Download or read book The Faithful Executioner written by Joel F. Harrington and published by Random House. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Frantz Schmidt: executioner, torturer and, most unusually for his times, diarist. Following in his father’s footsteps, Frantz entered the executioner’s trade as an Apprentice. 394 executions and forty-five years later, he retired to focus his attentions on running the large medical practice that he had always viewed as his true vocation. Through examination of Frantz’s exceptional and often overlooked record, Joel F. Harrington delves deep into a world of human cruelty, tragedy and injustice. At the same time, he poses a fascinating question: could a man who routinely practiced such cruelty also be insightful, compassionate – even progressive? The Faithful Executioner is the biography of an ordinary man struggling to overcome an unjust family curse; it is also a remarkable panorama of a Europe poised on the cusp of modernity, a world with startling parallels to our own.
Download or read book The Executioner s Journal written by Joel F. Harrington and published by University of Virginia Press. This book was released on 2016-09-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During a career lasting nearly half a century, Meister Frantz Schmidt (1554-1634) personally put to death 392 individuals and tortured, flogged, or disfigured hundreds more. The remarkable number of victims, as well as the officially sanctioned context in which they suffered at Schmidt’s hands, was the story of Joel Harrington’s much-discussed book The Faithful Executioner. The foundation of that celebrated work was Schmidt's own journal--notable not only for the shocking story it told but, in an age when people rarely kept diaries, for its mere existence. Available now in Harrington’s new translation, this fascinating document provides the modern reader with a rare firsthand perspective on the thoughts and experiences of an executioner who routinely carried out acts of state brutality yet remained a revered member of the local community, widely respected for his piety, steadfastness, and popular healing. Based on a long-lost manuscript thought to be the most faithful to the original journal, this modern English translation is fully annotated and includes an introduction providing historical context as well as a biographical portrait of Schmidt himself. The executioner appears to us not as the frightening brute we might expect but as a surprisingly thoughtful, complex person with a unique voice, and in these pages his world emerges as vivid and unforgettable. Studies in Early Modern German History
Download or read book A Hangman s Diary written by Franz Schmidt and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-02-03 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1573 to 1617, Master Franz Schmidt was the executioner for the towns of Bamberg and Nuremberg. During that span, he personally executed more than 350 people while keeping a journal throughout his career. A Hangman’s Diary is not only a collection of detailed writings by Schmidt about his work, but also an account of criminal procedure in Germany during the Middle Ages. With analysis and explanation, editor Albrecht Keller and translators C. Calvert and A. W. Gruner have put together a masterful tome that sets the scene of execution day and puts you in Master Franz Schmidt’s shoes as he does his duty for his country. Originally published more than eighty years ago, A Hangman’s Diary gives a year-by-year breakdown on all of Master Schmidt’s executions, which include hangings, beheadings, and other methods of murder, as well as explanations of each crime and the reason for the punishment. An incredible classic, A Hangman’s Diary is more than a history lesson; it shows the true anarchy that inhabited our world only a few hundred years ago. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Download or read book The Faithful Executioner written by Joel F. Harrington and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Meet Frantz Schmidt - citizen of Nuremberg, executioner of 394 unfortunates, and torturer, flogger and disfigurer of many hundreds more. Frantz's other distinction was to be a diarist. Drawing on this exceptional and overlooked record that he kept for over 45 years, 'The Faithful Executioner' takes us deep into his world and his thinking. But the picture that emerges is not of a monster. Could a man who routinely practised such cruelty also be insightful, compassionate - even progressive?
