1613 German executioner's sword - photo

[mklotz]

Beheading while the victim knelt, head erect, was the form of execution reserved for people of high status. The traditional axe and block was used for lesser folks and hanging for the commoners.

The axe led to some messy, botched executions; read about Mary, Queen of Scots execution. Because of the opportunity for such messy ends, Henry VIII imported a French executioner when he had Anne Boleyn beheaded.

I'm still puzzled by this. It seems to me that a vertical stroke with an axe would be easier to control than a horizontal stroke with a heavy, two-handed sword.

Execution methods have suffered from messy mistakes throughout their history. Only the guillotine is reliably quick and certain. Strange that beheading, so long out of fashion, remains the method least likely to cause the victim undue suffering.