In most countries, the death penalty is a thing of the past. But stories are still alive about those who, by their own example, learned what a scaffold is.
Scaffold purpose
For many centuries, the execution of punishment was not only a way of implementing a court decision, but also a public spectacle. Many people gathered for execution, among whom were children. And in order to make it easier for all who came to see how justice is done, a wooden platform was erected. It was he who began to be called the scaffold.
As a rule, such a structure was erected immediately before the execution. Therefore, the prisoner could hear how they saw and hammer boards for the platform on which his life would end. Well, what is a scaffold, probably already understood. However, it must be taken into account that the defendants were not always deprived of life on him. On the scaffold, for example, they could flutter or chop off one of the limbs, say, a hand (a punishment very often used in the olden days for theft).
Anna Boleyn - Queen who died from the sword
Over the years, the death penalty has deprived many famous and even noble people. Among them were representatives of power, for example, monarchs.
Perhaps the most famous queen who knew what a scaffold was, was the English ruler Anna Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I and the second wife of Henry VIII Tudor. Accused of treason and witchcraft, Anna was sentenced to death. Accompanied by a servant, she climbed the scaffold. The execution was quick. However, Anna’s story has grown with many rumors and legends. Believers in ghosts still tell legends about the spirit of the unjustly condemned Queen Anne.
Marie Antoinette - queen with her head folded on the scaffold
Another famous person who lost her life on the scaffold was the French Queen Marie Antoinette. The young ruler became one of the victims of the French Revolution.
The merry queen, without a twinge of conscience spending her state’s money on various entertainments, could not even imagine how her life would end. During the years of the revolution, executions became so frequent that the executioners could not cope with their work. And then the guillotine was created . This method of execution turned out to be much better than an ax. Dr. Joseph Ignas Guillotin, who popularized the guillotine in Europe, was worried that victims in the last minutes of their life were very affected. And then he proposed a mechanism that cuts off the head with one blow. The French royal family experienced it on themselves.
Many well-known and not very people knew what a scaffold is. Over time, this word acquired a figurative meaning ("climb the scaffold" - sacrifice yourself, your life to something), which is used much more often in the modern world.