Kevin this is Gold, Never really grasped how Brutal it was back then until i started watching your videos..Great History lessons my Friend!! My Father and I watch your vids all the time!
I didn’t know the executions were this sadistic and brutal, I can’t imagine this being publicly displayed, that’s just so horrible to imagine, someone literally being cut apart while they’re alive after being “hanged”, I’d like to know who these executioners were, they were pretty numb to cutting people open alive.
I have seen videos that prove you wrong,in some places it is still just as brutal. Amputation of arms and legs,flaying,burning alive...etc. I have seen it all.
@@10191927 dan Carlin does a good 4 hour walk thru on the history of crime and punishment on his channel hard-core history. You might find it interesting cause towards the end he talks for a bit about the life of a professional executioner, they were highly well paid but were actually social outcasts. It was interesting to listen to.
Brutality is alive and well even today. Humans are incapable of changing. It’s how we got to the top of the food chain in the first place. Now that we’ve conquered all other species we can only destroy each other under the guise of freedom, religion, national commercial interests and of course power, greed and corruption. Isis uses medieval and creatively cruel killing methods and Middle Eastern countries still carry out brutal executions. The US and UK weren’t shy either during the illegal war in Iraq. NATO is still keen on sniffing out yet another conflict in Ukraine. Madness, all of it.
@@peter2814 Aye, man doesn't change at his core Civilization, is just a venire we wear when times are good or when it suites us for some other reason. The men who are capable of the greatest good are capable of the greatest evil.
Keep up the great work Kevin! This is one of my favourite history channels on youtube right now, and you deserve so many more subscribers. Thank you so much for putting your time and effort into these videos; more people need to see them!
Hello Kevin, I just wanted to say that I have never really been interested in history before the American Revolution, but you have changed that! I'm absolutely fascinated by your videos. I can't get enough of your excellent content, please keep up the fantastic work sir!
Americans really need to learn more about English History because our origins are English. The Revolution never would have been possible without having an example with the Roundheads.
@@jaypoole8056 Americans really need to learn more about world history, after all the Americans came from all over the world and still do, they are far to insular for their own good 😎🏹🙏
@@blindarchershaunhenderson3769 Disagree. The nation was English and both the official language, constitution, legal framework, and institutions both secular and religious, as well as the ethos that Americans still espouse are deeply rooted in England around this time period.
I stopped everything that I was doing at work when I spotted this video on my homepage and took a break to watch it. It did not disappoint. Great storytelling as usual Kevin.
Damn. I didn’t realize being “hanged drawn and quartered” was so gruesome. I never truly understood that people were mutilated alive during it. I always just imagined it as a hanging and nothing else
@@jonathanwilliams1065 Pulled Apart by Horses is an alternative rock band from Leeds, England 😆 The execution method of being pulled apart by horses was known as dismemberment or disruption.
Sometimes they were allowed to hang until dead before being cut down. Indeed by the late 17th century and the 18th century, this was normal. The Jesuit priest Henry Morse was hanged in London in 1645. The executioner allowed him to hang for a while and a child broke through the crowd and pulled on one of Morse's legs as he was hanging. By the time the executioner beat the child off, Morse was dead and so did not feel the quartering part of the penalty. (Morse was canonised by the Catholic Church, along with 39 others, in 1970.) My guess is that the regicides were targeted for particularly painful executions as they were considered especially heinous.
I didn't really get what "drawn and quartered" was either until about eighth grade when I read the account of the execution of a British traitor (I think it was William Wallace, but I read the story so long ago, I'm probably wrong). First, the dude was thrown out of the window of a two-story building down to the cobblestone street below. He survived the fall, so they did it again. He still survived. Then they hung him, then eviserated him, and after he was dead, pulled his body apart using horses. Of course, the crowd was cheering this on. The body parts were sent to various parts of England as a warning to other traitors. I mean, yeah...the guy was a traitor. But did they really have to do him like that? Jeez.
@@jaydubya3698 if it was Wallace he wasn’t a traitor, he just defended his rightful king and country against the English king who decided to resolve a succession dispute by proclaiming himself the king
Im glad you put the real horrors to the light. Historians tend to paint a more glamorous image of what went on . Our history is so interesting although usually very macabre. Great video well done.
