So I was watching Game of Thrones (just the first season on DVD catching up, so no Season 2 spoilers please!), and there’s a scene where one of the characters shows off his nice little collection of his enemies’ heads on sticks. They do indicate decay somewhat by the skintones and the sound of flies buzzing about, but it got me wondering about this.
Now I’m no historian but my understanding is that this practice wasn’t especially rare in real life during medieval times, whether a ruler wanted to create a warning, gloat over his kills, inspire terror in the hearts of men etc. etc. And I’m sure it would depend a great deal on the weather, but generally what’s the shelf-life of a human head kept on a stick outdoors to stay fresh, or at least recognizable, before it becomes completely putrified and nasty? During that time, did they have some crude embalming treatment they could apply to the heads to preserve them longer?
Based on my observations during the Serbia/Bosnia breakup, if the heads freeze, they are good until they thaw. Otherwise it can be a matter of hours in a moisture rich environment or one where carrion eating birds can get to them. Anyone that wanted to perserve a head usually had to pickle it. Otherwise they just concentrated on keeping the skull, not the flesh. I have heard in desert environments some degree of natural mummification will perserve body parts (including heads) for longer periods of time.
It’s also the final insult to desecrate the remains and not give them a proper burial. IIRC, in medieval times the pieces of a criminal were dsplayed on sticks after drawing and quartering, in a prominent place like city gates or London Bridge, if the crime was particularly despicable or treasonous.
The practice survived into the 1800’s, at least in Northern Europe. Even common criminals (or parts of them) would be put on display along travel routes etc. after beheading, to serve as a warning.
I wouldn’t say popular (or legal), but a lot of ghastly things happen in times of war. I believe there is at least one case of a Ghurka rifleman cutting off a Taliban head for display in the recent Afghanistan war.
My back yard pretty much attests to the comments in this thread. Though there have been other reasons historically, it’s a very useful practice for ensuring that neighbors keep their dogs off your lawn, don’t park in front of your house, etc. When I get home I’ll check the freezer and report on conditions there.
If it’s the case I think you’re referring to, the Gurkha wasn’t cutting the head off for display, but for identification purposes of a corpse. Sort of like a grisly UPC code as proof of purchase.
Actually (I won’t go into too much morbid detail), they boiled the body parts in brine too. After that, they kept pretty long. St. Oliver Plunkett’s head is still intact: here.
I suspect it was popular *Wayyyy[/i] before the Ottoman Turks. When you live in an illiterate society, putting a head on a pike on public display is an excellent way to propagate the idea that a particulatr person has been killed. People see the head and figure out that the individual isn’t around anymore, and talk about it so that , even when the head has started to decay, it is still common knowledge.
This site says that the head of Sir Thomas More was parboiled before being set on disaplay – this may have helped preserve it. Certainly his daughter Margaret got hold of it and preserved it in spices for some time. How long, I don’t know, but, as it was taken down and preserved, it’s certainy not typical: http://theloveforhistory.com/people/sir-thomas-more/the-head-of-sir-thomas-more/
Posted by md2000; (quote)On 30 January 1661, (symbolically the 12th anniversary of the execution of Charles I), Oliver Cromwell’s body was exhumed from Westminster Abbey, and was subjected to the ritual of a posthumous execution, as were the remains of Robert Blake, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton. (The body of Cromwell’s daughter was allowed to remain buried in the Abbey.) His body was hanged in chains at Tyburn. Finally, his disinterred body was thrown into a pit, while his severed head was displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 16859(/quote)I didn’t know my family name was so well known.
