What is Execution?
{{sources}} '''Execution''' is where [[state]] authorities [[kill]] someone for having committed an extremely serious [[crime]], usually [[treason]] or especially terrible [[murder]]s. In most [[country|countries]] where the [[death penalty]] is still provided for by [[law]], using it is an option available to the sentencing [[judge]]: even if the jury or judicial panel recommends the death penalty, the presiding judge still has the option to lock the convicted person in a [[prison]] for the rest of their life. A person whose job is to execute others is an '''executioner'''. ==Beheading== [[File:DelarocheLadyJaneGrey.jpg|thumb|[[Lady Jane Grey]], a probably innocent Queen of England is beheaded.]] [[File:AnneBoleynHever.jpg|thumb|[[Anne Boleyn]], executed for [[adultery]]]] Beheading means cutting the person's head off. It is one of the oldest execution methods and mentioned in the [[Bible]]. Beheading used to be the standard method of execution in [[Scandinavia]] and [[Germany]]. Commoners were usually beheaded with an [[axe]] and noblemen with a [[sword]]. A special device, like the [[guillotine]], may be used, as in [[France]]. [[Nazi Germany]] used the guillotine to execute criminal convicts, such as murderers. Many countries formerly used beheading as an execution for important people, including England. In England, many noblemen and even some kings and queens have been beheaded. There, the prisoner would be led up the scaffold and might be allowed a last speech. Then, he/she would be blindfolded and put his/her neck onto a block. Then, the executioner would lift up his axe and swing it down onto the victim's neck. If the executioner was skilled and the axe was sharp, then the axe would usually cut through the bone and organs of the victim in one stroke. But if the executioner was inexperienced, then it might take several strokes before the head was cut off. ==Other ways of execution== [[File:Edouard Manet 022.jpg|thumb|''The Execution of Emperor Maximilan of Mexico'' is a painting by [[Edouard Manet]].