Sawing up

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sawing up Saint Simon . Woodcut by Lucas Cranach the Elder Ä. (around 1512)
Illustration from Benoît de Sainte-Maures' Troy novel (around 1350)

The sawing is a martyr - and of execution of the several lives of saints report. However, it is likely that no such penalty was ever imposed.

execution

According to one version of the legend of Saint Simon, he is said to have been sawed in Persia , where he preached the Gospel. The sawing is also said to have been part of the martyrdom of Saint Sarvelos (Sarbiles). According to legend, he was a magician in Edessa (today Şanliurfa , Turkey), who was tortured by the Roman governor Lysias after his conversion to Christianity . He is said to have been beaten with rods, pierced with nails, burned with torches and finally sawed up, which miraculously could not have harmed him. Lysias finally had him beheaded. When sawing, the stripped convict would have been stretched upside down in a frame with legs apart or would have been tied at the wrists and ankles between two stakes (also tree trunks). A sharp-toothed tree saw led by two people was allegedly used as an instrument of execution . This would have put the executioner and assistant between the legs of the condemned man and finally sawed him in two lengthways starting at the crotch, similar to the depiction of Cranach .

literature

  • Wolfgang Schild - The history of jurisdiction , Munich: Verlag Georg DW Callwey 1980. License for Nikol Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg 1997 ISBN 3-930656-74-4

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The History of the Jurisdiction . P. 44 ff.
  2. ↑ Erna and Hans Melchers - The great book of saints. History and legend throughout the year , Munich: Südwest Verlag GmbH & Co. KG 1978 p. 115
  3. ↑ Sarvelos the Ecumenical Holy encyclopedia , accessed December 28, 2008

Web links

Commons : Sawing (torture)  - collection of images, videos and audio files