The main news of today is undoubtedly the shooting of the DPRK Defense Minister on charges of high treason. The minister was shot at a military school from an anti-aircraft gun. In this regard, I would like to recall what types of the death penalty exist in the world today.
The death penalty is the capital punishment, which today is prohibited in many countries of the world. And where it is permitted, it is used only for extremely serious crimes. Although there are countries (for example, China) where the death penalty is still widely used for much smaller offenses, such as bribery, pimping, counterfeiting banknotes, tax evasion, poaching and others.
In Russian and Soviet legal practice, the euphemisms "highest measure of social protection", "capital punishment" were used at different times to denote the death penalty, and in later times, "an exceptional measure of punishment", since it was officially considered that the death penalty in the USSR was the measure of punishment is not practiced, but is applied as an exception as punishment for especially grave ordinary and state crimes.
Today, 6 different types of the death penalty are most common in the world.
A type of death penalty in which killing is achieved with the help of a firearm. Currently the most common of all the other methods.
Shooting is carried out, as a rule, with rifles or rifles, less often with other hand-held firearms. The number of shooters is usually from 4 to 12, but it can be different depending on the situation. Sometimes, to ease conscience, live cartridges are mixed with blanks. Thus, none of the shooters knows if he was the one who fired the fatal shot.
According to the legislation of the Russian Federation, execution is the only form of the death penalty. Although the death penalty has not been abolished in our country by law, only a moratorium on it is observed, caused by international obligations related to Russia's accession to PACE. There has not been a real execution of the death sentence since 1996.
In Belarus, execution is also the only method of execution.
Until 1987, execution was the official method of execution in the GDR.
In the United States, shooting remains as a fallback method of execution in one state, Oklahoma; in addition, theoretically, 3 people could be shot who were sentenced to death in Utah before the legislative abolition of the shooting here, since this law does not have retroactive effect.
In China, where the largest number of death sentences are carried out to date, a convict is being shot in the back of the head with a machine gun on his knees. Authorities periodically arrange public demonstration shootings of convicted bribe-taking government officials.
Today hanging as the only or one of several types of execution is used by 18 countries.
A type of death penalty, consisting in strangulation with a noose under the influence of the weight of the body.
For the first time, killing by hanging was used by the ancient Celts, bringing human sacrifices to the air god Jesus. The execution by hanging was mentioned by Cervantes in the 17th century.
In Russia, hanging was practiced during the imperial period (for example, the execution of the Decembrists, "Stolypin ties", etc.) and by the opposing parties during the Civil War.
Hanging was later practiced in the short period of war and the early post-war years against war criminals and Nazi collaborators. At the Nuremberg Trials, 12 top leaders of the Third Reich were sentenced to death by hanging.
Today, 19 countries use hanging as the only or one of several types of execution.
A method of carrying out the death penalty, which consists in introducing a condemned solution of poisons into the body.
The method used in the late XX - early XXI century was developed in 1977 by forensic scientist Jay Chapman and approved by Stanley Deutsch. The sentenced person is fixed on a special chair, two tubes are inserted into his veins. First, the inmate is injected with sodium thiopental, which is usually used (in a lower dose) for anesthesia during operations. Then pavulon is introduced through the tubes, which paralyzes the respiratory muscles, and potassium chloride, which leads to cardiac arrest. Texas and Oklahoma soon passed laws allowing this combination; the first application occurred in Texas at the end of 1982. Following them, similar laws were passed in another 34 states of the United States.
Death occurs in the period from 5 to 18 minutes after the start of the execution. There is a dedicated injection machine, but most states prefer to inject solutions manually because they believe it is more reliable.
Today, lethal injection is used as the only or one of several types of executions in 4 countries.
A device by which death sentences are carried out in some states of the United States.
The electric chair is a chair made of dielectric material with armrests and a high back, equipped with straps to secure the prisoner firmly. Hands are attached to the armrests, legs - in special clips of the chair legs. A special helmet is also attached to the chair. Electrical contacts are connected to the ankle attachment points and to the helmet. The hardware includes a step-up transformer. During the execution of the execution, an alternating current with a voltage of the order of 2700 V is supplied to the contacts, the current limiting system maintains a current through the body of the convict of the order of 5 A.
