WEBVTT - Bedside Manners 4: Give and Take 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:08.360 The farmer was beside himself. He was meant for a 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:10.960 life in the field, not the jail cell. But he 0:00:11.039 --> 0:00:13.680 had been convicted of murder, and now he had been 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:17.240 sentenced to die. He probably never saw his life heading 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.360 in this direction, but desperation had made him do some 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.960 unspeakable things. This farmer had met a peasant girl who 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.760 had been traveling the country, and hired her to work 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:29.600 in his house. She confided in him that she had 0:00:29.640 --> 0:00:32.600 been saving some money to go to America. The farmer, 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:36.120 deeply in debt, saw in the girl a temporary relief 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:39.840 for his financial woes, so one dark night he coaxed 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:42.400 the girl to follow him from their house. Her body 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:46.240 was found sometime later, and the investigations trail led pretty 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:49.640 obviously right back to our farmer. In the days leading 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:52.600 up to his execution, he had become a nervous wreck, 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:55.920 so much so that it was actually delayed. Yet the 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.800 final day had now arrived, But in the same way 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:01.880 that he had counted down days in dread, many others 0:01:01.920 --> 0:01:06.000 were waiting too, not with fear, but with curious anticipation. 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:09.600 In fact, extra trains had been scheduled to accommodate the 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:12.480 thousands of people who were flooding in from all over 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.640 Germany who wanted to catch a glimpse of the farmer's 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.800 final breath. When the time for his execution came, the 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.039 farmer was taken from his cell by soldiers and escorted 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.160 up the scaffolding platform by two priests. The three men 0:01:25.319 --> 0:01:28.880 began to pray, and the the crowd fell silent. The farmer meanwhile, 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:32.920 fell deathly pale. With the prayer finished, the priests helped 0:01:33.000 --> 0:01:35.560 lift the farmer up and situate him in a wooden 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:38.440 chair while his arms and legs were bound so that 0:01:38.480 --> 0:01:40.960 he would be unable to move. The faces and the 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.040 crowd made for his last glimpse of the world just 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:48.000 before the blindfold was placed over his eyes. Next, leather 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.680 strap was fastened under his chin and extended upward over 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:54.360 his head. This wouldn't be a hanging, you see, but 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:57.920 a beheading. The strap pulled high and taut, would allow 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.920 for a clean swing. The executioner, a headsman as he 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.120 was often called, was almost seventy years old and clad 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:07.400 in a cloak. He was a notable character in the 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:10.000 community for his station in life. He had an air 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.480 of plainness and respectability about him, and a sense of 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:17.919 solemn duty. When everything and everyone was in their proper place, 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.280 the headsman picked up a large sword. Still, not a 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:24.800 whisper could be heard amongst the crowd. The headsman raised 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.200 his tool and rotated it as if to show it 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:29.600 off to all of those who had assembled to witness 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:32.679 the event. He stepped forward, and, after making a few 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:36.880 final adjustments, positioned his sword very deliberately a few inches 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.200 from the farmer's neck. He wanted to make sure that 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.959 when he struck, it would be in just the right place. 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:45.600 Holding the sword horizontally with both hands and about a 0:02:45.639 --> 0:02:48.880 foot away from the man's neck, the headsman swung, made 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:53.240 contact with our unfortunate farmer, and severed his vertebrae. With 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.919 a few more hacks through muscle and tissue and skin, 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.600 the farmer's head lopped off. The whole process of severing 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:04.040 the head is over almost instantaneously. The assistant executioner then 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:06.680 held the head high in the air. It read like 0:03:06.760 --> 0:03:09.720 a perverse trophy, a warning sign to all those who 0:03:09.760 --> 0:03:13.120 might consider committing similar crimes. But if you think this 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.560 whole spectacle is shocking, what came next might just take 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.120 it to the next level. As the farmer's head was 0:03:19.160 --> 0:03:23.360 still held above the crowd. About ten onlookers rushed forward. 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.840 They jockeyed with their outstretched arms, trying to catch the 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.160 blood spurting from the dead man's trunk in the goblets 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:32.960 that they had brought from their home. According to one source, 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.360 one of the men jumped on the scaffolding, grabbed the corpse, 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.760 and tipped it over as if he were pouring a 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.160 decanter of fine red wine. He drank from the bloody 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:46.120 stump of the man's neck, overcome with ecstasy and relief. 