profession

It is no surprise that the medieval period was filled with all kinds of undesirable jobs. There were leech collectors, cesspool cleaners, serfs, and gong farmers, to name a few. But one vocation that was, perhaps, one of the toughest, was the job of the medieval executioner. Theirs was one of the darkest, most taboo jobs of the Middle Ages. Whether employed in splendid royal courts or backwater petty castles, these vicious headsmen had a singular purpose – to do the job that very few could or wanted to do. Theirs was the role of taking lives, tightening the noose or decapitating those who were destined for an early grave. Their axes knew no class or creed – the sharp