Download or read book The Faithful Executioner written by Joel F. Harrington and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A work of nonfiction that explores the thoughts and experiences of one early modern executioner, Nuremberg's Frantz Schmidt (1555-1634), through his own words - a rare personal journal, in which he recorded and described all the executions and corporal punishments he administered between 1573 and his retirement in 1617"-- Provided by publisher
Download or read book Dangerous Mystic written by Joel F. Harrington and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2018-03-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life and times of the 14th century German spiritual leader Meister Eckhart, whose theory of a personal path to the divine inspired thinkers from Jean Paul Sartre to Thomas Merton, and most recently, Eckhart Tolle Meister Eckhart was a medieval Christian mystic whose wisdom powerfully appeals to seekers seven centuries after his death. In the modern era, Eckhart's writings have struck a chord with thinkers as diverse as Heidegger, Merton, Sartre, John Paul II, and the current Dalai Lama. He is the inspiration for the bestselling New Age author Eckhart Tolle's pen name, and his fourteenth-century quotes have become an online sensation. Today a variety of Christians, as well as many Zen Buddhists, Sufi Muslims, Jewish Cabbalists, and various spiritual seekers, all claim Eckhart as their own. Meister Eckhart preached a personal, internal path to God at a time when the Church could not have been more hierarchical and ritualistic. Then and now, Eckhart’s revolutionary method of direct access to ultimate reality offers a profoundly subjective approach that is at once intuitive and pragmatic, philosophical yet non-rational, and, above all, universally accessible. This “dangerous mystic’s” teachings challenge the very nature of religion, yet the man himself never directly challenged the Church. Eckhart was one of the most learned theologians of his day, but he was also a man of the world who had worked as an administrator for his religious order and taught for years at the University of Paris. His personal path from conventional friar to professor to lay preacher culminated in a spiritual philosophy that combined the teachings of an array of pagan and Christian writers, as well as Muslim and Jewish philosophers. His revolutionary decision to take his approach to the common people garnered him many enthusiastic followers as well as powerful enemies. After Eckhart’s death and papal censure, many religious women and clerical supporters, known as the Friends of God, kept his legacy alive through the centuries, albeit underground until the master’s dramatic rediscovery by modern Protestants and Catholics. Dangerous Mystic grounds Meister Eckhart in a world that is simultaneously familiar and alien. In the midst of this medieval society, a few decades before the Black Death, Eckhart boldly preached to captivated crowds a timeless method, a “wayless way,” of directly experiencing the divine.
Download or read book Medieval Punishments written by William Andrews and published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2013-08-01 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The brank may be described simply as an iron framework; which was placed on the head, closing it in a kind of cage; it had in front a plate of iron, which, either sharpened or covered with spikes, was so situated as to be placed in the mouth of the victim, and if she attempted to move her tongue in any way whatever, it was certain to be shockingly injured. She thus suffered for telling her mind to some petty tyrant in office, or speaking plainly to a wrong-doer, or for taking to task a lazy, and perhaps a drunken husband.“ Dive into the macabre history of England and Old Europe in this treasure chest of historical punishments. In the pages of Medieval Punishments are punishments from a less enlightened period, creating a thoroughly researched historical document that sheds light on the evolution of society and how humans have maintained social order and addressed crime. In a town called Newcastle-on-Tyne, a drunkard cloak was a barrel that offenders were made to wear. In Anglo-Saxon times, each town was required to build stocks to hold breakers of the peace. To the Romans, beheading was considered the most honorable of deaths. It’s these details that make Medieval Punishments a compelling read for social historians and important component of human history.
Download or read book My Experiences as an Executioner written by James Berry and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2023-10-25 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "My Experiences as an Executioner" by James Berry presents a chilling and unflinchingly honest account of Berry's time as an executioner, providing readers with a gripping glimpse into the dark and complex world of capital punishment. Through his candid revelations and introspective reflections, Berry navigates the moral and ethical dilemmas he faced in his role, shedding light on the profound impact it had on his psyche. His narrative unearths the haunting realities of life and death decisions, offering readers a unique perspective on the complexities of justice, morality, and the weight of one's actions. As readers delve into Berry's experiences, they are confronted with thought-provoking questions about the nature of punishment, the human capacity for empathy, and the long-lasting emotional scars left by his grim profession. This book serves as a poignant exploration of the human condition and the somber consequences of society's pursuit of justice.
Download or read book Man at the Cross Road written by Jeanne Blanchet Phd and published by Outskirts Press. This book was released on 2016-09-16 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Man at the Cross Road is the gripping story of Marcus Casca, the exactor mortis who headed the death squad that crucified Jesus. After serving his army stint, the tough, desensitized legionary returns to Rome, where, unable to readjust to civilian life, he embarks on a twenty-year spree of debauchery and violent crime. His life is altered when, having fainted on the street from a fever, he is rescued by a Christian Jewish couple. Through them, he meets Church fathers Peter and Paul, Aquila and Priscilla, and other prominent figures in the early "Way" movement. Witnessing the Lord's Supper, however, he suspects they are cannibals. Additionally convinced they practice sorcery and constitute a potential threat to Roman security, he becomes a government informer, infiltrating their ranks with the intent of gleaning enough evidence to have them arrested, tried, and executed. Little by little, however, the believers' message of love and salvation works a change in the dissolute thug's heart. But can he commit? Can he truly believe that Christ died for a despicable sinner like himself? And if so, can he ever dare disclose to his new brethren that it was he who crucified their Jesus? For years he wrestles with these questions. At the novel's climax, he is offered the money he desperately needs to treat the life-threatening disease he has contracted if he reveals the group's new secret meeting place, in the process condemning the only friends he has ever known to certain death. Marcus is at a cross roads and must decide once and for all whether he believes. One choice saves his life, the other, his immortal soul.
