The guillotine was implemented in the midst of the French Revolution during the last decade of the 1700s as a method to execute all class levels, with the first such execution occurring in 1792. The device became a part of popular culture and was celebrated by supporters of the Revolution. One often missed benefit was the relief it gave to horses.
Before the guillotine became the standard in France, many other methods of execution were used. One of them was for a person to be drawn and quartered by chaining the condemned's arms and legs to four horses who would then pull the body in all directions until it ripped apart. Unfortunately for the horses, human bodies are fairly resilient. Sometimes the bodies refused to to cooperate before the horses were worn down. The executioner would then have to slice the arms and legs at the joints to "help" the horses out before they were too tired to continue the execution.
-Professor Walter
Actually, that's not quite true. There was only one quartering in France in the 18th century. And the one before that was at the end of the 16th century. So, we're talking 8 horses in some two hundred years.
Posted by: John Friedlrich | 01/24/2012 at 07:43 PM