The ‘worst execution’ in history comes from Tudor times
There’s no way to sugarcoat it—executions are painful no matter how they’re carried out.
But one 16th-century man is believed to have endured what some consider to be the “worst execution” in recorded history.
If you know a bit about history, you’re probably aware that torture devices and brutal punishments were pretty common back then.
People from the past seemed to have an almost morbid fascination with cruelty, whether it was the brazen bull, which slowly roasted its victim alive, or the Spanish Donkey, a gruesome device that slowly sliced people in half.
And let’s not forget about prisoners being left to rot in some dark, underground cell.
All of these sound awful, but what happened to Richard Roose may be one of the worst of them all.
In 1531, Roose worked as a cook for John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester. One day, he was accused of poisoning several guests during a meal at Fisher’s Lambeth residence.
According to the story, Roose allegedly added some suspicious powder to the guests’ porridge, as well as to two beggars’ bowls.
When people started falling seriously ill—and with the beggars tragically passing away—Roose made a run for it.
But, as the YouTube channel The Fortress explains, the authorities eventually caught up with him, and he was arrested.
Roose was then taken to the Tower of London, where he was placed on the rack and tortured to extract information.
During the interrogation, he reportedly claimed that he had been forced to add the powder to the food as a joke. He maintained that he didn’t know it would be lethal.
King Henry VIII, who ruled at the time, took a keen interest in the case. The king pushed through an act of Parliament that made poisoning an act of treason, which carried a particularly harsh penalty.
The criminal would be dragged through the streets, hanged, and then subjected to additional brutal acts like genital mutilation and disembowelment.
As horrible as that sounds, Roose’s punishment somehow managed to be even worse.
Crowds gathered in London to watch Roose meet his fate. He was repeatedly dunked into a massive cauldron of boiling water—three times—until he died. It was an unimaginably cruel death.
