Agarrote(/ɡəˈrɒt,ɡəˈroʊt/gə-RO(H)T;alternatively spelled asgarotteand similar variants)[1]orgarrote vil(Spanish:[ɡaˈroteˈβil]) is aweaponand a method ofcapital punishment.It consists of a handheldligatureof chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line, used tostranglea person.[2]
Assassination weapon
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A garrote can be made of different materials, including ropes,cloth,cable ties,fishing lines, nylon, guitar strings, telephone cord orpiano wire.[2][3][4]A stick may be used to tighten the garrote; the Spanish word refers to the stick itself.[5]In Spanish, the term may also refer to a rope and stick used to constrict a limb as a torture device.[2][6]
SinceWorld War II,the garrote has been regularly employed as a weapon by soldiers as a silent means of killing sentries and other enemy personnel.[3][4]Instruction in the use of purpose-built and improvised garrottes is included in the training of many elite military units and special forces.[4]A typical military garrote consists of two wooden handles attached to a length of flexible wire; the wire is looped over a sentry's head and pulled taut in one motion.[3][4]Soldiers of theFrench Foreign Legionhave used a particular type of double-loop garrote (referred to asla loupe), where a double coil of rope or cord is dropped around a victim's neck and then pulled taut. Even if the victim pulls on one of the coils, the other is tightened.[4]
Garrote-like assassination techniques were widely employed in 17th- and 18th-century India, particularly by theThuggeecult.[2]Practitioners used a yellow silk or cloth scarf called arumāl.[2]The Indian version of the garrote frequently incorporates a knot at the center intended to aid in crushing thelarynx,decreasing the communication capabilities of the victim, while someone applies pressure to the victim's back, usually using a foot or knee.
Execution device
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The garrote (Latin:laqueus) is known to have been used in the first century BC in Rome. It is referred to in accounts of theSecond Catilinian Conspiracy,where conspirators includingPublius Cornelius Lentulus Surawere strangled with alaqueusin theTullianum,and the implement is shown in some early reliefs, e.g.,Répertoire de Reliefs grecs et romains,tome I, p. 341 (1919).[7]It was also used in theMiddle Agesin Spain and Portugal. It was employed during theconquistaof the Americas, notably in the execution of theIncaemperorAtahualpa.
It was intended as a more merciful form of execution thandeath by burning,wherehereticswho converted to Christianity after their conviction would receive a quick strangulation from theSpanish Inquisition.A later version of the garrote used an iron collar with a large metal screw in the back. The theory was that when the screw was tightened, it would crush thebrain stemand kill the victim instantly. But if the screw missed the point where the brain meets thespinal column,it would simply bore into their neck while the iron collar strangled him.[8]
In theOttoman Empire,execution by strangulation was reserved for very high officials and members of the ruling family. Unlike the Spanish version, a bowstring was used instead of a tightening collar.[9]
During thePeninsular Warof 1808–1814, French forces regularly used the garrote to execute Spanishguerrilleros,priests, and other opponents of Napoleonic rule. Around 1810 the earliest known metallic garrote appeared in Spain, and on 28 April 1828, the garrote was declared the sole method of executing civilians in that country. In May 1897, the last public garroting in Spain was performed inBarcelona.After that, all executions were performed inside prisons.
Abolition
editThe last civilian executions in Spain, both by garroting, were those of the poisonerPilar Pradesin May 1959 and thespree killerJosé María Jaraboin July 1959. Recent legislation had caused many crimes (such as robbery–murder) to fall under the jurisdiction ofmilitary law;thus, prosecutors rarely requested civilian executions. Military executions were still performed in Spain until the 1970s. The garrotings of Heinz Chez (real name Georg Michael Welzel) andSalvador Puig Antichin March 1974, both convicted in theFrancoist Stateof killing police officers, were the last state-sanctioned garrotings in Spain and in the world.
With the 1973 Penal Code,prosecutorsonce again started requesting execution in civilian cases, but the death penalty was abolished in 1978 after dictatorFrancisco Franco's death. The last man to be sentenced to death by garroting was José Luis Cerveto "el asesino de Pedralbes" in October 1977, for a double robbery–murder in May 1974. Cerveto requested execution, but his sentence wascommuted.Another prisoner whose civilian death sentence was commuted was businessman Juan Ballot, for thecontract killingof his wife inNavarrein November 1973.
