Burned at the Stake; Questions Answered

We have watched a handful of films this semester and of course, each Joan film has the key scene of her execution, being burned at the stake. Each time I watch these scenes, I always end up with the thoughts in the back of my head, "what if this was me?" I cannot imagine what not only Joan was going through, but what every other person was feeling as they were burned alive. This method of execution seems extremely unreasonable and I don't understand why they use this method over others. The whole concept of raises a few questions for me and I found the answers.

1. What causes death in this form of execution?

There are a few possible causes when one is being burned. The most common cause of death came from carbon monoxide poisoning caused by the smoke. Normally, this cause of death would come to effect before any damage to the body would occur. For a quicker death from this poisoning, the executioners should use more wood to create more smoke. However, if they did not use enough wood, there are other possible causes of death. In some cases, the victim would die from pure shock. In other cases the victim would die because of heatstroke. For those unlucky cases, then the victims would die because of thermal decompositions to key body parts.

2. Was burned at the stake used as the punishment for many crimes of just secular crimes?

 In the medieval period, burned at the stake was the go to form of execution for those deemed a heretic or guilty of heresy crimes. There were even acts or laws put into place that made this official such as the  De Heretico Comburendo Act. However, death by burning was also an option for sexual crimes or other crimes against nature. This form of execution was not just limited to this historical period. Throughout time and around the world has references of burned alive as a form of execution. There are even examples dating back to the times of Ancient Egypt.

3. How was the pyre set up?

Pyres were very simply set up. A key part was the stake in the center. The person was tied to the stake usually with their limbs bound together. Underneath and surrounding the stake were numerous bundles of sticks. As the pyre is lit, more and more bundles had to be added because this was a time consuming process to completely burn the body.

Works Cited:
Carroll. "The Benefits of Burning Heretics at the Stake." The Benefits of Burning Heretics at the Stake. January 1, 2002. Accessed November 5, 2014. http://biblelight.net/burn-heretics.htm.



"Death by Burning." Wikipedia. July 12, 2014. Accessed November 1, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_by_burning.