Crucifixion Is crucifixion a humane way of punishment? This method is a very debatable in terms of cruelty and abuse. The origins of crucifixion have been a long time practice by Romans in the centuries. The actual trace of crucifixion was by the Persians. Later, Alexander the Great and his generals introduced the practice to the Phoenicians, Egyptians, and Carthaginians. It is also common belief that crucifixion was a result of Plutarch’s passage that “each criminal condemned to death bears his own cross on his back.” AS time progressed, the Romans invaded in the practice of crucifixions to a point they became efficient and skillful. The romans also added several innovations and modifications to this method. While the origins of this method …show more content…
It was also later used by the Germans and the Britain. Roman citizens were rarely crucified; slaves and lower class peoples were naturally worst type criminals. Therefore, they were main subjected to crucifixion as their punishment. The citizen class of Roman society were never subject to capital punishments; instead, they were fined or exiled. A prime example of the practice of crucifixion is Jesus. Through religious speculation of the Pharisees, Jesus was then crucified by Roman law. Following crucifixions would be a Roman flogging until the victim’s blood began to flow. Then the Romans designed the act of crucifixion to be slow and painful. The person would be tortured to the point of humiliation. The Romans used crucifixion as a punishment and a universal warning to future lawbreakers. The excruciating pain of the flogging, the condemned person would be required to carry his stake across public roads to the place of execution usually a public place. If a crossbeam is used, the victim was forced to carry it on his shoulders, which would have been torn open by a brutal scourging, to the place of execution. The criminal would then be fastened to the beam with are outspread, usually roped, in some cases nails. In Roman times iron was expensive; thus, nails from a crucifixion were usually removed from the dead body and reused over and over to cut the costs. The body was
Comparing El Grecos St Francis Venerating the Crucifix to El Grecos St John the Baptist
Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offence or a capital crime. In those jurisdictions that practice capital punishment, its use is usually restricted to a small number of criminal offences, principally, treason and murder, that is, the deliberate premeditated killing of another person. In the early 18th and 19th century the death penalty was inflicted in many ways. Some ways were, crucifixion, boiling in oil, drawing and quartering, impalement, beheading, burning alive, crushing, tearing asunder, stoning and drowning. In the late 19th century the types of punishments were limited and only a few of them remained permissible by law.
When a criminal was branded, a mark was burnt into their skin used more for an identification mark rather than a punishment (Schrader). Capital punishments were often used in the Renaissance era. The most common of these punishments was hanging. When a criminal was receiving a punishment, they were often stripped of their clothing to show shame to the public (Schrader).
At the beginning of the era, punishments were decided by individuals or their families. This led to punishments were the quantity and quality did not match the significance of the crimes committed. Eventually, proportionate punishment was created, and left to the community, or whoever enforced the law. The reason for their extreme punishments, like execution or banishment on people was because they thought it would make other people refrain from breaking the law. However, studies have been shown that making punishments very harsh did not help much at all, if any (“Punishment”). Some of the most common severe punishments included hanging, burning, the pillory, whipping, branding, starvation in front of the public, and cutting off parts of the body. They also used items such as the scold’s bridle, which was an iron muzzle placed over the head and had a metal piece that stuck in the person’s mouth. The drunkard’s cloak was a type of pillory used on people who became drunk. Overall, most punishments that did not involve anything too serious were normally shameful to the criminal by placing them in front of the public. Some of the minor punishments included being carried in a cart through the streets, and riding backwards on a horse. The pillory was probably the most used prop for punishment, because it varied in intensity, such as getting the criminals ears nailed to the pillory itself. In that time period, they had specific punishments for certain offences. Some of these specifics included stealing anything over 5 pence led to being hanged. Also, the punishment for poaching varied based on the time of day. “Poaching at night resulted in the punishment by death, whereas poaching during the day time did not” (Alchin). Another major form of punishment used was imprisonment. At that time, prisons were very unsanitary and many diseases were
In his Crucifixion, with the Virgin and Saint John the Evangelist Mourning (c.1460), a piece within the Northern Renaissance collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rogier van der Weyden portrays a stark image of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The right panel of the diptych depicts the gruesome image of a crucified Christ. Weight pulls the emaciated body down into a Y-shape, contrasting the T-shape of the cross it is mounted on. The only movement comes from the loincloth wrapped around Christ’s waist that dances in the wind. Blood visibly trickles from the corpse’s wounds. Behind the body, a red cloth is draped down the grey wall. At the base of the cross sits a skull and bone. The left panel portrays the Virgin Mary swooning in despair as Saint John attempts to support her weight. Her hands are clasped in prayer as she gazes up at her lifeless son. Both figures are clothed in pale draping robes. The vibrant red of the cloth that hangs from the grey wall in the background contrasts the subdued colors of the
Violence is a recurring theme for many stories, particularly in the York Play of the Crucifixion and Beowulf. The York Play of the Crucifixion went into detail of the soldiers’ task to crucify Jesus. Violence was a reflection of their job and of the times at hand. Beowulf is a heroic story of how one man concurred many monsters, his violent acts made him superior to others, making him a great King. This glorified him amongst the people. These two stories utilize violence in different aspects, while at the same time uniting their enjoyment to inflict more pain to their adversaries.
The crucifixion periscope is one of the most read and studied stories of the gospels, second only to the story of the resurrection. Luke’s presentation of the darkest day in Christianity is appropriately not as poetic and literary elegant as some of his other writings, yet dramatic. He stresses some common Lukan themes of forgiveness, prayer and universalism.
