Prepare for a chilling journey through history's most horrific and gruesome deaths. From medieval executions to tragic accidents, we'll explore the most brutal and shocking ways humans have met their end. Viewer discretion is strongly advised.
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00:00For you, I'd do whatever it takes, especially treason.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at some of the most gruesome and horrific deaths ever recorded.
00:10So I think no man in a century will suffer as greatly as you will.
00:17John Patrick.
00:18It's safe to say that the Hundred Years' War between France and England was responsible for the savage demise of many.
00:24Michel Pintouin, known as the Monk of Saint-Denis, wrote about multiple events surrounding the conflict,
00:30including the death of a man named John Patrick.
00:33A representative of Scotland, Patrick was seized by rebels while traveling through France.
00:38And though he was perhaps not even a direct participant of the war,
00:41the ambassador's captors decided to make an example out of him anyway.
00:46Admit the murder. Admit the murder or you will see what our authority looks like.
00:50They placed a metal crown on his head after it had been heated to an excruciatingly scalding temperature.
00:57Such a torturous method of murder seems appallingly horrendous,
01:01especially considering that the Monk's account implies that Patrick was just an unlucky victim of circumstance.
01:14The Radium Girls.
01:15Unfortunately, not all of history's worst deaths were over quickly.
01:19Radiation poisoning has been among them, and a group of female factory employees fell victim to this in the 1920s.
01:26Known now as the Radium Girls, these women unknowingly ingested radium from luminous paint that they were assured was harmless.
01:34The radium painters weren't given much in the way of protection.
01:37In fact, workers were encouraged to use their lips and tongues to shape the tips of their brushes.
01:42Soon, the effects of the radium showed up in the health of the workers.
01:45Exposure caused serious health problems, including bone deterioration, tooth decay, sterility, anemia, and cancer.
01:53Some of the workers sought litigation against their employers, who were unwilling to accept responsibility.
01:58Five victims in New Jersey ultimately received settlements, though the insidious medical issues eventually claimed their lives.
02:05The court cases now hold historical significance because of their assistance with developing labor laws and women's rights,
02:11though it makes the casualties no less tragic.
02:14Six dial painters have already died of inexplicable causes. One of them was my sister. Do you believe that?
02:20Ugolino della Geradesca
02:22Ugolino della Geradesca was a 13th century Italian nobleman, caught between two warring families and the powers they controlled.
02:30He navigated the politics as well as he could, rising to great prominence in Pisa.
02:35Food riots in 1288 led to a fatal mistake.
02:38During the chaos, Ugolino killed the nephew of the archbishop.
02:42The archbishop and Ugolino's enemies seized the opportunity to cast him down.
02:47He was ultimately detained in a tower with his two sons and two grandsons.
02:52After a few months, the archbishop ordered that the keys to their prison be thrown into the Arno River.
02:57Ugolino and his family were left to slowly starve to death.
03:01Dante Alighieri immortalized Ugolino's suffering in his Inferno, ensuring this tragic story would echo through the ages.
03:09Brunhilde of Austrasia
03:13Brunhilde
03:17Brunhilde, part of the inspiration for Wagner's Valkyrie Brunhilde, was far more than opera's braided heroine.
03:24In reality, Queen Brunhilde ruled one of Europe's largest kingdoms over 1400 years ago.
03:29She was a Visigoth who married into Frankish rule of Austrasia and Burgundy.
03:33Brunhilde ruled for decades in three separate regencies through sheer force of will and combat.
03:39At age 70, serving as regent for her grandson, she was betrayed, deposed, and captured.
03:45The histories differ on the manner of her execution.
03:47Some say she was dragged to death by a wild horse, others say that she was drawn and quartered.
03:52Today, her mythic legacy survives in costumes and opera halls.
04:04Saint Cassian
04:05Saint Cassian of Imola represents every teacher's worst nightmare.
04:09In 4th century Italy, Cassian was a man dedicated to shaping young minds.
