by D. Victor

Created on: July 24, 2008   Last Updated: February 18, 2011

Determining the origin of the guillotine may be more difficult than it would initially appear to be. The origin can be traced to the concept of beheading by decapitating devices on one hand. On the other hand, it could mean the origin of the particular device that came to be known as the guillotine. This is a singular point, as it could mean the difference between placing the origin of the guillotine at 1791 or circa 1300. This article identifies the origin of the device that was specifically referred to as the guillotine.

The naming of the device known as the guillotine is instructive. The noun "guillotine" is derived from the name of the French physician, Dr. Guillotin, who recommended the use of death by beheading as a standard method of execution in France. He was merely an instrument in the creation of the device that is now known as the guillotine. However, because of the printing of his recommendation in the Royalist periodical, the death machine was named after him. The guillotine was formerly referred to as the Louison or Louisette.

Many similar devices to the guillotine existed centuries before the guillotine was actually invented. There was the Irish maiden (thought to be the first-known decapitating device - 1307), the Scottish maiden and the Halifax Gibbet. These devices actually influenced Dr. Guillotin's recommendation. While the guillotine followed the concept of beheading by machine, there were changes to the design that made it unique and perhaps even more efficient.

The distinctive triangular blade was one signature mark of the guillotine. The design was done Laquainte and the prototype implemented by a German engineer named Tobias Schmidt. The design of the blade was intended to eliminate crushing of the neck, which is what occurred with less effective decapitating devices. The intention was to make death as swift and painless as possible. Engineering is what made the guillotine distinctive.

It is also important to note the social circumstances that led to alternative methods of execution being considered. In the late eighteenth century, executions were normally gruesome events. The methods were often protracted and victims would suffer for inordinately long periods. In 1788, France's High Executioner attempted to execute a man by breaking on the wheel. However, the mob rescued the condemned man and destroyed the wheel. This influenced Louis XVI to ban the use of the wheel. At the commencement of the French revolution, a committee was appointed to seek a new method. Dr. Guillotin suggested the standardised method of beheading. His vision was that one method of execution would lend itself to equality. Prior to that, beheading was the preserve of criminals of noble birth.

The year 1791 was the year in which the device was commissioned by the Assembly of France. It represented an adaptation of the decapitating machine as well. History would have the guillotine as a symbol of the French revolution. It is inextricably linked to France and endured as the method of execution up until 1981, when France abolished capital punishment. Just as the end of the guillotine can be placed at 1981, the origin must be 1791, when France adopted it as its sole method of execution.

Learn more about this author, D. Victor.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.