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:50.040 You see, these men were epileptics, and it was believed 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.720 that the blood from the body of a freshly executed 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.880 person was a key remedy to their affliction. It was 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.600 thought to be full of vim and vigor and life force, 0:03:58.840 --> 0:04:02.960 a soothing tonic for the brains malfunctioning electrolytes. When we 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.920 hear the word cannibalism, a few images might come to 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:09.360 our minds. Perhaps we think of secluded or primitive tribal 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:12.720 groups or cults scattered in out of reach regions around 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.480 the globe, or coming a bit closer to home, we 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.120 might think of groups like the Donner Party, Ordinary civilized 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:23.320 folk who due to extreme and extraordinary conditions, were pushed 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:27.560 to inhumane activities that were simply for survival. Yet, humans 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:31.200 likewise have a long history of willfully practicing this kind 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.960 of medicinal cannibalism which we saw unfold here at the 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.720 scaffold in Germany, and we need not look back far 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.320 to find examples of it. In the case of our 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.120 most unfortunate farmer, you might be surprised to hear that 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.920 the year was eighteen sixty one. That's the same year 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.760 that the American Civil War began. The first version of 0:04:49.760 --> 0:04:52.640 the Periodic Table would be published just a few years later. 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:55.640 Louis Pasteur was right in the middle of his career 0:04:55.839 --> 0:05:00.360 revolutionizing germ theory. This moment, you see, was far from 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.440 a remote primitive period in the past. It was a 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:08.719 part of the modern world. I'm Aaron Manky, and welcome 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:17.840 to bedside manners. If you get a headache today, you 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:20.880 might take some ib profin or maybe an antacid to 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.400 treat the stomach ache. These remedies, though, haven't been options 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.440 for most of human history. Prior to the major medical 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:31.120 and pharmaceutical advancements of the twentieth century, there were far 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:34.720 more gaps in our understanding between illnesses and their cures. 0:05:35.080 --> 0:05:37.159 But you might be thinking, why did we fill that 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:41.000 gap by choosing to drink hot, bubbling human blood. What 0:05:41.080 --> 0:05:43.479 we need to understand first is that for nearly all 0:05:43.520 --> 0:05:46.320 of history, the human body has been understood to be 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:50.240 special compared to other living organisms. That is, in the 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:53.880 Judaeo Christian tradition, the belief of God's image and creation 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.000 lad people to try to find his imprints. In the 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.440 case of humans, these imprints could be the lines in 0:05:59.520 --> 0:06:03.240 one's home, wrinkles on the forehead, the size of their nose, 0:06:03.400 --> 0:06:06.480 or the color of their hair. These features were believed 0:06:06.520 --> 0:06:10.640 to convey the way in which God made each individual unique. 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:14.040 This idea was paired with an ancient concept concerning the 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:18.520 interconnectedness of all matter. Plants and animals that resembled certain 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:21.920 body parts were thought to contain healing powers for those 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:24.800 body parts. It was thought that God had left such 0:06:24.880 --> 0:06:30.080 resemblances as deliberate clues throughout creation for humans to learn from. 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.720 This phenomenon has come to be referred to as sympathetic magic. 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.039 This idea that like needed to be cured by like 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:41.440 would become a major part of the tradition of medical cannibalism. 0:06:41.800 --> 0:06:45.120 An assumption championed by our good friend Paracelsius and his 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:48.039 followers was that the spirit was not just a way 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:51.320 of talking abstractly about the human essence, but was understood 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.600 to be a very real physiological part of the human body, 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.120 and was thought to be contained in the blood. By 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:03.040 consuming human bodies, weak living humans could take the vitality 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:07.400 and thus find a possible cure from deceased humans. Now, 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.840 another somewhat related assumption that would be very important to 0:07:10.840 --> 0:07:14.240 the practice of corpse medicine was that bodies killed violently 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:18.120 and suddenly were the best dying. A quick, violent death, 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:21.240 rather than a long, slow decline from illness or old age, 0:07:21.320 --> 0:07:23.680 meant that the life force within the body was still 0:07:23.720 --> 0:07:27.400 strong at the point of death. Some recipes even advocated 0:07:27.440 --> 0:07:30.040 for blood to be taken, especially from people in their 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.120 mid twenties, as they would have most likely been physically 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:36.160 in the prime of life. This was evidently often paired 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.080 with the idea that a person's lifespan was fore ordained, 0:07:39.160 --> 0:07:42.520 and thus if that were cut short, the residual power 0:07:42.600 --> 0:07:46.200 that remained in the body could be transferred to someone else. 