The electric chair was first used in the United States on August 6, 1890, at the Auburn State Prison in New York. William Kemmler, the assassin, became the first person to be executed in this way. Currently it can be used in seven states - in Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia at the choice of the convict along with lethal injection, and in Kentucky and Tennessee, only those who committed a crime before a certain date have the right to choose to use the electric chair.
Today, the electric chair is used only in the United States as the only or one of several types of execution.
The physical separation of the head from the body is carried out using a special tool - a guillotine or chopping-cutting tools - an ax, a sword, a knife.
Decapitation certainly leads to brain death as a result of sharply progressive ischemia. Brain death occurs within minutes of separating the head from the body. The stories that the head looked at the executioner, recognized its name and even tried to speak are, from the point of view of neurophysiology, greatly exaggerated. The head loses consciousness 300 milliseconds after being cut off and almost all higher nervous activity, including the ability to feel pain, ceases irreversibly. Some reflexes and cramps in the muscles of the face can continue for several minutes.
Today, 10 countries in the world have laws allowing beheading as the death penalty, however, reliable information about their application exists only in relation to Saudi Arabia. Most beheadings today have taken place in Islamic Sharia jurisdictions, by militant Islamists in hot spots, and by paramilitaries and drug cartels in Colombia and Mexico.
The type of death penalty, familiar to the ancient Jews.
Currently, stoning is used in some Muslim countries. As of January 1, 1989, stoning remained in the legislation of six countries around the world. Several media outlets reported the execution of a teenage girl in Somalia by an Islamist court on October 27, 2008 after she was allegedly raped by three men on her way from her hometown of Kismayo to visit relatives in Mogadishu. According to Amnesty International, the convict was only thirteen years old. At the same time, the BBC noted that the journalists present at the execution of the sentence estimated her age at 23, and the conviction of a 13-year-old girl for adultery would be contrary to Islamic law.
On January 16, 2015, it was reported that a woman accused of adultery was stoned by militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in the captured Iraqi city of Mosul.
Hello dear!
I read another booklet here, and decided - shouldn't we talk about such an important topic as "the highest measure of social protection", as entertainers with communist convictions once called it? The topic is complex, difficult, but interesting. I propose to skip the moral aspects (you can / cannot, but who are the judges, etc., etc.) and talk exclusively about the mechanism of deprivation of life by the state of its citizens, as a measure of the highest possible punishment.
At the moment, more than 80 countries of the world have either completely abolished the death penalty, or have joined the moratorium (including the Russian Federation). But the phenomenon itself remained as it was. And most likely it will always be. For....
If you recall a little history, then according to the same Code of 1649, all death penalty was divided into ordinary (simple) and qualified. If you look even further, in the 15th century, then the number of these punishments could be found in dozens of 2, and some of them are very, very cruel ...
But no matter how it was, the world is moving forward, and paradoxically, it becomes kinder and more tolerant. It is clear that this may not be so visible now, but, I repeat, when compared with previous centuries, the difference is obvious.
This can be seen, including in the case of capital punishment. There are fewer death sentences and they are more humane, or something ...
Therefore, I propose to talk about some of them. Let's start with the existing ones, and if there is interest, we will recall those that were earlier.
So....
Classics of the genre.
Let's start with the most common execution in the world - hanging.
This type of execution is considered for some reason the most shameful. Apparently, this is due to the legend that after his betrayal, Judas hanged himself on an aspen. If a soldier is executed on the gallows, he considers it a great insult. The same Hermann Goering decided not to wait for the rope and was able to kill himself.
The modern technology of this punishment is as follows: " the convict is hanged on a rope around his neck; death occurs as a result of the pressure of the rope on the body under the influence of gravity. Loss of consciousness and death occurs as a result of spinal cord injury or (if this is not enough for the onset of death) due to asphyxiation from compression of the trachea".
