Revival History

Known as a gibbet, this human-shaped cage was used in the 18th century to hang criminals in public spaces to deter others from committing crimes. While most victims were placed in gibbets after their executions were over, gibbeting was sometimes used as a brutal method of killing criminals over the course of several days, usually by causing them to die of exposure, dehydration, or starvation. Chillingly, the gibbeting of a criminal was once considered to be a great spectacle, with excited crowds of as many as tens of thousands of people gathering to see it. In fact, a number of legendary figures were executed by gibbet, including the infamous pirate Captain Kidd, who was hung in chains in London in 1701 and left hanging there to rot as a warning to other would-be pirates. Learn more about gibbeting, the disturbing public execution method that placed decomposing corpses on display for weeks on end

Known as a gibbet, this human-shaped cage was used in the 18th century to hang criminals in public spaces to deter others from committing crimes. While most victims were placed in gibbets after their executions were over, gibbeting was sometimes used as a brutal method of killing criminals over the course of several days, usually by causing them to die of exposure, dehydration, or starvation. Chillingly, the gibbeting of a criminal was once considered to be a great spectacle, with excited crowds of as many as tens of thousands of people gathering to see it. In fact, a number of legendary figures were executed by gibbet, including the infamous pirate Captain Kidd, who was hung in chains in London in 1701 and left hanging there to rot as a warning to other would-be pirates.