The History of the Guillotine Trivia Quiz

Answer: False

Decapitation machines were not invented in France in 1792 but had been in use in various parts of Europe for hundreds of years. They normally took the form of an upright frame with a straight or crescent-shaped weighted blade suspended at the top; when released, this blade would plummet down and kill the unfortunate person beneath, either by decapitating them or by crushing their heads. The machine commonly known eponymously as the guillotine was just an updated version of these.

One of the earliest references to such a machine is from the English town of Halifax in 1286. This may be associated with the 17th century beggar's and thief's litany from Yorkshire, "From Hull, Hell and Halifax, Good Lord deliver us!". These three places all had harsh laws or scary punishments for criminals and vagrants. Execution machines are also depicted or documented in Ireland in 1306, in the 15th century in France, and in Germany in 1592.

Answer: The Maiden

The Scottish execution machine known as The Maiden was used from 1565 to 1716; it was said that it had acquired that name from being so rarely used - abut 150 times in all. It's now on display at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Just a note - "The Giant Axe" is not the name of an execution machine but of Lancaster City's football ground, which I can see from my sitting room window.

Answer: Doctor

Although as a young man, Guillotin had obtained an MA degree he later studied to become a doctor, qualifying in 1770. He became interested in politics, and in May 1789 he became one of ten Paris deputies in the Estates-General; he was secretary to that body from June 1789 to October 1791. On 20 June 1789 the members of the National Assembly (as it was now called) found themselves locked out of their debating chamber, and it was Guillotin who suggested they reconvene in the adjacent tennis court. Here, the members swore the Tennis Court Oath, vowing "not to separate and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the Constitution of the kingdom is established". This was a key event at the start of the Revolution.

Guillotin was particularly interested in crime and punishment, so that in 1789 he proposed to the Assembly that "the criminal shall be decapitated; this will be done solely by means of a simple mechanism". Despite Guillotin's rather misguided statement that "Now, with my machine, I cut off your head in the twinkling of an eye, and you never feel it!", this was accepted in June 1791 and became law in March 1792. The Assembly commissioned Antoine Louis to build the device; this was accepted in March 1792 and the first executions using it took place a month later. By that time, however, Guillotin had retired from the Assembly to practice medicine.

Guillotin deeply regretted that the machine was named after him, and his family asked the French government to rename it; this request was refused so they changed their family name themselves. Throughout his life he was opposed to the death penalty, but his efforts to abolish it were compromised by the widespread assumption that, as the person who proposed using a decapitation machine, he must be in favour of it.

Answer: On humanitarian and democratic grounds: everyone would be treated equally

Guillotin proposed the use of an execution machine on humanitarian and democratic grounds. In France at that time a variety of methods were used to execute commoners, like breaking on the wheel, slow hanging, dismemberment, burning at the stake, and boiling alive. Execution by decapitation was reserved for the upper classes, although this too could be unpleasant if the axe was blunt or the executioner was drunk.

However Guillotin argued that execution by machine only would extend the democratic ideals of the Revolution and the Enlightenment by introducing a "one size fits all" method of civil execution for all regardless of class, symbolising an expression of equality among citizens. The machine would be more reliable than manual methods and would kill quickly and without prolonged suffering; this more humane and less painful method would be the first step towards total abolition. He also proposed that victims' bodies should be returned to their families and buried without any mention of how they died, and that their families should not suffer discrimination.

Answer: False

This is false. Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was arrested during the Terror but was released by the general amnesty of 9 Thermidor (27 July) 1794 after Robespierre fell from power - a narrow escape!

However it's documented that a certain J. M. V. Guillotin, a doctor from Lyons, was executed by guillotine. This has led led to the common belief that Joseph-Ignace Guillotin was put to death on the machine that bears his name. Actually Guillotin died at home in Paris in 1814 of natural causes.

Answer: Using an oblique blade

Louis realised that if the blade were to be made with an oblique edge this would slice through the victim's neck more efficiently than would a straight or a crescent-shaped blade. This suggestion was accepted by the meeting, and represents the major change that was made in the design of the guillotine compared to previous decapitation machines.

It's possible that this story is apocryphal, although it stems from the memoirs of Charles-Henri Sanson, France's official executioner. Louis, of course, would soon find from personal experience whether his suggestion worked or not.

The first guillotine was indeed painted red, but Louis didn't suggest this.

Answer: He was a mugger and highwayman

In October 1791 Nicolas Jacques Pelletier attacked a man in the rue Bourbon-Villeneuve in Paris. He stole his wallet and then killed the man. He was sentenced to death in December 1791, but the execution was delayed until after the National Assembly made decapitation the only legal method of capital punishment. Pelletier waited in jail for more than three months while the guillotine was being built.

The execution went smoothly. However, many in the watching crowd felt that, compared to previous execution methods, the guillotine was too quick and clinical to provide proper entertainment.

Answer: 2,639

During the Terror (between June 1793 and July 1794) there were 2,639 official death sentences dispensed in Paris alone, with a further 13,955 throughout the rest of France. Fatalities in Paris included the former Queen Marie Antoinette, who was guillotined on 16 October 1793; her husband, Louis Capet (former King Louis XVI), had been guillotined on 21 January 1793. By the end of the Terror in mid-1794, many revolutionary leaders such as Georges Danton, Saint-Just, and Maximilien Robespierre had all suffered the same fate.

The number of official death sentences dispensed does not indicate the true casualty rate of the Revolution; tens of thousands of people were killed in massacres and rebellions throughout France.

Answer: Germany

Between 1933 and 1945 about 16,500 people were guillotined in Germany, with the death rate accelerating towards the end of the War. The machines used were more robust than the French model and were transportable.

Not only ordinary decent criminals were executed: many political dissidents, resistance fighters and ordinary citizens who had expressed doubts about the War also suffered this fate. The death toll included Sophie and Hans Scholl, who were members of the White Rose student resistance group, and Marinus van der Lubbe, who had allegedly set fire to the Reichstag building in 1933.

Johann Reichhart was the judicial executioner in Bavaria from 1924 to 1946. During the Nazi period from 1933 to 1945 he executed many resistance workers and dissidents; it's said that he used to place these people in the guillotine facing upwards. In this time he executed 3,010 people, 2,951 by guillotine and the remainder by hanging. After the War he was employed as an executioner by the US Military Government in Germany, in which time he executed a further 155 people; in total he executed 3,165 people. However, after the war he spoke out against capital punishment.

Answer: 1977

The last person guillotined in France was Hamida Djandoubi. He was convicted of the kidnapping, torture, and murder of 21-year-old Élisabeth Bousquet, and was guillotined in Marseille on 10 September 1977.

Despite the guillotine no longer being used in France and the rest of Europe, there is still debate about how humane it is. The brain loses blood pressure immediately after decapitation, which should cause unconsciousness within seconds, but some scientists and historians are still of the opinion that a brief awareness or pain remains.