Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect

Those convicted of homicide were hanged on the public gallows before being dissected under the Murder Act in Georgian England. Yet, from 1752, whether criminals actually died on the hanging tree or in the dissection room remained a medical mystery in early modern society. Dissecting the Criminal Cor...

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Main Author: T. Hurren, Elizabeth
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: Springer Nature 2021
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author T. Hurren, Elizabeth
author_browse T. Hurren, Elizabeth
author_facet T. Hurren, Elizabeth
author_sort T. Hurren, Elizabeth
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Those convicted of homicide were hanged on the public gallows before being dissected under the Murder Act in Georgian England. Yet, from 1752, whether criminals actually died on the hanging tree or in the dissection room remained a medical mystery in early modern society. Dissecting the Criminal Corpse takes issue with the historical cliché of corpses dangling from the hangman’s rope in crime studies. Some convicted murderers did survive execution in early modern England. Establishing medical death in the heart-lungs-brain was a physical enigma. Criminals had large bull-necks, strong willpowers, and hearty survival instincts. Extreme hypothermia often disguised coma in a prisoner hanged in the winter cold. The youngest and fittest were capable of reviving on the dissection table. Many died under the lancet. Capital legislation disguised a complex medical choreography that surgeons staged. They broke the Hippocratic Oath by executing the Dangerous Dead across England from 1752 until 1832.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-324022025-07-30T10:21:15Z Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect T. Hurren, Elizabeth georgian england convicts murderers homicide early modern england murder act crime studies thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science Those convicted of homicide were hanged on the public gallows before being dissected under the Murder Act in Georgian England. Yet, from 1752, whether criminals actually died on the hanging tree or in the dissection room remained a medical mystery in early modern society. Dissecting the Criminal Corpse takes issue with the historical cliché of corpses dangling from the hangman’s rope in crime studies. Some convicted murderers did survive execution in early modern England. Establishing medical death in the heart-lungs-brain was a physical enigma. Criminals had large bull-necks, strong willpowers, and hearty survival instincts. Extreme hypothermia often disguised coma in a prisoner hanged in the winter cold. The youngest and fittest were capable of reviving on the dissection table. Many died under the lancet. Capital legislation disguised a complex medical choreography that surgeons staged. They broke the Hippocratic Oath by executing the Dangerous Dead across England from 1752 until 1832. 2021-02-10T12:58:18Z 2020-03-18 13:36:15 2020-04-01T12:38:21Z 2016-09-27 23:55 2020-03-18 13:36:15 2020-04-01T12:38:21Z 2016 chapter 1000174 OCN: 1076723539 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/29774 9781137582485 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/32402 eng Palgrave Historical Studies in the Criminal Corpse and its Afterlife open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg n/a n/a n/a n/a https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/29774/1/Mapping%20Punishment_%20Provincial%20Places%20to%20Dissect%20-%20Dissecting%20the%20Criminal%20Corpse%20-%20NCBI%20Bookshelf.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/29774/1/Mapping%20Punishment_%20Provincial%20Places%20to%20Dissect%20-%20Dissecting%20the%20Criminal%20Corpse%20-%20NCBI%20Bookshelf.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/29774/1/Mapping%20Punishment_%20Provincial%20Places%20to%20Dissect%20-%20Dissecting%20the%20Criminal%20Corpse%20-%20NCBI%20Bookshelf.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/29774/1/Mapping%20Punishment_%20Provincial%20Places%20to%20Dissect%20-%20Dissecting%20the%20Criminal%20Corpse%20-%20NCBI%20Bookshelf.pdf Springer Nature Palgrave Macmillan 9fa3421d-f917-4153-b9ab-fc337c396b5a Dissecting the Criminal Corpse Wellcome Trust d859fbd3-d884-4090-a0ec-baf821c9abfd 9781137582485 Wellcome Palgrave Macmillan 326 Basingstoke 095904 open access
spellingShingle georgian england
convicts
murderers
homicide
early modern england
murder act
crime studies
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
T. Hurren, Elizabeth
Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect
title Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect
title_full Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect
title_fullStr Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect
title_full_unstemmed Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect
title_short Chapter 5 Mapping Punishment: Provincial Places to Dissect
title_sort chapter 5 mapping punishment provincial places to dissect
topic georgian england
convicts
murderers
homicide
early modern england
murder act
crime studies
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
topic_facet georgian england
convicts
murderers
homicide
early modern england
murder act
crime studies
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHD European history
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history
thema EDItEUR::P Mathematics and Science::PD Science: general issues::PDX History of science
url 1000174
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