List of people who were beheaded

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The following is a list of notable people who were beheaded, arranged alphabetically by country or region and with date of decapitation. Special sections on "Religious figures" and "Fictional characters" are also appended.

These individuals may have lost their heads either accidentally or intentionally (as a form of execution or posthumously).

Salome and the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, by Titian
Saint Paul's Beheading (1887) by Enrique Simonet

Contents

[edit] Austria

[edit] Byzantine Empire

[edit] Canada

  • Tim McLean (2008) - murdered and decapitated on Greyhound bus.

[edit] China

[edit] Denmark

[edit] England

For English beheadings after 1707, see the Great Britain section below
The heads of famous English traitors were customarily spiked on London Bridge
Piers Gaveston at the feet of the Earl of Warwick, 1312
The execution of Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset at Tewkebury, 1471
Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots
Raleigh just before being beheaded – an illustration from c. 1860
This contemporary German print depicts Charles I's decapitation in 1649.
Execution of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth by Jack Ketch on Tower Hill, 15 July 1685 (O.S), in a popular print.

[edit] European New World colonies

Blackbeard's severed head hanging from Maynard's bowsprit
Execution of Diego de Almagro
Metacomet (1676) - New England Indian chief "King Philip" executed for resisting white settlement.
Blackbeard (1718) - Famous pirate beheaded after capture at Ocracoke Island
Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1519) - Spanish conquistador who discovered the Pacific Ocean. Executed by rivals Francisco Pizarro and Pedro Arias de Avila
Dutty Boukman (1791) - Executed by the French for promoting a slave rebellion.
Joaquim José da Silva Xavier (Tiradentes) (1792) – the body was quartered after his hanging for revolutionary activity
Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla and Ignacio Allende (1811) - Mexican insurgents were beheaded after their execution by firing squad
Manuel Ascencio Padilla (1816) - Executed for insurrection after the Battle of La Laguna.
Diego de Almagro (1538) – Executed in Cuzco by his rival Francisco Pizarro
Gonzalo Pizarro (1548) – Executed in Peru by Pedro de la Gasca for rebellion.

[edit] Finland

[edit] France

[edit] Ancien Regime

[edit] French Revolution

The execution of Robespierre

[edit] Restoration

[edit] Republic of France

[edit] Georgia

[edit] Germany

[edit] Pre-20th century

Execution of Pirates in Hamburg, 1573

[edit] Weimar Republic

  • Fritz Haarmann (1925) – The Butcher (or Vampire) of Hanover – Guillotined in Hanover for murder.
  • Peter Kürten (1931) – The Vampire of Düsseldorf – Guillotined in Cologne for murder.

[edit] Nazi Germany

The execution room at Plötzensee Prison, Berlin and guillotine.

[edit] Great Britain

See also the sections on England, Scotland and Wales for beheadings before the Union of 1707.

[edit] Hungary

[edit] India

[edit] Iraq

[edit] Italy

The Execution of Marino Faliero, Eugène Delacroix, 1827.

[edit] Ancient Rome

[edit] Medieval Italy

  • Conradin, King of Sicily (29 October 1268) - Executed in Naples by Charles of Anjou
  • Frederick I of Baden, Margrave of Baden (29 October 1268) - Executed in Naples by Charles of Anjou
  • Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice (1355) – Executed for a failed coup d'état.

[edit] Later Italy

[edit] Japan

[edit] Home islands

Sergeant Siffleet's execution at Aitape, 1943

[edit] Japanese occupied territories (20th century)

[edit] Korea

[edit] Netherlands

[edit] Ottoman Empire

[edit] Pakistan

[edit] Northwest India before 1947

[edit] Islamic Republic of Pakistan

[edit] Poland

[edit] Russia

[edit] Saudi Arabia

[edit] Scotland

For Scottish beheadings after 1707, see the Great Britain section above
The Scottish Maiden on display at the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh

