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Line 2: − ==History== − The guillotine was used long before the [[French Revolution]], but when and where exactly is difficult to say precisely. Guillotine-like machines seem to have functioned in [[Germany]], [[Great Britain]], and [[Italy]] before 1300, but there is little clear evidence to prove this. The earlier machines replaced the ax, but the guillotine replaced the [[sword]]. This replacement was an essential improvement, since it prevented the accidental mutilation of the delinquent due to a misplaced hit of the ax or sword. According to ''Holinshed’s Chronicles'' published in 1577, a guillotine-like machine was used at the execution of [[Murcod Ballagh]] near to Merton in [[Ireland]] in 1307. In 1400, the ''Halifax Gibbet'', a precursor to the guillotine, was used in [[Halifax (Yorkshire)|Halifax]], England, at executions on market-days. It may have been used as early as 1280. − − The last execution with the Halifax Gibbet took place in 1648. ''The Maiden'', a true guillotine, was constructed and used in [[Scotland]] in 1564. It was based on the Halifax Gibbet. In October of 1789, on the second day of the Assembly debate about the Penal Code, Dr. Joseph-Ignace Guillotine submitted a proposition that included a recommendation that death, without the accompaniment of torture and by means of decapitation, should become the sole and standard form of [[capital punishment]] in [[France]]. The Assembly approved the text, providing that "Every person condemned to the death penalty shall have his head severed". − − In 1792, Roederer and Tobias Schmidt manufacturing a guillotine equipped with a [[leather]] bag for the disposal of the severed head. The next month, on a [[Friday]] afternoon, the first real guillotine was set up in the Cour du Commerce, rue Saint-André-des-Arts. It was tested on [[sheep]] and calves. The blade was not the oblique one yet, though it was probably curved like a scimitar. The guillotine was subsequently tested on several human corpses. Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier was the first Frenchman to be executed on the place de Grève. In 1793 both [[Louis XVI]], King of France and [[Marie Antoinette]], Queen of France were executed by guillotine at Place de la Révolution. − − Between 1870 and 1872, Leon Berger, an assistant executioner and [[carpenter]], improved and developed a new guillotine. Among the "improvements" were the spring system, which stops the mouton at the bottom of the groves, and the lock/blocking device on the lunette. The new release mechanism for the blade, was also developed by Berger. All guillotines built after 1870 are made according to Berger's design. The last public execution by guillotine in France was in 1939, after which they were held only in [[prison | prisons]]. In 1977, the guillotine was used for the last time at the execution of Hamida Djandoubi. Today, [[capital punishment]] is illegal (and anti constitutional since 2007) in [[France]].
removed history section; see talk page
'''Guillotine''' is a word of [[French]] origin for a device used in [[execution]]s. Most guillotines have a heavy blade that is attached to a tall frame. The blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's [[head]].
'''Guillotine''' is a word of [[French]] origin for a device used in [[execution]]s. Most guillotines have a heavy blade that is attached to a tall frame. The blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the victim's [[head]].
== See also ==
== See also ==