Guillotine was a fun event
The guillotine is by far one of the most gruesome methods of execution. Also known as: Madame la Guillotine, la Dame (the Lady), la Veuve (the Widow), le Rasoir National (the National Razor), and Louisette, the guillotine is synonymous with ‘the Terror’ of the French Revolution,
People booed after witnessing the first public guillotining
Many people turned up at Place de Grève (now place de l’Hotel de Ville, Paris) out of curiosity on April 25, 1792 to witness the first public execution using the new mechanized device. Nicolas Pelletier had been sentenced to death for theft and violently resisting arrest. The crowd was not at all impressed with the anti-climactic swiftness of the blade. In a few seconds, it was ‘game over’, and they felt cheated out of a few hours of entertainment. (Normally public executions included torture and hanging.) The crowd wasn’t won over by the ‘modern machine’ and they booed executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson
During the height of the first French Revolution, executions were so frequent in Paris that they attracted large crowds. People even brought their children to witness these events, and industry popped up around the scaffolds. There were food booths and leaflets were printed listing the names of the condemned as macabre souvenirs. (Kind of like French Revolution-execution Pokémon. ‘Got to catch them all’?) A group of older ladies called ‘les Tricoteuses’ (the knitters) would spend the whole day knitting while watching the blade crash.
Some fervently patriotic ladies actually wore guillotine earrings, and miniature working guillotines were a hit with both adults and children alike.
The guillotine is by far one of the most gruesome methods of execution. Also known as: Madame la Guillotine, la Dame (the Lady), la Veuve (the Widow), le Rasoir National (the National Razor), and Louisette, the guillotine is synonymous with ‘the Terror’ of the French Revolution,
People booed after witnessing the first public guillotining
Many people turned up at Place de Grève (now place de l’Hotel de Ville, Paris) out of curiosity on April 25, 1792 to witness the first public execution using the new mechanized device. Nicolas Pelletier had been sentenced to death for theft and violently resisting arrest. The crowd was not at all impressed with the anti-climactic swiftness of the blade. In a few seconds, it was ‘game over’, and they felt cheated out of a few hours of entertainment. (Normally public executions included torture and hanging.) The crowd wasn’t won over by the ‘modern machine’ and they booed executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson
During the height of the first French Revolution, executions were so frequent in Paris that they attracted large crowds. People even brought their children to witness these events, and industry popped up around the scaffolds. There were food booths and leaflets were printed listing the names of the condemned as macabre souvenirs. (Kind of like French Revolution-execution Pokémon. ‘Got to catch them all’?) A group of older ladies called ‘les Tricoteuses’ (the knitters) would spend the whole day knitting while watching the blade crash.
Some fervently patriotic ladies actually wore guillotine earrings, and miniature working guillotines were a hit with both adults and children alike.
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