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:51.760 The seventeenth century medical textbook Pharmacopeia Medico Kaimaka advocates the 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:55.480 practice of drinking blood and even describes some bodies as 0:07:55.520 --> 0:07:59.520 being more beneficial than others. It prescribed that one acquire, 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.760 and I quote, a fresh, unspotted cadaver of a red 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:07.080 headed man, because in them the blood is thinner and 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:10.920 the flesh hence more excellent. Better still, if that body 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:14.640 had been about twenty four years old and recently executed, 0:08:14.880 --> 0:08:17.240 the body should be laid out for twenty four hours, 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:20.200 but only in good weather, it recommended, after which it 0:08:20.200 --> 0:08:24.160 should be cut into pieces and sprinkled with aloe and mirror. Then, 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:27.640 it said, soak it in spirits of wine for several days, 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:30.440 hang it up for six to ten hours, soak it 0:08:30.520 --> 0:08:33.680 again in spirits of wine. Then let the pieces dry 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.800 and dry air in a shady spot. Thus they will 0:08:36.840 --> 0:08:40.480 be similar to smoked meat and will not stink. The 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:44.000 practice of medical cannibalism reached its peak in Western Europe 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:46.760 towards the end of the Renaissance and lasted well into 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:49.760 the latter years of the eighteenth century. And lest you 0:08:49.800 --> 0:08:52.720 think that this is just a folk practice, people across 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:56.120 class lines participated in corpse medicine on a more or 0:08:56.200 --> 0:09:01.439 less routine basis. The influential eighteenth century theologian and clergyman 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:05.600 Richard Baxter was treated for a fit of bleeding by 0:09:05.720 --> 0:09:09.400 applying moss that had been grown on a buried human skull. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:12.840 The unfortunate Charles the Second, who, if you recall, met 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:16.000 his demise in a previous episode, was famously fond of 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:19.440 something known as the King's drops, which consisted of human 0:09:19.480 --> 0:09:22.480 skulls ground to a fine powder and mixed with alcohol, 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:26.200 which was then drunk to cure a variety of diseases. 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:30.600 With interest peaking in the sixteenth century, European apothecaries were 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:34.120 chock full of salves and powders made of pillaged mummies. 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:38.160 But as mummies became harder to come by, people's cannibalistic 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:42.440 attention shifted from ancient Egypt to their local gallows, and 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:45.440 that likewise brought attention not just to the bodies of 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:48.040 those who were executed, but to the person tasked with 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.360 carrying out the deadly deed itself. It was a strange role, 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:55.040 this one of the executioner. Their job was to end lives, 0:09:55.400 --> 0:09:59.360 and yet when the rich and poor, educated and uneducated 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:02.560 alike look to the gallows for medicine. We find that 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:07.120 life and death, punishment and healing became in the person 0:10:07.200 --> 0:10:18.480 of the executioner, the very strangest of bedfellows. Let's imagine 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.080 that you are a good family man. You're an attentive 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.160 husband and father, teaching your children your trade so that 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:26.760 they can make a living when they grow up. Perhaps 0:10:26.760 --> 0:10:29.480 you enjoy spending time in your garden. Maybe you like 0:10:29.640 --> 0:10:32.679 to feed stray cats. You go to church when or 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:35.160 if you are able. What is more, you have a 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:38.640 relatively well paid job working for the government, and yet 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.120 the wages of your honest labors include the crippling stain 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:45.760 of dishonor by virtue of the tasks which your government 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.920 job requires you to perform. And what's worse, this social 0:10:49.000 --> 0:10:52.680 disease is both a blood borne pathogen because your children 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:56.920 automatically inherit it, and it's also highly contagious. An otherwise 0:10:57.000 --> 0:11:00.760 honorable member of your town could contract your dishonnor simply 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:04.559 by getting too close. If you're allowed into churches or taverns, 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.480 you have to stay in a special section, far away 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.440 from other people. Sometimes you even are required to wear 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:13.440 special clothing whenever you're in public, so that people will 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.440 notice stay away from you, so it's no surprise to 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.199 you or anyone else when people cross the street when 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:21.960 they see you coming, and that few are ever willing 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.000 to darken the doorway of your house. This is your lots, 0:11:25.040 --> 0:11:29.240 of course, because you're a professional executioner in pre modern Europe, 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:31.880 and on account of your trade, there are very few 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:35.960 people in society who are considered more repulsive, more untouchable, 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:40.400 and dishonorable than yourself. Executing criminals has been around for 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:43.199 as long as there have been well crime, but for 0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:46.000 a long time, governments took a rather passive role in 