[edit] Spain

[edit] Sweden

Execution of Anna Månsdotter. The executioner Dalman stands to the far left, hiding his axe behind his back.
  • Matthias Gregersson (1520) - Bishop of Strängnäs. Executed by Danes in the Stockholm Bloodbath
  • Vincens Henningsson (1520) - Bishop of Skara. Executed by Danes in the Stockholm Bloodbath
  • Anna Zippel (1676) – Executed in Stockholm for witchcraft.
  • Brita Zippel (1676) – sister of above. Executed in Stockholm for witchcraft.
  • Gävle Boy (1676) - witness in the trial against the above sisters. Executed for perjury.
  • Jacob Johan Anckarström (1792) – executed for assassination of Gustav III
  • Anna Månsdotter (1890) - executed by axe for murder. Last woman executed in Sweden.
  • John Filip Nordlund (1900) - Executed by axe in Västerås for mass murder.
  • Johan Alfred Ander (1910) - Executed by guillotine in Stockholm for murder. Last Swedish execution.

[edit] Switzerland

Execution of Greifensee garrison

[edit] United States

For beheadings before 1776, see the European New World colonies section above

[edit] Vietnam

Execution of Pierre Dumoulin-Borie

[edit] Wales

For Welsh beheadings after 1707, see the Great Britain section above
  • Gwenllian ferch Gruffudd (February 1136) - executed by the Anglo-Norman forces led by Maurice de Londres at Kidwelly Castle, Wales, after a failed uprising.

[edit] Religious figures

[edit] Biblical accounts

Judith beheading Holofernes

[edit] Christian saints

The martyrdom of St Alban, from a 13th century manuscript, now in the Trinity College Library, Dublin
The martyrdom of Saints Cosmas and Damian by Fra Angelico (Musee du Louvre, Paris)
The martyrdom of St Nicasius

[edit] Islamic

[edit] Sikh

[edit] Fictional characters

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp "Confirmed executions at Tower Hill". http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/tower.html. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  2. ^ "Thomas Mowbray". http://www.mowbray.ddl-web-hosting.com/page36.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  3. ^ "The Martyrdom of Archbishop Richard Scrope". The Catholic University of America. http://english.cua.edu/faculty/wright/maidston.cfm. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  4. ^ "Richard III (DNB00)". DNB. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fkXJqJmi-L4J:en.wikisource.org/wiki/Richard_III_%28DNB00%29+Thomas+Fauconberg+execution+middleham&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 
  5. ^ This person was not Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland
  6. ^ "Hungerford, Walter (1503-1540) (DNB00)". http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Hungerford,_Walter_%281503-1540%29_%28DNB00%29#Walter_Hungerford. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  7. ^ "Fane, Ralph (DNB00)". http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fane,_Ralph_%28DNB00%29. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
  8. ^ "Fane, Ralph (DNB00)". http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Fane,_Ralph_%28DNB00%29. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
  9. ^ "Foxe's Book of Martyrs". http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/apparatus/person_glossaryG.html. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  10. ^ "Danvers, Sir Charles (c.1568–1601), soldier and conspirator". Oxford DNB. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7132. Retrieved 2011-03-29. 
  11. ^ "EARL OF STRAFFORD KILLED; Decapitated by an Express Train at a Railroad". New York Times. 17 May 1899. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C02E2D71030E333A25754C1A9639C94689ED7CF. Retrieved 8 May 2010. 
  12. ^ Life for head-on-beach murderers BBC NEWS, 6 March 2009
  13. ^ The Pacy and the Levant. Google Books. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=SrUNi2m_qZAC&pg=PA752&lpg=PA752&dq=giovanni+carafa+Duke+paliana&source=bl&ots=J4oFjGh9Yb&sig=UVZC1HleppJAKoGy2K8jN_68i1A&hl=en&ei=dKJpTN-9GYuOjAfG4fDUBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=giovanni%20carafa%20Duke%20paliana&f=false. Retrieved 16 August 2010. 
  14. ^ Acts of the Apostles: Commentary
  15. ^ Apostle Saul (Paul)
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