In the arts, the primarily valued is the material used by an artist to create a work. Different materials have different meaning, and expression. Choosing the best quality materials is very important because it can affect the way that material has been handled. The piece of artwork I chose was Crucifixion with Angles and Mourning Figures (870-880). The cover is very detailed, and the materials are very colorful and meaningful. According to the Art a Brief History, the figure of Christ is described in gold with gemstones, and pearls (242.) The materials that used on the cover is represented in Christianity. Sapphires represent hope, good health and blue skies. Garnets are meaning fire, joy, love and charity. Emeralds symbolizing the freedom from bondage, hope, and fertility. The background used gold to signify brightness of day. All materials combined together is represented sacrifices and of Christ’s death on the cross. Consequently, materials are not only chosen or
Capital punishment seemed to have been regenerated from the beginning of mankind, where beheading was considered an honorable method of meeting death, whereas hanging carried with it a definite stigma. The era of public hanging was emotionally satisfying even though the surroundings was emotionally tense. In contrast to private hangings where they were fewer observers, less theatrical from the accuse and hanging was becoming more of an inhuman punishment to inflict on those found guilty of their crime. Both forms of hangings were though to be an effective way of preventing individuals from committing a crime. Capital punishment seemed morally acceptable, to the public and there were individuals who were willing to carry out the execution. From the books; "…Hang By the Neck…", Hanging in the Balance and The trail of the Dinosaur, gives descriptions of public and private hangings, the responsibilities of the hangman and the general reaction of the public, who were for and againts hangings. In the days of public hangings, gallows or scaffolds were rather crude contraptions. Early contraptions consisted of two post in the ground, with a cross-piece between them from which the victim swung. As the years passed by a second contraption was invented, a single stout post with a timber nailed at a right angle at the top, with supporting boards attached. A third contraption was made which was a platform erected nine or more feet from the ground, in the middle of which was a trap door which swung upon hinges. This latest invention was commonly used towards the end of public hangings. In private hangings the same contraption was used, but the individual were taken down a lot quicker, for their was no need to display the executed to curious observer. Public executions were grim and was a disgusting spectacle to the accuses’ family and close friends, but for most individuals it was a time to rejoice and to celebrate. When a crowd assembled to witness a public event, they were out in a holiday mood. Hundreds of people came from long distances to view a hanging, concessionaires had money invested in trinkets and food to be sold at what they called jamborees. Public hanging were often imitated in plays, which were seen as despicable form of entertainment towards the victim and the accuses family. The scenes attending the hangings were for large gatherings from far and near, mostly bent on idle curiosity or for a grand jollification.
The guillotine was first introduced during the French Revolution by a man named Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin. He is a physician who first was involved with the issues of medicine. On December 1, 1789 he became interested in the idea of capital punishment. He invented the guillotine. It was a contraption used for causing immediate and painless death. It included a falling blade, running between two upright boards of wood and later a basket. Therefore, one may believe that the design of the guillotine helped with executions.
The death penalty has been promoted for thousands of years, for countless crimes committed by humans. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. The death penalty was also part of the Fourteenth Century B.C.'s Hittite Code; in the Seventh Century B.C.'s Draconian Code of Athens, which made death the only punishment for all crimes; and in the Fifth Century B.C.'s Roman law of the Twelve Tablets. Death sentences were carried out by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beating to death, burning alive, and impalement. Now in today’s society the most common methods of execution are; firing squad, hanging, and in recent years: lethal injection which is undeniably more humane than any other form of execution throughout history. The death penalty has been used to protect society from the iniquities that mankind has presented itself. The criminals, rapists, murderers, and sadists, who harm innocent people, should undeniably forfeit their own right to live as Margaret Thatcher has stated. The use of capital punishment is essential to the security of our nation and the justice in which those who are innocent and those who are the victims deserve.
Several other punishments of the medieval period were also rather gruesome. If you were charged with treason, but you were a noble person otherwise, you were to be simply hanged and buried. If you committed murder, and were found guilty of attempted murder, you’d be tied up, near the scene of the crime and left to starve to death. If you were convicted of a successful murder, you’d be hung for a little while, have your hands cut off, and then led to where you’d be executed. Rouges were to be sent to the stockades and whipped, anyone who disturbed the peace were to be continuously du...
Why was Jesus executed? In answering this question in historical terms, we must first look at the events leading up to his arrest and ultimately, his execution. We know that Jesus performed that symbolic gesture of 'cleansing'; the temple, by overturning the money changers tables, and most believe that this act was symbolic of destruction, not purification. Paula Fredrickson, author of From Jesus to Christ writes: 'Through this disruptive gesture, Jesus symbolically enacted the enpending apocalyptic destruction of the Temple…that God's kingdom was at hand.'; So basically, his gesture, as Fredrickson states: 'would have been readily understood by any Jew watching, as a statement that the Temple was about to be destroyed by God, and accordingly that the present order was about to cede to the Kingdom of God.';
It must be remembered that criminals are real people too, which have. life and with it, the feeling of pain, fear and the loss of their loved ones and all the other emotions that the rest of us feel. There is no such thing as a humane way of putting someone to death. Every type of execution causes the prisoner physical suffering, some. methods perhaps cause less than others, but be in no doubt that being.
Capital punishment is the punishment of death for a crime given by the state. It is used for a variety of crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and treason. Many countries also have the death penalty for sexual crimes such as rape, incest and adultery. Lethal injection, the electric chair, hanging and stoning are all methods of execution used throughout the world. Capital punishment has been around since ancient times; it was used in ancient Rome, and one of the most famous people to be crucified was Jesus Christ.