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:49.400 criminal prosecution. They began to change that in the late 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:53.960 Middle Ages, though, local governments became more proactive in investigating 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:58.360 and punishing crime, resulting in a rise of convictions. Likewise, 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:03.000 a new array of specialized public spectacles of punishment were developed, 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.480 which were meant to both demonstrate the government's power and 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:10.560 to horrify any onlooker who might even consider entering into 0:12:10.600 --> 0:12:13.640 a life of crime themselves, and this in turn led 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:16.440 to the creation of a professional class of people who 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:21.560 doled out these punishments. Enter the professional executioner now The 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:26.160 executioner's main job was to carry out all interrogations, particularly 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.480 with the skilled use of torture, and to dispatch those 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:32.760 found guilty in whatever way the authorities dictated. He often 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:36.400 had many other dirty or demeaning tasks, though, such as 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:40.040 overseeing the town's sex workers, cleaning the public out houses, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.800 and driving lepers out of town. Even still, people would 0:12:43.840 --> 0:12:47.040 apply for this job. For those born into an execution 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.640 or family, there was little else they could actually do. 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:53.920 Their familial dishonor after all, excluded them from practicing pretty 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.840 much any other trade, and it paid surprisingly well. But 0:12:57.920 --> 0:13:01.240 not only that, this trade, which pushed them far to 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:05.199 the edges of society, also opened one very particular back 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:09.480 door among the honorable of all classes. For centuries, you see, 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:15.400 reviled executioners also moonlighted as revered village healers. In Germany, 0:13:15.480 --> 0:13:19.120 which had a particularly developed tradition of execution or healers, 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:21.920 we first heard about execution or medicine in the early 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:25.560 fifteenth century when an executioner set up a stand to 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.400 sell local remedies. In fourteen sixty, in the city of Munich, 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.640 they hired an executioner to treat local burn victims. A 0:13:32.679 --> 0:13:34.839 few years later, the city hired one to help treat 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:38.840 local pregnant women as well as folks afflicted with venereal diseases. 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:43.480 They were true gig workers, occupying multiple community spaces and 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.640 wearing many hats. In the moments that they were healing, 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:50.640 the social boundary of acceptability flexed for them. How much 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:53.760 did it flex well? Later on, King Frederick the First 0:13:53.760 --> 0:13:57.960 of Prussia hired Berlin's executioner to be his personal physician 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.400 at the moment when medicine was attempting to professionalize. And 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:04.600 we've heard all about physicians, guilds, barber surgeons and the 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.920 likes earlier in our series. Executioners occupied a very complicated 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:13.000 liminal space. Public executions unfolded almost as a kind of 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:17.240 sacred liturgy, which began days before the execution itself. In 0:14:17.280 --> 0:14:20.560 the process, the condemned criminal, so long as they repented 0:14:20.640 --> 0:14:25.080 and received absolution, was thoroughly transformed from a vile center 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.960 into a saintly martyr in the eyes of the public. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.480 These rituals caused the bodies of these criminals to take 0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:34.040 on a kind of spiritual power of their own in 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.800 the popular mind and from the gallows. Then the executioner 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.840 became a kind of pharmacist of the sympathetic magic variety 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:45.200 of medicine, a lucrative side gig that helped bulk up 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:48.880 their salaries. Epileptics, as we've seen, might pay to drink 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:51.960 the hot blood from a criminals caldaver, or they might 0:14:52.000 --> 0:14:55.640 consume ground skulls or drink wine from the skull of 0:14:55.680 --> 0:15:00.240 an executed criminal. Executioners often provided local apothecaries with the 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:03.320 raw materials for medicines like these, but they were also 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.040 good examples of some of the early direct consumer marketing folks. 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:10.920 People would buy corpse medicine right from the executioner himself. 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.440 This way they could be assured of its quality and 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:17.680 know about the efficacy of it. Sometimes executioners served as 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:22.280 a competitor to apothecaries selling human fat and goblets of 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:25.880 blood at reduced prices, cutting out the middleman, kind of 0:15:25.880 --> 0:15:29.400 like a farmer's market, but for medicines made of human 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:33.960 body parts. Right, people with external maladies like goiter's could 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.720 come to the gallows and pay the executioner to rub 0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:40.080 the hand of a freshly dispatched criminal over their skin. 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:44.240 Novelist Victor Hugo famous for authoring The Hunchback of Notre Dame, 0:15:44.520 --> 0:15:48.120 documented the case of the last person executed in Guernsey, 0:15:48.120 --> 0:15:50.480 one of the Channel islands off the coast of France. 