Thursday, February 13, 2014

The Guillotine: A diary entry from Charles-Henri-Sanson

January 21st, 1793
      Today King Louis XVI was executed; at my hand, I should mention. I am the royal executioner. My job is to pull the murderous rope that held the blade in the wooden frame, then release it over the neck of the criminal. I've seen many bloody heads roll, but the leader of my country was definitely the most profound. The job of the royal executioner has been in my family since the beginning of the guillotine, and the execution of the first convicted felon by the blade. They call me "The Great Sanson". A name I feel like I have earned. The whooping cheers as I lower the blade fill my heart with joy. If there isn't a crowd, the execution is moved to a crowded, public space because the example of what happens to criminals isn't shown if there aren't many people to see it. The guillotine was invented as a more humane form of capital punishment than hanging. I mean if they didn't I would be out of a job.
   The King's execution was especially difficult, due to the screaming hordes. The very strange thing was that the people happy about the end of the King's reign opposed the very ideals that the guillotine symbolized. During The Storming of The Bastille, you could hear chants about releasing the prisoners. They didn't just want them released only to be executed, but to be free for crimes they weren't guilty of. Of course I'm not against the guillotine, I just think it a bit hypocritical of the hordes of people. Many of the people who attend the executions have an eery unquenchable thirst for blood shed. Even as the man causing blood to be shed daily, I don’t crave it like they do.
Source:
http://www.history.com/news/the-guillotines-first-cut
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo5BBHtn4tM
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/kat_anna/guilitine.html
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/king-louis-xvi-executed
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles-Henri_Sanson
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist151/French%20Revolution%20II/album/slides/execution_king_color.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9Iqbe4UaLAE86_U9mbacS574GWUbcVuBgNwdj1A1GZmr3KcU0wTCmh_iyfp6Y5hw1AkGioSDgs1hjnPKhpr0_gdV7Q1aHnS1iQdMFw02sgc_FOQflk3JVB9EbeEyaZaB47B3UdImJAI/s1600/guillotine.gif


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30 comments:

  1. Anonymous20 February, 2014 22:51

    Hi Josephine! I really liked this post, especially how it was told in first person. I thought it was really cool how you got in all of the history parts with out making it sound boring. I have a few questions though. Why was the King executed, because it sounds like a lot of people were really excited for him to be gone and I was just wondering why. I'm sure everyone already knows this, but I don't.:) Also, if the goal was to end the life of someone who had done really bad things, why would a nicer way to kill them be invented? I know that that sounds like I want people back then to have died in the most painful way, which I DON"T wish, I just found that part a little confusing. Really nice job on this! Your writing style is really cool:)
    Gracie

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous21 February, 2014 06:38

    Hi Josephine. I really like your post, and I think it is super cool that through a first person perspective you were able to reveal the executioners thoughts and opinions. I was wondering, was the guillotine just on a stand that they could move around? How did this guy, out of all people get chosen to be the executioner? Thank you for this post, it was super cool to read. ~Hannah

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous23 February, 2014 09:55

    Hey Josephine,
    I enjoyed reading this post, and I thought it was a great way to convey information through a first person setting. The only question I would have is when was this mainly used (I know you say King Louis XVI, but I'm not sure of when that is)?
    Thanks,
    Harry

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous24 February, 2014 08:21

    Hi Josephine,
    This post was really explanatory and helpful to know how the guillotine worked, without being too gory. It leads me to wonder, though, why the hordes of people were so excited about the King's execution. Why was he executed? I also think you should explain more about the guillotine itself. When was it invented and by who? Maybe you should explain more about Henri, like the fact that he liked dissecting his victims....Or some other thing about him.
    Really great post,
    Erin

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous24 February, 2014 08:23

    Hi Josephine,
    Great way to spice things up by giving information in the eyes of an executioner.
    This is the exact thing you could find in executioner's journal
    -Nicholas

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous02 March, 2014 14:11

    Hi Josephine!
    I really liked how you wrote your post was from the executioner who I feel is a little bit twisted. It made things more interesting. It would be improved if you talked a bit more about who the king is.

    -Matteo

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous06 March, 2014 14:07

    Josephine,
    Wow! What a great post! I thought that telling the story of the King's execution in first person as the executioner was a great idea. Your description of the hypocriticalness of the hordes of people was interesting too. Think about doing some more research on that. I thought that the picture of the guillotine that you chose was an excellent choice because it seemed like the guillotine loomed over me, making me even more scared.
    -Nate

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous08 March, 2014 16:18

    Hi Josephine,
    I liked you post a lot because it showed how the executioner felt about executing people. I like how it is kind of dark, but it says a lot about how it worked and why they did it. The information about them moving the guillotine to places where there was people was interesting, and kind of gross. But I have one questions, Who invented the Guillotine?
    -Wyatt