Hi Kevin, on one of your videos a couple weeks ago I replied to a message you sent and I'm not sure if you saw it, in the comment I said something along the lines of wanting to see a biography video of you when you tell some stories and what you've done/where you've been in life, the life of Kevin Hicks - archer and soldier! Me and my mates watch your videos and talk about them, getting excited when you post new ones and we all want to know more about yourself we're huge fans of the channel, glad The History Squad is finally getting some well deserved attention :)
Hi there, I'm so sorry your message must have got bogged down, I really do try to read them all. I really appreciate your support of the channel and will continue to occasionally post some personal stories and experiences, but I'm not sure my life quite warrants a biography, though I'm flattered you'd think so. All the best to you & your mates 👍
@@thehistorysquad thanks that means a lot, we all think you're awesome and don't worry about not getting back to me you have loads of stuff to get through I know you wouldn't have ignored me or anything like that, looking forward to the next :)
I recall a WWII veteran telling the story of how a flamethrower in his platoon was taken alive by Japanese forces in Iwo Jima. As hated as they were, flametroopers were the primary targets on the battlefield when spotted but to take one alive? What an opportunity, the veteran recalls how they were unable to rescue him and thus could hear him screaming in agony behind enemy lines...throughout the entire night. Hearing that story was jarring as it leaves much to the imagination, but a good humbling of our modern imagination is learning about tortures and executions from much, much longer ago. I think back to when I learned about medieval torture devices and the harrowing creativeness behind some of them! Truly a world we pampered 21st century people could hardly grasp. P.s. Remind me to add medieval helmet light fixtures to my shopping list, those are amazing!
Hello Modest Banana, one of my latest patrons! Such a great comment and yes, the creativity of man to inflict such pain and suffering is truly mind blowing. My 'knight lights' btw, were made by an armourer friend some years ago. Glad you like them 👍🏻
And it's hard to really blame them either, from their perspective he's a man whose job it is to burn them alive. It's hard to imagine much mercy to be had outside the jurisdiction of the law.
It always amazes me how many people complain about how bad things are in todays society. But we live in some of the most peaceful of times in history. We are failing our children by not teaching them true history. Another great video.
Glad you like them, they're my 'knight' lights 😉 I hope the kids weren't too disturbed by the video. Just a note, your shout out will be coming up in a few weeks after filming some armour content with my son in the UK. Julie will be editing it shortly 👍🏻
@@thehistorysquad no they were fine. Excellent looking forward to surprising them with the shout out. They have no idea it's coming. Looking forward to your next film.
Hey Kevin, I’ve been watching your videos for about 5 months now and I want to say the content is absolutely incredible. Thank you for all the wonderful and fascinating historic stories you share, they truly are beloved. I hope you have a lovely summer my friend.
The barbaric execution was not the final act of the battle of the English against the Establishment a battle that, as we can see from current events, is still in progress.
You are truly the SIr David Attenborough of history. No music, no flashy scenes, nothing but you and your voice and I would happily listen to you explain the history of microeconomics of a random city in Kansas and be absolutely enthralled. There's something about this that makes me so content and pleased with life as it is. Here I am, sitting with my breakfast learning about history orated from a master in the comfort of my home with my only price paid being some time. Incredible. Thank you, Mr Hicks.
You know I'd only ever heard about Thomas Harrison in passing, always kind of one of those background characters amidst all the battles and bloodshed. So it was shocking to hear that not only was he a Staffordshire man, and also a rather dashing and battle hardened one at that and a bit of a major player in parliamentary camp it seems. But furthermore and much to my delight, the church he is buried in is naught but a stones throw from where I work, about a minute walk up the hill, it's a lovely Church is St Giles. I'm very invested in the folklore, history, characters and stories of my home county so it was a delight to hear about the good major general through your channel. An absolutely fascinating local character and suitable addition to the staffie rogues gallery hahaha.
My family's ancestor, Capt Benjamin Merrill, was hanged, drawn and quartered by the British in 1771, for refusing to pay taxes. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Merrill) We've largely gotten over it, thank you.
Very interesting. I was therefore moved to read up on this as being hanged, drawn and quartered for tax evasion seemed a bit extreme, even by the standards of the 1770s. What Captain Merrill was actually executed for was High Treason and not because he refused to pay his taxes. He took part in and actually led (!) an armed rebellion (the Regulators) who sought, through armed insurrection, to defeat Governor Tryon of North Carolina at the Battle of Alamance. However, he made a serious miscalculation in the size of the force that he would actually be up against. He was defeated, captured and ultimately given the prescribed sentence at the time for High Treason.