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:54.360 He wrote that epileptics came and could not be prevented 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:57.440 from seizing the convulsive hand of the dead man and 0:15:57.520 --> 0:16:00.960 passing it frantically over their faces, and this power to 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:05.800 heal was likewise sometimes transferred to the executioner himself. Now, remember, 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:09.120 being physically touched by an executioner would in almost any 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:13.360 other circumstance infect a person with their dishonor which might 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:16.040 result in being ejected from their own guild. In a 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.280 healing context, though the executioner's touch was thought to have 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:24.040 almost magical healing power. In a more practical sense, executioners 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.600 knew the human body better than most physicians at the time, who, 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:31.160 as we've learned in earlier episodes, looked down on touching 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:33.800 the body. You have to remember that during this period 0:16:34.080 --> 0:16:38.400 human dissections were incredibly rare. Executioners were among the few 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:42.200 who had any practical hands on experiences with human bodies 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:46.880 and human anatomy in real time. The medicine. These executioners 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:51.040 often performed was external setting bones and suturing skin, the 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.680 skills and knowledge of which were passed down from father 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:56.720 to son, just as the necessary skills of the deadly 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.280 part of their trade were passed down. It was highly 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:02.160 practical work, and they evidently were very good at what 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:06.440 they did. Executioners were a kind of living crossroads. They're 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:10.440 deadly trade imbued them with a socially lethal disease, but 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:14.320 the same trade made them attractive and powerful healers, capable 0:17:14.440 --> 0:17:17.560 of greater social mobility than just about anyone else at 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:20.920 the time, and in at least one case, these execution 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:30.040 or healers could find their dishonor cured by their own medicine. 0:17:33.119 --> 0:17:36.439 Franz Schmidt had never known a life without shame, but 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:39.840 his parents had. Their small town of Hoff, Germany, was 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:43.680 laid under siege, their lord having abandoned them. When he returned, 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.439 his people were, as you can imagine, pretty upset with 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:50.040 his performance. As tensions in the community rose further, he 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:52.480 caught wind of an attempt on his life. He had 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:57.119 three local gunsmiths arrested, and, invoking an ancient custom, the 0:17:57.200 --> 0:18:00.880 cowardly lord commanded an innocent bystandard to carry out their 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:05.119 executions as opposed to sending for a professional. The unfortunate 0:18:05.160 --> 0:18:08.760 person chosen for the job was France's father, Heinrich, a 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.359 respectable woodsman, and he couldn't protest, which meant that his 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:16.320 fate was sealed. France was born shortly after sometime in 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.840 the first half of fifteen fifty four. Heinrich was determined 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:21.679 to make the best of the lot that was forced 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:25.439 upon his family. After France's mother died, he remarried and 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.840 relocated the family. He applied for better pain and more 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:32.520 prestigious execution or positions, and eventually found work for the 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:35.679 prince Bishop of Bamberg. France would grow up listening to 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.320 the song of the local hangman, receiving a rudimentary education 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:42.720 at home. He would shadow his father at executions as 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.720 his apprentice, studying the trade, knowing full well that it 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.320 would be his own someday. By the age of twelve, 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:52.359 he was already practicing different forms of dispatching condemned criminals. 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.160 Now the most difficult method of execution, according to Heinrich, 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:59.840 was the infamous beheading by sword. He took his cherished 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:02.360 in streament down from the mantel over the fireplace and 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:05.600 allowed his son to practice on pumpkins and gourds. They 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:09.080 eventually moved on to livestock as France learned to definitely 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:12.520 wield the weapon and his aim became true. France came 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:15.240 of age during a period of history that historians referred 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.439 to as the Golden Age of the executioner. It marked 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:22.560 the culmination of a long transformation of German law, which 0:19:22.600 --> 0:19:25.840 in part saw the part time hangman evolved into the 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:30.280 office of a full time, salaried professional executioner, who, while 0:19:30.320 --> 0:19:34.359 still officially dishonorable, enjoyed a much better status and social 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:38.400 position than had executioners in the past. This evolved role 0:19:38.480 --> 0:19:41.960 of the executioner, though required a higher standard of work 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:47.040 and personal character, their family's life was largely comfortable. Heinrich, 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.440 made as much money as a teacher or a pastor, 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:52.600 and had an enviable amount of job security. He was 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:56.560 known and respected for his honesty, integrity, and diligence, and 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.159 young France watched closely, taking pains to model at through 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:03.520 his father, because he knew this was deeply necessary if 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.359 they were to ever restore their family's name. He might 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.800 have been angry, yes, but he was also principled and determined. 