You-niversity Day, Year 5 & 6 Children in Care
June 7th 2012 11:00
The executioner’s tale: Dr Ulinka Rublack and David
Harrap
Look at a gruesome sixteenth century German executioner’s sword stored in the Fitzwilliam museum and the extraordinary diary of renowned Nuremberg hangman Franz Schmidt, to discover more about the history of capital punishment. Court books from the time reveal who was imprisoned and punished, and for what crime. The session will involve studying pictures and court cases, reading aloud in small groups, and will use the help of an actor to bring these grisly tales to life. It will also discuss the role of the executioner in history. He was a figure of highly ambivalent status in the community, as he was considered both a hangman and a healer. Today, there are still many more examples of people who are both insiders and outsiders in society. The discussion will also address the usefulness of sources – what questions can we ask about using diaries and court books as evidence? How accurate are they? What else can we learn
from them?
This event is provided by Realise: a project established by the University of Cambridge.. Click here to read reviews and more information about this provider.
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