Diary of a Hangman

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W. Gruner have put together a masterful tome that sets the scene of execution day and puts you in Master Franz Schmidts shoes as he does his duty for his country. In summary, a great introduction to the journal at the beginning with a fascinating, albeit sometimes drawn out, chronicling of medieval daily life and the various gritty details of being an executioner. That being said though it was still fascinating to see what mattered to them and how they viewed execution, exile, and punishment. If you’re interested in medieval justice, the essay is invaluable, explaining the various people who worked at the prison, what a cell looked like, the various punishments meted out and for what crimes.

When they were being led out, the Margrave’s wife wanted to see the poor sinners as they passed, and saw her own husband among them, whom she embraced and kissed, for she had not known her husband had been arrested, nor that he was a fellow of that sort. I forgot how I came upon this quick read-maybe it was a recommendation from someone on here or watching some book vloggers, however I am glad I spent the day listening to this audiobook. Whether this was due to his experiences at the Thompson hanging is open to dispute, especially since he performed 11 more executions (among which was one of another woman) before he withdrew. First he shot dead his companion, secondly a miller’s man who helped him to attack and plunder a mill by night.An incredible classic, A Hangmans Diary is more than a history lesson; it shows the true anarchy that inhabited our world only a few hundred years ago.

This amount includes seller specified domestic postage charges as well as applicable international postage, dispatch, and other fees.Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item. Likewise, certain cases they omit various details I would have liked to read, lists of stolen items, lists of murders committed by someone, etc. The woman Dörfflerin, when she brought forth her child in the garden behind the Fort, left it lying alive in the snow so that it froze to death. The language used is occasionally archaic, for example the translator uses ‘incendiary’ where we would be more familiar with the term ‘arsonist’.

Did have a few good parts such as the explanation for the execution methods but that is about it for me. Originally published more than eighty years ago, A Hangman's Diary gives a year-by-year breakdown on all of Master Schmidt's executions, which include hangings, beheadings, and other methods of murder, as well as explanations of each crime and the reason for the punishment. The people in the diary lived in a world that was, in some significant ways, utterly different to ours. This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. I borrowed it from Hoopla, looking forward to hearing the experiences of Franz Schmidt in his own words.It will help to be in a certain mood to read this book, as it is non-fiction, and does go on at length about crimes and their respective execution. W. Gruner have put together a masterful tome that sets the scene of execution day and puts you in Master Franz Schmidt's shoes as he does his duty for his country.