List of Methods
This is a list of methods of capital punishment.
Method Description
Animals
Crushing by elephant.[1]
Devouring by animals, as in damnatio ad bestias (i.e., as in the cliché, "being thrown to the lions").
Stings from scorpions and bites by snakes, spiders, etc. (e.g. the "Snake pit" of Germanic legend)[dubious – discuss]
Tearing apart by horses (e.g., in medieval Europe and Imperial China, with four horses; or "quartering", with four horses, as in The Song of Roland and Child Owlet).
Trampling by horses (example: Al-Musta'sim, the last Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad).
Back-breaking A Mongolian method of execution that avoided the spilling of blood on the ground[2] (example: the Mongolian leader Jamukha was probably executed this way in 1206).[3]
Blowing from a gun Tied to the mouth of a cannon, which is then fired.
Boiling to death This penalty was carried out using a large cauldron filled with water, oil, tar, tallow, or even molten lead.
Breaking wheel Also known as the Catherine wheel, after a saint who was allegedly sentenced to be executed by this method.
Buried alive Traditional punishment for Vestal virgins who had broken their vows.
Burning Most infamous as a method of execution for heretics and witches. A slower method of applying single pieces of burning wood was used by Native Americans in torturing captives to death.[4]
Cooking Brazen Bull
Crucifixion Roping or nailing to a wooden cross or similar apparatus (such as a tree) and allowing to perish.
Crushing By a weight, abruptly or as a slow ordeal.
Decapitation Also known as beheading. One of the most famous execution methods is execution by guillotine.
Disembowelment Often employed as a preliminary stage to the actual execution, e.g. by beheading; an integral part of seppuku (harakiri), which was sometimes used as a form of capital punishment.
Dismemberment Being drawn and quartered sometimes resulted in dismemberment.
Drawing and quartering English method of executing those found guilty
Method Description
Animals
Crushing by elephant.[1]
Devouring by animals, as in damnatio ad bestias (i.e., as in the cliché, "being thrown to the lions").
Stings from scorpions and bites by snakes, spiders, etc. (e.g. the "Snake pit" of Germanic legend)[dubious – discuss]
Tearing apart by horses (e.g., in medieval Europe and Imperial China, with four horses; or "quartering", with four horses, as in The Song of Roland and Child Owlet).
Trampling by horses (example: Al-Musta'sim, the last Abbasid Caliph in Baghdad).
Back-breaking A Mongolian method of execution that avoided the spilling of blood on the ground[2] (example: the Mongolian leader Jamukha was probably executed this way in 1206).[3]
Blowing from a gun Tied to the mouth of a cannon, which is then fired.
Boiling to death This penalty was carried out using a large cauldron filled with water, oil, tar, tallow, or even molten lead.
Breaking wheel Also known as the Catherine wheel, after a saint who was allegedly sentenced to be executed by this method.
Buried alive Traditional punishment for Vestal virgins who had broken their vows.
Burning Most infamous as a method of execution for heretics and witches. A slower method of applying single pieces of burning wood was used by Native Americans in torturing captives to death.[4]
Cooking Brazen Bull
Crucifixion Roping or nailing to a wooden cross or similar apparatus (such as a tree) and allowing to perish.
Crushing By a weight, abruptly or as a slow ordeal.
Decapitation Also known as beheading. One of the most famous execution methods is execution by guillotine.
Disembowelment Often employed as a preliminary stage to the actual execution, e.g. by beheading; an integral part of seppuku (harakiri), which was sometimes used as a form of capital punishment.
Dismemberment Being drawn and quartered sometimes resulted in dismemberment.
Drawing and quartering English method of executing those found guilty