In Spain, the death penalty was abolished after a new constitution was adopted in 1978. The writerCamilo José Celaobtained a garrote (which had probably been used for the execution of Puig Antich) from theConsejo General del Poder Judicialto display at his foundation. The device was kept in storage in Barcelona. It was displayed in the room[10][11]that the Cela Foundation devoted to his novelLa familia de Pascual Duarteuntil Puig Antich's family asked for its removal.[12]
In 1990,Andorrabecame the last country to officially abolish the death penalty by garrotting, though this method had not been employed there since the late 12th century.
Notable people executed by garroting
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| Name | Year |
|---|---|
| Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura | 63 BC |
| Vercingetorix | 46 BC |
| Atahualpa | 1533 |
| Diego de Almagro | 1538 |
| Şehzade Bayezid | 1561 |
| Luis de Carvajal the Younger | 1596 |
| Kara Mustafa Pasha | 1683 |
| António José da Silva | 1739 |
| Tomasa Tito Condemayta | 1781 |
| Leonardo Bravo | 1812 |
| Francisco Javier de Elío | 1822 |
| Mariana de Pineda Muñoz | 1831 |
| Luis Candelas | 1837 |
| Narciso López | 1851 |
| Martín Merino y Gómez | 1852 |
| José Apolonio Burgos | 1872 |
| Mariano Gomez | 1872 |
| Jacinto Zamora | 1872 |
| Francisco Otero González | 1880 |
| Juan Díaz de Garayo | 1881 |
| Michele Angiolillo | 1897 |
| Francisco de Dios Piqueras | 1924 |
| Honorio Sánchez Molina | 1924 |
| José María Sánchez Navarrete | 1924 |
| Agapito García Atadell | 1937 |
| Benigno Andrade | 1952 |
| Lorenzo Castro | 1956 |
| Juan Vázquez Pérez | 1956 |
| Julio López Guixot | 1958 |
| Pilar Prades | 1959 |
| Juan García Suárez | 1959 |
| José María Jarabo | 1959 |
| Heinz Chez | 1974 |
| Salvador Puig Antich | 1974 |
References
edit- ^Oxford English Dictionary,11th Ed:garrotteis normal British English spelling, with single r alternate. Article title is US English spelling variant.
- ^abcdeNewquist, H.P. and Maloof, Rich,This Will Kill You: A Guide to the Ways in Which We Go,New York: St. Martin's Press,ISBN978-0-312-54062-3(2009), pp. 133-6
- ^abcWhittaker, Wayne,Tough Guys,Popular Mechanics, February 1943, Vol. 79 No. 2, pp. 44
- ^abcdeSteele, David E.,Silent Sentry Removal,Black Belt Magazine, August 1986, Vol. 24 No. 8, pp. 48–49
- ^"garrote | Diccionario de la lengua española"[Spanish language dictionary].«Diccionario de la lengua española» - Edición del Tricentenario(in Spanish).Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española(ASALE).Retrieved2022-12-01.
Palo grueso y fuerte que puede manejarse a modo de bastón. (Thick, hard stick used as a walking cane.)
- ^garroteArchived2017-10-07 at theWayback Machine,7th sense,Diccionario de la Real Academia Española.
- ^"Laqueus".Mediterranees.net.Archivedfrom the original on 2010-06-20.Retrieved2009-09-16.
- ^Hindi, Hanny (May 5, 2006)."Take My Life, Please".Slate– via slate.
- ^Inalcik, Halil (2000).The Ottoman Empire: the classical... – Google Books.Phoenix Press.ISBN978-1-84212-442-0.Retrieved2009-09-16.
- ^"La Sede / Exposiciones permanentes / Sala de Pascual Duarte I".Fundacioncela(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon 14 April 2009.Retrieved16 September2009.
- ^"La Sede / Exposiciones permanentes / Sala de Pascual Duarte II".Fundacioncela(in Spanish). Archived fromthe originalon 14 April 2009.Retrieved16 September2009.
- ^"El director de cine Manuel Huerga presenta el libro" Cómo se hizo: Salvador "".La Voz de Galicia(in Spanish). 21 November 2006. Archived fromthe originalon 21 August 2013.Retrieved11 March2019.
External links
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Media related toGarroteat Wikimedia Commons