0:20:10.320 --> 0:20:13.480 France's training culminated when he was nineteen years old. He 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.520 and his father traveled to Bamberg to dispatch a criminal 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:19.679 as part of his test to become a recognized master 0:20:19.880 --> 0:20:22.960 of his trade. Although hangings required the least amount of 0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:25.840 skill for an executioner, there was always a chance that 0:20:25.920 --> 0:20:28.800 something could go wrong for him. But as it would happen, 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.040 the convict was dropped and swung freely from his neck. 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:35.440 I hate to say it, given the circumstances, but France 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:38.399 couldn't have hoped for a better day. His father climbed 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.359 to top the scaffolding and, standing tall and in accordance 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:45.040 with ancient custom, slapped France across the face three times. 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.520 He had passed the test with flying colors. Having achieved 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:52.440 master executioner status, France now needed to refine his skills 0:20:52.480 --> 0:20:55.320 and build a client base. Like any good tradesman at 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:57.720 the time, he set out on the road, working on 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:00.719 a gig basis and gaining experience as he did so. 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:04.639 Think of it as something like a study abroad for executioners. 0:21:05.040 --> 0:21:08.480 As France grew in technical skill, he also very intentionally 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:13.359 cultivated a reputation as a respectable man who kept respectable company. 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.399 Most dramatically, he swore off alcohol for the rest of 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:21.160 his life, quite uncharacteristic for an executioner, and people noticed 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:25.880 his self possession with admiration. The breakthrough moment in France's life, 0:21:25.920 --> 0:21:28.639 which would open up the path to his family's restoration, 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:31.480 was in fifteen seventy eight, when he was appointed the 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:35.119 Master executioner of the city of Nuremberg. The city was 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.240 spectacular for its day, made up of hundreds of streets, 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:43.360 ornate public buildings, bustling with artisans and merchants, public squares 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:47.880 and parks, and amazingly a well developed water and sewage system. 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:51.080 It stood in stark contrast to the squalid hoff of 0:21:51.119 --> 0:21:54.200 France's youth. As part of his salary, France was given 0:21:54.200 --> 0:21:57.000 his own stately home and a five year contract that 0:21:57.040 --> 0:22:00.640 made him the best paid executioner in the Empire. Within 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.840 a few years, he received the guarantee of lifetime appointments 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:07.119 in Nuremberg, a pay raise, and even a pension. But 0:22:07.240 --> 0:22:10.720 even still, being an executioner always came with a price. 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:13.880 On one occasion, for example, he was forced to torture 0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:17.600 and execute his own brother in law, Friedrich Verner, over 0:22:17.640 --> 0:22:21.600 the course of several decades, France would carefully and painstakingly 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:26.680 establish an incredibly good name for himself as Nuremberg's faithful executioner. 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:31.840 He performed hundreds of executions, maintained excellent relations with city officials, 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:35.320 and became widely known for his technical skill, his piety, 0:22:35.600 --> 0:22:38.719 and his calm demeanor. He was also widely known for 0:22:38.800 --> 0:22:43.080 his successful medical trade. For him, healing and not torturing 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:46.879 and killing was his true vocation. By his own accounting, 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:50.720 he treated over fifteen thousand people nursing to health, prisoners 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:54.520 whom had confessed under torture, high society types, and everyone 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:57.760 in between. We know this because of the diaries he kept, 0:22:58.040 --> 0:23:00.920 and he did so for an entire four plus decade 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:03.600 service to the Emperor. He retired as an old man, 0:23:03.960 --> 0:23:07.119 but still had one task left to do. In June 0:23:07.119 --> 0:23:10.240 of sixty four, he sent a letter to the Emperor. 0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:14.160 In it, he told of his honorable exploits, focusing especially 0:23:14.200 --> 0:23:17.240 on his medical work, which had benefited so many people 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:19.919 in his community. In all of this, he asked for 0:23:20.040 --> 0:23:23.760 one thing in return, that the Emperor restore his family's 0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:27.080 honor that had been stolen from them. Doing so would 0:23:27.119 --> 0:23:29.240 release his sons from a life that they were set 0:23:29.240 --> 0:23:33.320 to inherit and open up a world of possibilities for them. 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:37.320 Three months later, he received a letter of response. It said, 0:23:37.560 --> 0:23:40.480 on account of the subservient petition to us from the 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:43.879