# "Drawn and Quartered"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 8, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406 "2006-12-08T22:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/1 "2006-12-08T22:02:21Z")
Could someone please explain how they would go about “drawing and quartering” a condemned criminal? ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/2 "2006-12-08T22:04:16Z")
[The Master Speaks, bless his brave heart!](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_239.html) ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/3 "2006-12-08T22:05:12Z")
Step 1: Get four horses. Step 2: Point each horse in a different direction. Step 3: Tie each limb of the poor sap to a different horse. Step 4: Make a really loud noise, sending all the horses galloping in different directions. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/4 "2006-12-08T22:06:04Z")
Of course, the Perfect Master knew you were going to ask [this question.](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_239.html)🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/5 "2006-12-08T22:30:47Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Step 1: Get four horses. Step 2: Point each horse in a different direction. Step 3: Tie each limb of the poor sap to a different horse. Step 4: Make a really loud noise, sending all the horses galloping in different directions. [/QUOTE] I saw it done that way (w/ no preliminary cuts, hanging or evisceration) at the beginning of [this](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/torture_chamber_of_dr_sadism/) [old](http://imdb.com/title/tt0062235/) Christopher Lee horror movie. (Saw it on the late show, natch.) But I’m sure the Master is right – the actual punishment was what we saw done to William Wallace at the end of _Braveheart._ ---
**Author:** ![633squadron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/ee59a6/32.png) [@633squadron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/633squadron)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/6 "2006-12-08T22:41:07Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Step 1: Get four horses. Step 2: Point each horse in a different direction. Step 3: Tie each limb of the poor sap to a different horse. Step 4: Make a really loud noise, sending all the horses galloping in different directions. [/QUOTE] [test](http://test) Uh, not really. This was a punishment, but it isn’t what is _commonly_ meant by drawn and quartering. The execution you describe is more commonly called dismemberment. Wikipedia says that this is sometimes known as [“drawn and quartering”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismemberment), but clearly that’s a confusion between the [French method of execution by quartering](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanging%2C_drawing_and_quartering#French_.22quartering.22%22) and the English method of execution. Or, maybe it is the French method that was named first, and the _English_ stole the term. It wouldn’t be the first time this happened. In medieval England, venereal diseases were collectively called the “French pox”, and in France the “pox anglais” ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/7 "2006-12-08T23:04:34Z")
Thanks for the prompt replies! ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/8 "2006-12-08T23:15:36Z")
To protect their modesty (men drawn and quartered were stripped naked) women were burned at the stake if the were convicted of a crime punishable by D&Q. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/9 "2006-12-08T23:17:46Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] To protect their modesty (men drawn and quartered were stripped naked) women were burned at the stake if the were convicted of a crime punishable by D&Q. [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t their clothes burn off first? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/10 "2006-12-08T23:50:27Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] To protect their modesty (men drawn and quartered were stripped naked) women were burned at the stake if the were convicted of a crime punishable by D&Q. [/QUOTE] Aw, how considerate of them. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawn-and-quartered/383406/11 "2006-12-09T03:58:27Z")
Learning what “Drawn and Quartered” meant is one of the few things I have learned on the Straight Dope that I truely regret. Not that I learned it from this particular thread. Cheers and Happy Holidays or Happy Sindays for those so inclined.