tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post1478014654786405119..comments2024-03-14T05:56:44.390+00:00Comments on Edward II: Entrails and EmasculationKathryn Warnerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-78906089312192615432021-04-25T03:59:00.024+01:002021-04-25T03:59:00.024+01:00"Is that really his penis hanging to his knee..."Is that really his penis hanging to his knees?? No wonder Edward liked him so much."<br />No it's not. I too thought so at first, but I zoomed in and that's the back of his right leg with a "shadow" detail poorly applied. Besides, at this stage of the execution, his penis and testicles had already been removed and thrown on the fire.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03893169699275652023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-48283361801131341872020-04-28T17:37:57.183+01:002020-04-28T17:37:57.183+01:00Edward III was in agreement with his mother. He ha...Edward III was in agreement with his mother. He hated his father and he hated the Despenser's.<br />They were told to stay out of England by the English Parliament. They thought they could do whatever evil deeds they wanted to and they received exactly what they deserved. If the charges against were true; I have no empathy for them. That said, I would agree that the punishment was excessive and off the rails, even for the 14th century England. They should not have had their testicles and penis cut off. That was sadistic torture, A Satanic ritual.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17237908470507188314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-43095939398598686712019-07-09T14:09:27.173+01:002019-07-09T14:09:27.173+01:00Why wasn't Queen Isabella killed or punished f...Why wasn't Queen Isabella killed or punished for killing of the king or the de Spencer's. Surely someone should have punished her for her crimes!!!<br /><br />Smpipinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-23284380296308373592019-07-09T14:08:43.666+01:002019-07-09T14:08:43.666+01:00Why wasn't Queen Isabella killed or punished f...Why wasn't Queen Isabella killed or punished for killing of the king or the de Spencer's. Surely someone should have punished her for her crimes!!!<br /><br />Smpipinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-58997839625127527262019-01-31T19:25:33.774+00:002019-01-31T19:25:33.774+00:00His penis is not hanging to his knees, it is hangi...His penis is not hanging to his knees, it is hanging by a flap of skin agter being cut off; look at the blood above it and the spirsl of his exposed bowels.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-76642062285912217542018-09-12T02:27:53.696+01:002018-09-12T02:27:53.696+01:00Thanks for the great information! I appreciate the...Thanks for the great information! I appreciate the effort.rcleary171https://www.blogger.com/profile/05037605683441169143noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-79548904405435932922017-08-28T20:22:27.078+01:002017-08-28T20:22:27.078+01:00Having spent the day visiting Despencer's cast...Having spent the day visiting Despencer's castle in Caerphilly, I was pleased to Google him and found this interesting blog! Well written and informative about a character that I'd heard of but knew little about.<br /><br />Incidentally, I fasted for four days some time ago, and the effect was a sense of mild euphoria. Mentioning this afterwards to a friend who is a psychotherapist, he told me this is a common effect of going without food for extended periods of time, and that a common motivation of the anorexics that he counsels is the desire for that almost spiritual euphoria. So it may have been that, aware of the inevitability of his fate, Despencer was feeling a sense of spirituality in preparing to meet his maker.Andrew-Paulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18102379297260308835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-30433938051010255762014-09-14T02:07:56.809+01:002014-09-14T02:07:56.809+01:00Thanks for the great blog on a very interesting ep...Thanks for the great blog on a very interesting episode in history, I only wanted to mention that I believe what you believed to be Hugh Despenser 's genitals was in fact a portion of his leg framed by blood running from his castration wound. This is more apparent if you look at the same picture on wikipedia 's article on drawn and quartered. My main interest in this unstable chapter is how dissatisfaction turned to revolt due to royal bad behavior at that time only to relapse with the execution of Mortimer.Rudolfnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-65709707787566962492007-04-29T09:56:00.000+01:002007-04-29T09:56:00.000+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17258423361279485986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-16519957261315593462007-04-29T09:55:00.000+01:002007-04-29T09:55:00.000+01:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-76197821631366162022006-11-28T17:15:00.000+00:002006-11-28T17:15:00.000+00:00Many thanks for the info, Carla! It's interesting...Many thanks for the info, Carla! It's interesting to know that maybe Hugh really didn't drink any water at all - hard to imagine, but evidently possible. I remember reading a couple of accounts of people drinking water after several days without, and the 'putting in fuel' analogy sounds very apt - one said he could feel the strength flowing back into his body, the ability to think, even the ability to move properly.<br /><br />Jeri, I'll head over to your site to take a look!Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-22885739590909212402006-11-28T16:26:00.000+00:002006-11-28T16:26:00.000+00:00It’s all about the research. I have asked several ...It’s all about the research. I have asked several historians to participate in a brief interview, discovering a little about what was near and dear to people in the middle ages, namely cookery, music, and clothing. Please join me on my blog Getting Medieval www.jeriwesterson.typepad.com for this brief but interesting look at life in the middle ages and the people who study it.