Capital Punishment and the Criminal Corpse in Scotland, 1740-1834 by Rachel E Bennett

Capital Punishment and the Criminal Corpse in Scotland, 1740-1834 by Rachel E Bennett

This book provides the most in-depth study of capital punishment in Scotland between the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth century to date. Based upon an extensive gathering and analysis of previously untapped resources, it takes the reader on a journey from the courtrooms of Scotland to the theatre of the gallows. It introduces them to several of the malefactors who faced the hangman's noose and explores the traditional hallmarks of the spectacle of the scaffold. It demonstrates that the period between 1740 and 1834 was one of discussion, debate and fundamental change in the use of the death sentence and how it was staged in practice. In addition, the study provides an innovative investigation of the post-mortem punishment of the criminal corpse. It offers the reader an insight into the scene at the foot of the gibbets from which criminal bodies were displayed, and around the dissection tables of Scotland's main universities where criminal bodies were used as cadavers for anatomical demonstration. In doing so it reveals an intermediate stage in the long-term disappearance of public bodily punishment.

This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

Rachel E. Bennett is Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, UK. Her research interests include various aspects of Britain's criminal history including capital punishment and the post-mortem punishment of the criminal body, the intersections of medicine and the criminal justice system and medical care in women's prisons.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781013270277
ISBN 10	1013270274
Title	Capital Punishment and the Criminal Corpse in Scotland, 1740-1834
Author	Rachel E Bennett
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Saint Philip Street Press
Year published	2020-10-08
Number of pages	244
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.