G. Goering at the Nuremberg Trials.
And despite the seeming simplicity, it's not all that simple.
It is clear that a more humane death, which speaks of the qualifications of the executioner, was death from damage to the spinal cord and vertebrae. After the noose was put on the neck of the convict, a hatch opens under his feet. In this case, the length of the rope (and, accordingly, the distance of the fall) is selected taking into account the height and weight of the convict - in order to achieve a rupture of the spinal cord. Otherwise, either a long and painful agony from suffocation, or even a separation of the head.
Well, the worst option is when the rope does not support the weight of the body and breaks. It turns out that people are executed twice ... The most famous example of such an incident was the execution of the Decembrists in 1826. Let's give the floor to an eyewitness of those events: “ When everything was ready, with the squeezing of the spring in the scaffold, the platform on which they stood on the benches fell, and at the same instant three fell - Ryleev, Pestel and Kakhovsky fell down. Ryleev's cap fell off, and a bloody eyebrow and blood behind his right ear were visible, probably from a bruise. He sat hunched over as he fell into the scaffold. I approached him, he said: "What a misfortune!" The governor-general, seeing that the three fell, sent the adjutant Bashutsky to take other ropes and hang them, which was immediately done. I was so busy with Ryleev that I did not pay attention to the others who had fallen from the gallows and did not hear if they said anything. When the board was raised again, Pestel's rope was so long that he reached the platform with his toes, which should have prolonged his torment, and it was noticeable for some time that he was still alive». 
Decembrists before execution
Therefore, I repeat, there can be no trifles. The material of the rope and its correct fastening and of course the length are also important. There are special tolerance tables for lengths depending on height and weight, and the loop itself is made with the help of a special knot called a hanging or lynch knot. The ideal knot is the one that is wound 13 turns. The shape of the gallows is T-shaped or in the form of the Russian letter G, came from Ancient Rome. Why is it so, now I find it difficult to say - I will still investigate. But tradition is tradition ... However, each country had its own peculiarities. In Europe, for example, robbers were hanged from trees along roads. And in Russia, for some reason, the custom was adopted, to construct gallows on rafts for the rebels and rebels and to launch such rafts with those hanged downstream. 
Old version
The rope (which in Russia used to be often called the "Stolypin tie") is used by most of the executors today, although earlier in Asia there could be variations such as a string from a piano or barbed wire.
All the nuances before execution must be foreseen by the executioner. And it only depends on him whether the victim will suffer or die relatively easily.
US Army Sergeant John Wood, who acted as the executioner for the criminals convicted at the Nuremberg Tribunal, knew his business well and they all died quickly. But the Japanese who hanged Richard Sorge were amateurs. Even after being removed from the gallows, his heart beat for 8 minutes. 
Nuremberg executioner John Wood
Among the most famous people executed in this way, relatively recently, one can recall the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (father of Benazir Bhutto), Saddam Hussein and his younger brother Barzan Ibrahim Hassan at-Tikriti, who was beheaded with a rope. 
PER. Bhutto
Currently, 18 countries use the death penalty by hanging (North Korea, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Somalia, Nigeria, North Sudan, South Sudan and Botswana )
And also 2 American states - Washington and New Hampshire. Let me remind you that in the United States the death penalty is legalized in 32 states.
To be continued...
The most popular executions in the Middle Ages were beheading and hanging. Moreover, they were applied to people of different classes. Decapitation was used as a punishment for noble people, and the gallows was the lot of the rootless poor. So why did the aristocracy chop off their heads and hang the common people?
Decapitation is the lot of kings and nobles
This type of death penalty has been used everywhere for many millennia. In medieval Europe, such punishment was considered "noble" or "honorable". They cut off their heads mainly for aristocrats. When a representative of a noble family put his head on the block, he showed humility.
Decapitation with a sword, ax, or ax was considered the least painful death. A quick death made it possible to avoid public agony, which was important for representatives of noble families. A crowd hungry for spectacles should not have seen low dying manifestations.