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous09 March, 2014 17:05

    Hi everyone,
    Thanks for the super nice comments! A lot of you had the same questions and I wanted to respond to all of them. The king was executed because of the prisoners held at the Bastille, and because the royalty was withholding important information from the general public. This whole thing happened around 1793. Henri did enjoy dissecting his victims which is dark and creepy of course, but also kind of psychologically fascinating. Henri also enjoyed making medicines out of homegrown herbs, and playing the cello and violin. Henri was next in line for the executioner because the title was passed down in his family. The guillotine was invented by Doctor Joseph Ignace Guillotin who was in a group that wanted to end the death penalty. He created the guillotine as a more humane form of corporal punishment. The guillotine was on a platform that could be wheeled around.
    Thanks so much,
    ~Josephine

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10 March, 2014 08:44

    Hi Josephine,
    I really liked how you wrote your post in the executioner's perspective. It was very interesting for me to read, because I also had this subject for my puppet pals, and I found a bunch of information that I didn't know before.

    It was really cool that you replied back to people that commented on your post, and told them the information that they were inquiring about.

    ~Tali

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 08:28

      Thanks so much Tali! It's so cool that you also did research on the guillotine!

      Delete
  11. Anonymous10 March, 2014 11:29

    Hey Josephine,
    Great Post! I love how you wrote it in first person, it made it very interesting. If you think the the guillotine is hypocritical, then why do you use it everyday?
    Much love
    Alex

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 08:31

      Thanks Alex! I'm glad you found my post interesting! I'm not sure what you mean by "then why do you use it everyday". If you see this, clarification would be awesome!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  12. Anonymous10 March, 2014 14:06

    Josephine,
    I love the different perspective! Usually I think of the "sanson" as a really bad guy. One clarification: the crowd had mixed feelings about the death of the king, right?
    Mahala

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 08:33

      I'm glad you enjoyed the new perspective! The crowd was mostly people against the king who were excited about his death, but a few supporters were mixed in with them.
      Thanks!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  13. Anonymous11 March, 2014 10:13

    Hey Josephine,
    I really liked how this was told in first person. I didn't know that this job was passed down from generation to generation. What were some of the biggest execution that has happened? Who ran the guillotine

    ~Alexander Yu

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 08:42

      Thanks Alexander! I'm glad you learned new things from the post! Due to the fact that Sanson executed nearly 3000 people, it's hard to know who each of them were. The major executions that I know of are King Louis IV and the execution of Marie Antoinette performed by Sanson's son, Henri.
      Thanks for the comment!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  14. Anonymous11 March, 2014 10:19

    Nice job Josephine,
    Great post! I really liked the topic you chose, it is a really interesting one. The guillotine is very interesting in my opinion, but it doesn't seen more humain. They are cutting off heads!

    ~Nic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 08:48

      Thanks Nic! I totally agree! It's a confusing issue, and I'm glad it didn't happen in our time.
      Thanks for the comment!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  15. Anonymous13 March, 2014 08:59

    Howdy Josephine,
    Its really cool how you not only wrote this from the first person, but you gave the person an opinion. Very nice writing style. I like how you made a creepy, but not overly disgusting. What gave you the idea to write from the executioners point of view?
    -Robbie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 08:50

      Thanks Robbie! Glad you liked it! I just thought up the idea of the guillotine post because I was so desperate for a topic. I wanted something no one else had covered so I chose this. Also, the French revolution is super interesting to me!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  16. Anonymous13 March, 2014 11:06

    Hello Josephine,
    I think your style of a journalism was a great idea for this topic. I was doing the execution of King Louis XVI and I saw so much of what I didn't know. I liked how you had a dark kind of tone to this piece, it keeps the suspense level up. Thank you for sharing this post.
    Thanks!
    ~Sydney

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 09:01

      Thanks Sydney! Glad you liked it!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  17. Anonymous13 March, 2014 16:37

    Hey Josephine,
    Nice topic. Very interesting and informative (which can be hard to do!).
    I really like how you made it scary, but not too discussing.
    Where were guillotines used most? (like countries)

    Great post,
    Grace

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 09:00

      Hi Grace!
      Glad you liked it! The guillotine was only used in France, but similar devices were used before the French Revolution in Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, and Scotland.
      Thanks for the comment!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  18. Anonymous13 March, 2014 21:05

    Hey Josephine!
    Great job on your post! I loved the topic all though it is a bit creepy. I love your writing style. You made it creepy but not creepy disgusting. What inspired you to write on this topic? Great Job!!
    Your buddy,
    Anika

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 09:03

      Hi Anika!
      Glad you liked it! I wasn't really "inspired", more like desperate! ;P
      Thanks for the comment!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  19. Anonymous14 March, 2014 08:26

    Hi Josephine
    Nice post I like the facts but at the same time it was form the executioner point of view. I also like the descriptions like seen many bloody heads roll.

    Eliot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 March, 2014 09:04

      Thanks Eliot!
      Glad you liked it!
      ~Josephine

      Delete
  20. Anonymous14 March, 2014 15:04

    Hi Josephine!
    I enjoyed reading your post, and the narrative story at the beginning. But I have a question: Why did you write about the guillotine? Have you ever seen a real one?
    Thanks!
    Quinn

    ReplyDelete

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