<br /><br />Jeri WestersonJeri Westersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08621322664609246112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-43494280505198027752006-11-27T19:05:00.000+00:002006-11-27T19:05:00.000+00:00Regarding survival time without water, I've tried ...Regarding survival time without water, I've tried to look it up and the answer seems to be that yes it probably is possible to live for 8 days without water in the right conditions. It's usually said that people can only live 3-4 days without water, but I haven't managed to locate a scientific source for that value, much less a range. <br /><br />Joe Simpson, of <i>Touching the Void</i> fame, crawled for two or three days across a glacier, after having spent all night trapped in a crevasse, before he found a stream of meltwater and was able to drink. (The phrase he used was "it was like putting fuel in" which is a graphic illustration of how important water is). Unfortunately I haven't got a copy of the book to hand so I can't check exactly how many hours he was without water, though I will try and look it up for you. But that proves that 2-3 days is possible even with severe fluid loss due to injury (about a pint of blood loss from a broken leg) and extreme physical exertion in the very dry climate of a high altitude glacier. Which would suggest that it would be possible for an uninjured man to go a lot longer in a cool damp climate with no physical exertion. <br /><br />The US Environmental Protection Agency says <a href="http://nsdi.epa.gov/safewater/kids/water_trivia_facts.html">here</a> that people can survive about a week without water depending on the circumstances, also without a scientific source, but consistent with Joe Simpson's experience.<br /><br />So I would say yes, Hugh could have gone without water for 8 days in an English November without dying of dehydration. Though he would have been very weak by the end and probably not very well able to think clearly. Hope this helps!Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-45990966408830016852006-11-26T10:03:00.000+00:002006-11-26T10:03:00.000+00:00Carla, I'm guessing that referring to him simply a...Carla, I'm guessing that referring to him simply as 'Hugh' instead of 'Sir Hugh' or 'Lord Despenser' or similar was intended as an insult. The charge sheet was read out in front of him and hundreds of observers, and should really be seen in that light - as a spoken document, rather than a formal, written one.<br /><br />It's certainly possible that he was tied to a ladder that was then placed across a table, as you suggest. I think that the display of his body, and his torture, was very important to Isabella and Mortimer - he was their greatest and most hated enemy, the man they'd sworn to utterly destroy, and the very public manner of his death was a powerful sign that they'd succeeded.Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-21170879947786499112006-11-25T16:25:00.000+00:002006-11-25T16:25:00.000+00:00A certain amount of artistic license in the well-e...A certain amount of artistic license in the well-endowed illustration, methinks?<br /><br />Is it unusual for something as formal as the charge sheet to address the comdemned by his first name? I was surprised to read that it began, "Hugh..." Should I be?<br /><br />The ladder method does look as if it might have been a challenge for the executioner, doesn't it? Is it possible that an early illustrator decided to draw it on a ladder, for ease of displaying the gory details, and then a later chronicler saw the picture and wrote it up? If not, the executioner earned his fee. Or is it possible that he was tied to a ladder that was laid horizontally, perhaps across a couple of trestle table supports, the executioner did his stuff there (which would look as if he was working on a table to someone he hadn't got a very good view), and then the ladder was propped up vertically to display the body?Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11901028520813891575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-85699193912220247052006-11-25T15:06:00.000+00:002006-11-25T15:06:00.000+00:00Is that the Taylor article, Susan? I've seen it, ...Is that the Taylor article, Susan? I've seen it, though I don't have a copy of it. Wish my medieval French was better - lots of the documents of Ed's reign have never been translated.<br /><br />Froissart says Hugh was tied to a ladder - but of course he was writing decades later. I'm not sure what the other chroniclers have to say about it. I would have thought a table would be much easier for the executioner, too - unless he was ordered to rip Hugh apart on a ladder to make sure everyone could see properly (the same thinking behind the 50-foot gallows, I imagine).Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-40081200255681512992006-11-25T14:07:00.000+00:002006-11-25T14:07:00.000+00:00I printed out an article that listed the charges l...I printed out an article that listed the charges last night. They ran over 3 pages. (Not that printing it did me much good, because the charges were all in French.)<br /><br />There's one illustration that shows Hugh being executed on a table, and another on the ladder. I wonder which they used, or both? The ladder method looks like it would have been awkward for the executioner. Maybe having a good sense of balance was a job prerequisite . . .Susan Higginbothamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517907583894026599noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-77526965348538973132006-11-25T06:32:00.000+00:002006-11-25T06:32:00.000+00:00Yup, those medieval texts tend not to be very succ...Yup, those medieval texts tend not to be very succinct! ;) And all the charges against Hugh, that I didn't write as they would have made the post twice as long - it's a wonder he didn't starve to death right in front of them!Kathryn Warnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00397714441908100576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19545049.post-72589951070617266712006-11-24T18:38:00.000+00:002006-11-24T18:38:00.000+00:00Boy, whoever wrote that verdict has to learn to be...Boy, whoever wrote that verdict has to learn to be less verbose. Or did they take it right out of one of Isabella's LifeJournal rants? :)Gabriele Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17205770868139083575noreply@blogger.com