It was also believed that aristocrats, being brave and selfless warriors, were prepared precisely for death from cold weapons.
Much in this matter depended on the skills of the executioner. Therefore, often the convict himself or his relatives paid a lot of money so that he would do his job with one blow.
Decapitation leads to instant death, which means it relieves violent torment. The sentence was carried out quickly. The convict put his head on a log, which was supposed to be no more than six inches thick. This greatly simplified the execution.
The aristocratic shade of this type of punishment was reflected in books dedicated to the Middle Ages, thereby perpetuating its selectivity. In the book "The History of the Master" (by Kirill Sinelnikov) there is a quote: "... a noble execution - beheading. This is not hanging for you, the execution of the rabble. Decapitation is the lot of kings and nobles. "
Hanging
If the nobles were sentenced to the loss of their heads, then commoner criminals fell to the gallows.
Hanging is the most common execution in the world. This type of punishment has been considered shameful since ancient times. And there are several explanations for this. First, it was believed that when hanging, the soul cannot leave the body, as if remaining hostage to it. Such deceased were called “pledges”.
Secondly, dying on the gallows was excruciating and painful. Death does not occur instantly, the person experiences physical suffering and remains conscious for several seconds, perfectly aware of the approaching end. All his torment and manifestations of agony are watched by hundreds of onlookers. In 90% of cases, at the time of strangulation, all the muscles of the body relax, which leads to a complete emptying of the intestines and bladder.
For many peoples, hanging was considered an unclean death. No one wanted his body to dangle in full view of everyone after the execution. Desecration by flaunting is an essential part of this type of punishment. Many believed that such a death was the worst that could happen, and it was prepared only for traitors. People remembered Judas, who hanged himself on an aspen.
The person sentenced to the gallows had to have three ropes: the first two, the thickness of the little finger (cakes) were equipped with a loop and were intended for direct strangulation. The third was called "token" or "throw" - it served to throw the sentenced to the gallows. The executioner completed the execution, holding on to the crossbeam of the gallows, he beat the condemned man with his knee in the stomach.
Exceptions to the rule
Despite the clear distinction according to belonging to a particular class, there were exceptions to the established rules. For example, if a nobleman raped a girl who was entrusted with guardianship, then he was deprived of his nobility and all the privileges associated with the title. If during the arrest he resisted, then the gallows was waiting for him.
Among the military, deserters and traitors were sentenced to be hanged. For the officers, such a death was so humiliating that they often committed suicide without waiting for the execution of the punishment imposed by the court.
The exception was cases of high treason, in which a nobleman was deprived of all privileges and could be executed as a commoner.
May 20th, 2012
Today, the death penalty on our planet has been abolished on a territory equal to South America ... So
that if you think the electric chair is a thing of the past, you are deeply mistaken. Truth,
The guillotine is no longer used - since 1939 ...
It's awful, but all the things you've read about in the scariest books in democratic North America
still exists safely ... And this country still has something to boast about in terms of tools
executions, and in different states they have a variety of modifications! .. And it all began with the courts
Lynch - that is, mass hangings ...
Sometimes the guilty were also burned to be sure ...
Negroes were hanged, at least in the South, everywhere (the lynching had a huge number of victims in the 20th century, in 1901
130 people were lynched) ...
The Indians were often executed by punishers who avenged the massacre of the white population. In the Wild West at the same time
the sheriffs acted, executing at their own discretion (sometimes with their own hands). The death penalty was used in the United States
also for political reasons against socialists, communists, anarchists.
By the end of the 19th century, they were no longer hanged somehow, but professionally. Was approved, so to speak, "professional" hanging,
on which you could hang people of any size ... She is in front of you ...
The prisoner's hands were bound ...
And a special bag was put on his head so that those watching the execution would not be shocked by the expression on his face
gallows ...
At the end of the 19th century, the electric chair was invented in the USA, first used in 1890 ... It was a breakthrough ...
