Changes

==History==

==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 deliquent 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, England, at executions on market-days. It may have been used as early as 1280.  

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, 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".  

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".