Capt Merrill and others were incensed due to the governor raising taxes to build a new governor’s residence- now called ‘Tryon’s Palace’ in Raleigh. Capt Merrill and the Orange Rebellion were the precursor to the American Revolution. A very brave man who died with honor.
Did you hear of the arrestation of Charles the Bad? In 1356 Jean II, the king of France at the time, stormed the castle where Charles was having a feast. He was only arrested but 4 of his accomplices were sentenced to be decapitated. Only they didn't have a professional at hand. So they offered pardon to a murderer from the local prison if he accepted to play the role of executioner. The corpses were apparently in pretty bad shape even for an execution since the headsman was an amateur. As always, good video Kevin 👍
I’m Dutch and I’m learning so much about British history from you Kevin! Your videos are fascinating, and you guys have such a rich history. Is it possible you might cover Robert Devereux the Earl of Essex in the future? I find him an intriguing man.
Yes, he is for sure and I might just do that. I'll certainly add him to my list. Another favourite period of mine is the war of the Spanish succession, so stand by ..... (my list is very long though 😉)
As someone who's seen my own stomach and most of my small intestines burst out of my abdomen (13 inch wound ripping open after major surgery due to sepsis, and a photo to prove it), the shear shock of what's happening is just so overwhelming you can barely comprehend what's going on, but needless to say I screamed all the way back into emergency surgery.
My friend jack showed me your videos and I absolutely loved your channel, you made my nephews really interested in history as soon as I showed them, bless you my friend, very good channel.
On the side of the Hanged Drawn and Quartered pub on Tower Hill is a quote from Samuel Pepys, who witnessed the execution of Harrison. "He was looking as cheerful as any man could in that condition".
Greetings once again from nova Scotia, thank you for another great film, I very much appreciate how you can put into perspective, what would be dry facts and numbers, I truly respect your ability to teach about horrible events, with class and decorum, well done good sir, very well done. Thanks again for your time and talent, be safe, be well, and as always best regards Arthur
I've been needing something new to watch on RU-vid I ran across you tonight First video was the extraction of the arrowhead from the head It was so good I subscribed to your channel. This was the second video I watched. I'm about to watch many more
What I noticed about my fellow man, especially in these last two years, they seem to thrive on the misfortune of their own through virtue signalling towards those that want them harm.
Another quality video Kevin. My favourite channel on RU-vid by a mile! You've even managed to get my fiancé interested in history which ive been trying to do for years!Keep up the great work mate 👍
I think you are a wonderful storytelling teacher. Really. I love everything about you and this channel, not to mention how much I learn every time I watch. Subscribed from Los Angeles Ca USA ❤️
I am absolutely loving your videos, I read, watch, listen to anything from The War of the Roses to Elizabeth 1 so thank you so much much for your videos being so informative.
Wowwwww!!!! Great sconces!!! Me likey!!! Thanks for enlightening us about our grisly past. It is important to remember how violent humanity was and strive to prevent that from happening again, lest we devolve into a murderous people, and live in fear.
Well done, Finally Harrison has been termed an Honourable Gentleman, that's why History (Squad) is so valuable .Stayed around to face his fate, a Man of 'Character' certainly seems missing on many these days.
For the longest time, I thought being drawn and quartered was the deal where they tied your arms and legs to four different horses and rode them till you quartered - the punishment doled out to Ganelon in the Song of Roland. Somehow, reality is always worse. I was reading an article that said there's some disagreement as to whether drawn refers to dragging the victim to the place of execution, or the disemboweling. My take is it's the latter, or they'd refer to it as drawn, hanged and quartered. I just discovered your content, and have just watched this after watching the video on what archers did after running out of arrows. You've got a lot of content to binge. RU-vid is a special place because of history content providers, and you're no exception.
Throughout history people have thought of truly sick, sadistic, slow ways to torture those they wished to make an example of, impaling, stoning, crucifixion, the brazen bull, and this. Capital punishment is always wrong as far as I’m concerned, but to do something so simultaneously excruciating and degrading to another human being is reprehensible, but Charles the Second did many awful things, so this is hardly surprising. Great video by the way!
Such were the days. Good old days. Thank heaven for TV to keep people ammused. Thanks for the video, am going to watch more of your stuff. The one about the arrows was worth watching.
Thanks, really interesting and sad at the same time. I worked at the Wallace collection for some year's. We had a gallery attendant who never wanted to work when the Sealed Knot Society held their meetings there. His ancestor has been the Sgt at arms who had signed Charles's l death warrant.