It very soon came into general use and replaced hanging in many states. And also with the appearance of a chair
came up with the so-called "open executions", where the city administration was invited (in special cases
state) and relatives of the victim ...
Gradually, the chair improved and improved ...
A special mask was put on the head of the condemned man ...
Attach individual contacts to hands ...
But from these improvements, the prisoner's suffering has changed little ...
Although death for the average person comes quickly, there are cases in the history of executions when the sentenced
I had to "kill" 20-30 minutes ...
The Americans introduced the gas chamber even earlier than in Germany, namely in 1924 ...
For execution, vapors of potassium cyanide are used, and if the convict breathes deeply, death comes almost
immediately...
Then a truly infernal invention appeared - the Death Chair. The method is still being performed in Utah and Idaho.
as an alternative to lethal injection. To carry out the execution, the prisoner is tied to a chair with leather straps
across the waist and head. The stool is surrounded by sandbags that absorb blood. Black hood put on
the head of the condemned. The doctor locates the heart and attaches a circular target. Distance 20
there are five shooters. Each of them aims a rifle through a slit in the canvas and fires. Prisoner
dies as a result of blood loss caused by a ruptured heart or large blood vessel, or rupture
lungs. If the arrows skip the heart, by accident or deliberately, the condemned dies a slow death ...
Soon, the last type of American execution appeared, now the most common, and in many states the only one:
lethal injection ... Here is a special couch (gurney) for the sentenced ...
The composition of the lethal injection was developed by the physician Stanley Deutsch. It has three chemical components. First
the substance - sodium pentothal - plunges the condemned into deep sleep. Pavulon - paralyzes the muscles. Finally,
potassium chloride stops the work of the heart muscle. After examination at the University of Texas, this
the method was approved. It soon became widespread. Opponents of the death penalty gave him
the name of the "Texas cocktail". Today, of the 38 states that, after 1976, reintroduced on their territory
death penalty, only Nebraska does not inject, preferring the electric chair.
Poisons are stored in this way ...
The killing of a prisoner occurs with poison injected into a vein on his right leg ...
But the worst state of affairs with executions is still in Asia and the Middle East ... Funds still exist here.
executions used since ancient times: stoning, beheading with a sword, and hanging. Before you frame
city execution - a man is simply lynched by the crowd ...
But these quite decent people are throwing these stones at him ...
And they are trying to simply fool this offender ...
A corpse that is being dragged to show to the "boss" ...
Hanging...
And just lynching ...
And in China, execution is still widely used. They shoot brothel keepers in this country,
dishonest officials, dissidents and so on, and so on ...
Moreover, especially mass executions happen before the New Year ...
Among other things, such sentences are passed publicly, with a large crowd of people ...
The execution is carried out by conscripts ...
And the bodies are buried in specially designated places - they are not given to relatives ...
Russia ... On May 16, 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree “On the phased reduction
the use of the death penalty in connection with Russia's entry into the Council of Europe ”. Since August 1996, in accordance with this
by decree, death sentences are not carried out. Condemned men are serving life sentences ...
Here is a very rare photo of the prisoners of the Orenburg prison "Black Dolphin" ...
There are three more similar prisons in Russia. They do not come out of them. Nobody ever. So human rights activists joke bitterly, "If they
the inhabitants were able to vote on the use of the death penalty, most of them would vote in favor.
Look at how discreetly it looks, this is the most famous prison in Russia ... Those who are inside this
red-brick building built in Catherine's times, when there was already a life-long hard labor, never
have not seen the sculptures of the very dolphins from the fountains, which gave this terrible institution such
poetic name ...
Today in Russia there are over three and a half thousand people sentenced to life
conclusion. And "Black Dolphin" today is the largest specialized prison for death row ...
With the development of civilization, human life has acquired value regardless of social status and wealth. It is all the more terrible to read about the black pages of history, when the law did not just deprive a person of life, but turned execution into a spectacle for the amusement of ordinary people. In other cases, the execution could be of a ritual or edifying nature. Unfortunately, there are similar episodes in modern history. We have compiled a list of the most brutal executions ever practiced by humans.