Download or read book The Hangman s Daughter written by Oliver Pötzsch and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2011 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hangman Jakob Kuisl is called upon to investigate whether witchcraft is being practiced in the small town of Schongau in 1659 after a dying boy is pulled from the river with a mark crudely tattooed on his shoulder.
Download or read book Seeing Justice Done written by Paul Friedland and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-06-14 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A history of public executions in France from the medieval spectacle of suffering to the invention of the Revolutionary guillotine, up to the last public execution in 1939. Paul Friedland explores why spectacles of public execution were staged, as well as why thousands of spectators came to watch them.
Download or read book The Corner written by David Simon and published by Crown. This book was released on 2013-03-13 with total page 576 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The crime-infested intersection of West Fayette and Monroe Streets is well-known--and cautiously avoided--by most of Baltimore. But this notorious corner's 24-hour open-air drug market provides the economic fuel for a dying neighborhood. David Simon, an award-winning author and crime reporter, and Edward Burns, a 20-year veteran of the urban drug war, tell the chilling story of this desolate crossroad. Through the eyes of one broken family--two drug-addicted adults and their smart, vulnerable 15-year-old son, DeAndre McCollough, Simon and Burns examine the sinister realities of inner cities across the country and unflinchingly assess why law enforcement policies, moral crusades, and the welfare system have accomplished so little. This extraordinary book is a crucial look at the price of the drug culture and the poignant scenes of hope, caring, and love that astonishingly rise in the midst of a place America has abandoned.
Download or read book Names and Naming in Early Modern Germany written by Marjorie Elizabeth Plummer and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2019-06-01 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the many political and social upheavals of the early modern era, names were words to conjure by, articulating significant historical trends and helping individuals and societies make sense of often dramatic periods of change. Centered on onomastics—the study of names—in the German-speaking lands, this volume, gathering leading scholars across multiple disciplines, explores the dynamics and impact of naming (and renaming) processes in a variety of contexts—social, artistic, literary, theological, and scientific—in order to enhance our understanding of individual and collective experiences.
Download or read book All the Shah s Men written by Stephen Kinzer and published by Wiley. This book was released on 2004-08-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first full-length account of the CIA's coup d'etat in Iran in 1953—a covert operation whose consequences are still with us today. Written by a noted New York Times journalist, this book is based on documents about the coup (including some lengthy internal CIA reports) that have now been declassified. Stephen Kinzer's compelling narrative is at once a vital piece of history, a cautionary tale, and a real-life espionage thriller.
Download or read book The Instruments of Torture written by Michael Kerrigan and published by Amber Books. This book was released on 2016-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Instruments of Torture examines the techniques and tools used in torture, ranging from the earliest known historical instances of the practice right up to today.
Download or read book A World Lit Only by Fire written by William Manchester and published by Back Bay Books. This book was released on 2009-09-26 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "lively and engaging" history of the Middle Ages (Dallas Morning News) from the acclaimed historian William Manchester, author of The Last Lion. From tales of chivalrous knights to the barbarity of trial by ordeal, no era has been a greater source of awe, horror, and wonder than the Middle Ages. In handsomely crafted prose, and with the grace and authority of his extraordinary gift for narrative history, William Manchester leads us from a civilization tottering on the brink of collapse to the grandeur of its rebirth: the dense explosion of energy that spawned some of history's greatest poets, philosophers, painters, adventurers, and reformers, as well as some of its most spectacular villains. "Manchester provides easy access to a fascinating age when our modern mentality was just being born." --Chicago Tribune
Download or read book A Cloud of Witnesses written by Joel F. Harrington and published by Houghton Mifflin College Division. This book was released on 2001 with total page 541 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: [TofC cont.] The social principles of Christianity / K. Marx -- The twentieth century: Listen America / J. Falwell; The platform of the German Christians -- Western Christianity and contemporary society: The long loneliness / D. Day; Problems of religious pluralism / J. Hick -- Appendices: Alphabetical list of key terms; List of ecumenical councils; Schematic history of Christian churches. This collection of original documents, written by men and women from a myriad of diverse cultures and time periods, illustrates the variety of Christian ideas and practices of the past two millennia. -Back cover. This anthology is ideal for use in historical surveys of western Christianity, whether taught in smaller chronological segments ... or as a one-semester overview of the last 2000 years ... -Pref.
