanson, a representative of one of the most famous French executioners, left After yourself DiariesWhere he mentioned that one of his ancestors was offered to sew a “serious costume” for executions, but “Charles-Genrich Sanson rejected the honor of such a robe and expressed a desire to stay with the clothes that he wore.” That is, in fact, the executioner did not have any special uniform. Sanson in his diaries describes in sufficient detail the life and professional activity of the executioner, but does not mention the mask. 

Joel Harrington, historian from the University of Wanderbilt in Tennessee and the author of the book “True executioner: life and death, honor and shame in the restless 16th century”, speaks: “Forget about this image of an anonymous ambassador executioner in a hood. They considered themselves law enforcement officers. ” 

Perhaps the image of the executioner in the mask fell into the mass consciousness from Alexander Dumas’s novel “Three Musketeers”: there is the Lilles executioner, who executed my lady, Appears In a red cloak and mask. But he hides his face rather for intimidation and spectacular removal of the mask in front of Milady, which is already familiar with him, it was he who branded it in the past. When he removes the mask, this produces a strong dramatic effect. He himself is clearly not hiding: he lives in a house on the outskirts of the city, the passers -by met by Athos know about it and indicate him where the executioner lives, does not hide his face when he opens the door to Athos.

The executioner, who executed King Charles I in Dumas’s novel “Twenty years later,” also wears a mask. This is due to the fact that the city executioner was abducted by musketeers, and some unknown took his place. At the same time, in the novel “Queen Margo” of the same Dumas, the executioner Kabosh is depicted without any masks, the heroes know him in the face.

The executioners of Charles I, apparently, were in masks-this Mentioned In many authoritative sources, not only Dumas. This was the first case of the king’s execution in England, so it is not surprising that the executioners were afraid to show their faces. The son of the executed king Charles II, having come to power, took revenge on his father. He condemned the 39 people who remained at that time, involved in the verdict of Charles I, for the regicide. Personality executioners They were never disclosed. However, it is noteworthy that on images executions of the king executioners Without masks. Most likely, this is due to the fact that the artists were not present on executions personally. They did not see the executioners, so they portrayed them as they usually looked - with open faces.

Thus, sometimes the executioners really wore masks, but it was rather an exceptional phenomenon characteristic of individual places or out of the ordinary cases (like the execution of some royal persons) than a rule. Usually the executioners did their work with open faces, they knew them, and this had both minuses and significant benefits for the executioner himself.

Most of the untruth

What do our verdicts mean?

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