Ancient world executions
Scafism
The word "scaphism" is derived from the ancient Greek word "trough", "boat", and the method itself went down in history thanks to Plutarch, who described the execution of the Greek ruler Mithridates at the behest of Artaxerxes, the king of the ancient Persians.First, the man was stripped naked and tied inside two dugout boats so that his head, arms and legs, which were thickly coated with honey, remained outside. The victim was then forcibly given a mixture of milk and honey to induce diarrhea. After that, the boat was lowered into stagnant water - a pond or lake. Lured by the smell of honey and sewage, insects covered the human body, slowly devoured the flesh and laid the larvae in the resulting gangrenous ulcers. The victim survived for up to two weeks. Death came from three factors: infection, exhaustion and dehydration.
Execution by impalement was invented in Assyria (modern Iraq). In this way, residents of rebellious cities and women who had an abortion were punished - then this procedure was considered infanticide. 
The execution was carried out in two ways. In one case, the convict was pierced in the chest with a stake, in the other, the tip of the stake passed through the body through the anus. People who were tormented were often depicted on bas-reliefs as an edification. Later, this execution began to be applied by the peoples of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, as well as by the Slavic peoples and some Europeans.
Execution by elephants
This method was used mainly in India and Sri Lanka. Indian elephants lend themselves well to training, which was used by the rulers of Southeast Asia. 
There were many ways to kill a person with the help of an elephant. For example, armor with sharp spears was worn on the tusks, with which the elephant pierced the criminal and then, while still alive, tore apart. But more often than not, elephants learned to press down on the convict with their feet and alternately tear off the limbs with their trunk. In India, a guilty person was often simply thrown at the feet of an angry animal. For reference, the Indian elephant weighs about 5 tons.
Surrender to the beasts
Behind the beautiful phrase "Damnatio ad bestias" lies the painful death of thousands of ancient Romans, especially among the early Christians. Although, of course, this method was invented long before the Romans. Usually lions were used for execution, less popular were bears, panthers, leopards and buffaloes. 
There were two types of execution. Often those sentenced to death were tied to a pillar in the middle of the gladiatorial arena and wild beasts were lowered onto it. There were also variations: thrown to a cage to a hungry animal or tied to its back. In another case, the unfortunate was forced to go out to battle against the beast. They had a simple spear from their weapons, and a tunic from their "armor". In both cases, many spectators gathered for the execution.
Death on the cross
The crucifixion was invented by the Phoenicians - an ancient people of seafarers who lived in the Mediterranean. Later this method was adopted by the Carthaginians, and then by the Romans. The Israelites and Romans considered death on the cross the most shameful, because in this way they executed hardened criminals, slaves and traitors. 
Before the crucifixion, the person was undressed, leaving only a loincloth. He was beaten with leather whips or with freshly cut rods, after which he was forced to carry a cross weighing about 50 kilograms himself to the place of crucifixion. Having dug the cross into the ground by the road outside the city or on a hill, the person was lifted with ropes and nailed to a horizontal bar. Sometimes the convict's legs were previously crushed with an iron bar. Death occurred from exhaustion, dehydration, or painful shock.
After the prohibition of Christianity in feudal Japan in the 17th century. crucifixion was used against visiting missionaries and Japanese Christians. The scene of the execution on the cross is present in Martin Scorsese's drama Silence, which tells exactly about this period.
Execution with bamboo
The ancient Chinese were champions of sophisticated torture and execution. One of the most exotic methods of killing is by stretching the culprit over the growing shoots of young bamboo. The sprouts made their way through the human body for several days, causing incredible suffering to the executed. 
Ling chi
"Ling-chi" is translated into Russian as "sea pike bites." There was another name - "death from a thousand cuts." This method was used during the reign of the Qing dynasty, and high-ranking officials convicted of corruption were executed in this way. There were 15-20 such people every year. 
