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IIRC executions for traitors on Tower Hill in London were oft public as well. The way the Beefeaters tell the story, it was partly as warning but it genuinely i
by somerandomqaguy 3y ago
IIRC executions for traitors on Tower Hill in London were oft public as well. The way the Beefeaters tell the story, it was partly as warning but it genuinely is just as a day for family entertainment as well, similar to how ksaj is saying. Come out as a day for a picnic or buying snacks from various vendor and to watch a head roll.
How true it is, who's to say. I find it rather plausible though.
- hotpotamus 3y agoThere's a song in the operetta "Candide" called "Auto Da Fe (What a Day)" that expresses the joy of the crowds in watching the Auto Da Fes (Acts of faith) of the Spanish Inquisition wherein people were forced to perform public acts of penance for their religious sins or heresies, up to burning at the stake. It's a funny song in its irony, and I'm sure Votaire would have appreciated the treatment that Bernstein gave it. That is to say that this sort of thing is not particularly unheard of. The cultural software of some modern countries may be a bit more progressed than others, but the human hardware of at least a significant portion of the world seems inclined to delight in punishment of those perceived as sinful.
- spookie 3y agoIt's plausible, of course. But, even then, there must have been people that found them as horrifying displays of power. It certainly has entered the minds of some, given how their popularity has decreased in some parts of the world.