"Hanged, Drawn and Quartered" was a gruesome form of execution used in medieval England for those guilty of high treason. The process involved dragging the victim through the streets, hanging them until nearly dead, disemboweling and burning their entrails, beheading, and quartering their body. This punishment was meant to inflict maximum pain and humiliation, and was typically reserved for those who committed acts of treason against the monarch. The first recorded instance of this punishment being carried out in its entirety was in 1283, when Dafydd ap Gruffydd, the last prince of Wales, was executed for his role in a rebellion against King Edward I. The punishment was officially withdrawn from English law in 1870.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Hanging, drawing, and quartering was the most extreme penalty in English law for those guilty of high treason.
2. High treason was considered the most serious attack on the monarch's authority.
3. Only men could be put to death in this fashion, as it was thought to be too indecent to expose a woman's body in such a way.
4. Women convicted of treason would either be burned at the stake or beheaded.
5. The statute for hanging, drawing, and quartering involved dragging the prisoner to the gallows, hanging them until they were half dead, cutting out their entrails and burning them, beheading the body, and dividing it into quarters.
6. The executioner would typically cut open the chest, remove the heart, and hold it up for the audience to see.
7. The phrase "hanged, drawn, and quartered" is somewhat confusing, as historians disagree on the meaning of "drawing".
8. Drawing could refer to the dragging of the victim to the gallows or the drawing out of the intestines during disemboweling.
9. Women were not subject to hanging, drawing, and quartering, but were instead burned at the stake or beheaded.
10. The first recorded instance of a person being hanged, drawn, and quartered was in 1242, when William de Marisco was convicted of treason.
11. The punishment was carried out in its entirety for the first time during the reign of Edward I.
12. The last prince of Wales, Daffydd ap Gruffydd, was the first important person in history to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.
13. Andrew Harclay, the first Earl of Carlisle, was hanged, drawn, and quartered in 1323 for treason.
14. The punishment was officially withdrawn from English law in 1870.
Note: I've excluded any opinions or descriptive language from the facts, sticking to verifiable information.