The essence of "ling-chi" is the gradual cutting off of small parts from the body. For example, having chopped off one phalanx of a finger, the executioner cauterized the wound and then proceeded to the next. How many pieces should be cut off from the body, the court determined. The most popular verdict was cutting into 24 parts, and the most notorious criminals were sentenced to 3 thousand cutting off. In such cases, the victim was given opium to drink: so she did not lose consciousness, but the pain made its way even through the veil of drug intoxication.
Sometimes, as a sign of special mercy, the ruler could order the executioner to first kill the condemned with one blow and torture the corpse. This method of execution was practiced for 900 years and was banned in 1905.
Medieval executions
Bloody eagle
Historians have questioned the existence of the "Bloody Eagle" execution, but it is mentioned in Scandinavian folklore. This method was used by the inhabitants of the Scandinavian countries in the early Middle Ages. 
The harsh Vikings killed their enemies in the most painful and symbolic way. The man's hands were tied and his stomach was laid on a stump. The skin on the back was carefully cut with a sharp blade, then the ribs were pried with an ax, breaking them out in a shape resembling eagle's wings. After that, the lungs were removed from the still living victim and hung on the ribs.
This execution is shown twice in the TV series Vikings with Travis Fimmel (in episode 7 of season 2 and episode 18 of season 4), although viewers noted contradictions between the serial execution and the one described in the folklore "Elder Edda".
"Bloody Eagle" in the TV series "Vikings"
Tearing by trees
Such execution was widespread in many regions of the world, including in Russia in the pre-Christian period. The victim was tied by the legs to two inclined trees, which were then abruptly released. One of the legends says that so Prince Igor was killed by the Drevlyans in 945 - because he wanted to collect tribute from them twice. 
Quartering
The method was used as in medieval Europe. Each limb was tied to horses - the animals tore the sentenced person into 4 parts. In Russia, quartering was also practiced, but this word meant a completely different execution - the executioner alternately chopped off the legs with an ax, then the arms, and then the head. 
Wheeling
Wheeling as a form of the death penalty was widely used in France and Germany during the Middle Ages. In Russia, this type of execution is known at a later time - from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The essence of the punishment was that at first the guilty person was tied to the wheel with his face to the sky, his arms and legs being fastened to the needles. After that, his limbs were broken and, as such, he was left to die in the sun. 
Flaying
Skinning, or skinning, was invented in Assyria, then passed to Persia and spread throughout the ancient world. In the Middle Ages, the Inquisition improved this type of execution - with the help of a device called the "Spanish tickler", a person's skin was torn into small pieces, which were not difficult to tear off. 
Welding Alive
This execution was also invented in antiquity and received a second wind in the Middle Ages. Basically, counterfeiters were executed in this way. A person convicted of counterfeiting money was thrown into a cauldron of boiling water, tar or oil. This variety was quite humane - the offender quickly died from painful shock. More sophisticated executioners put the condemned in a cauldron of cold water, which was heated gradually, or slowly lowered him into boiling water, starting from the feet. The cooked muscles of the legs were moving away from the bones, and the person was still alive.This execution is also practiced among the extremists of the East. According to the former bodyguard of Saddam Hussein, he witnessed an acid execution: first, the victim's feet were lowered into a pool filled with a caustic substance, and then thrown entirely. And in 2016, militants of the banned ISIS organization dissolved 25 people in a cauldron of acid.
Cement boots
This method is well known to many of our readers of gangster movies. Indeed, they killed their enemies and traitors with such a cruel method during the mafia wars in Chicago. The victim was tied to a chair, then a basin filled with liquid cement was placed under his feet. And when he froze, the person was taken to the nearest reservoir and thrown off the boat. Cement boots instantly dragged him to the bottom to feed the fish. 
Death flights
In 1976, General Jorge Videla came to power in Argentina. He ruled the country for only 5 years, but remained in history as one of the most terrible dictators of our time. Among other atrocities of Videla are the so-called "flights of death". 
A man who opposed the tyrant's regime was pumped up with barbiturates and unconsciously carried on board an airplane, then thrown down - certainly into the water.
We also suggest you read about the most mysterious deaths in history.
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