04:14He taught reading and writing, wielding a stylus instead of a sword.
04:18When he refused to engage in an activity which went against his Christian faith,
04:22the Roman authorities condemned him to an unthinkable fate.
04:25His executioners? His own students.
04:28Resenting his past punishments and bent on revenge,
04:31they tied him to a stake.
04:32Armed with their pointed styluses, the tools of their lessons, they stabbed him.
04:37The countless shallow wounds prolonged his agony in what became one of history's most excruciating martyrdoms.
04:44You know, I really hate children.
04:48Simon Annibar of Adumarois
04:50Simon Annibar of Adumarois, a Flemish nobleman, became a tragic figure in the annals of medieval history.
04:58In 1302, he expressed his belief that the Count of Flanders deserved rulership over parts of Artois.
05:05He was subsequently dragged out of a tavern and convicted of treason against France.
05:09You're under arrest for treason!
05:11Treason? But I love France!
05:13His sentence was a horrific display of medieval justice.
05:17Breaking on the wheel
05:18The breaking wheel was essentially a large wooden wagon wheel that sometimes had iron spikes attached to the outer edge.
05:25First, he was bound to a large wooden wheel.
05:27Next, the executioners broke his limbs with a large, heavy club.
05:31Annibar was still alive when his limbs were broken.
05:34After this punishment, he was drawn and quartered.
05:37His execution certainly taught a lesson in the cruel ministrations of medieval French justice.
05:42Inal Chouk, Governor of Autrart
05:44Inal Chouk, the ruthless governor of Autrart, made one of the most insanely stupid mistakes in human history.
05:51Haughty and arrogant, he scoffed at a trade caravan sent by Genghis Khan in 1218.
05:57He murdered the messengers and dismissed the potential threat.
06:00No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens a messenger!
06:04He would ultimately be rewarded with brutal execution as his nation burned around him.
06:08The Mongols under Genghis Khan soon besieged the city of Autrart, a siege that lasted five long months.
06:14Suffice it to say that Khan was less than pleased with Inal Chouk's disrespect and cruelty.
06:19He laid a long and bloody siege to Autrart, after which Inal Chouk was captured.
06:23While the exact method of his execution is uncertain,
06:26it's widely believed that he was killed by having molten silver poured into his eyes and ears.
06:32Story about him executing Inal Chouk by pouring molten silver in his mouth, eyes, and ears could well be true.
06:38Some historians doubt it, but that's what was written.
06:40And let's face it, Inal Chouk was never going to get anything but a grisly death.
06:44Tupac Amaru II
06:46I see no changes, all I see is racist faces.
06:49Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races.
06:51We under, I wonder what it takes to make this.
06:53No, we're not talking about that Tupac,
06:56though the famed American rapper was named for this legendary Peruvian revolutionary.
07:00He was instrumental in inspiring the Inca Rebellion against Spanish colonists in 1780 South America.
07:07When finally captured, Tupac's final fate involved psychological and physical suffering.
07:12To the death!
07:13No! To the pain!
07:15The Spanish insisted that Tupac watch the agonizing execution of his wife and other family members
07:22before he endured his own physical disfigurement.
07:25First, Amaru lost his tongue.
07:27Then he had each of his major limbs tied to four horses, which were sent running in opposite directions.
07:32When that still did not defeat him, the fallen leader lost his head,
07:36with his parts tragically displayed for all to see.
07:39All said, at least Tupac Amaru was a tough takedown.
07:43King Edward II
07:44One day you will be a king.
07:48At least try to act like one.
07:50King Edward II of England led a turbulent life marked by political failures and scandal.
07:55Ascending the throne in 1307, Edward's reign was defined by his controversial relationships
08:01with favorites like Pierce Gaveston, which are widely presumed to have had a sexual component.
08:06His political enemies, most notably his wife Isabella,
08:10used his military defeats, most notably at Bannockburn, to undermine his authority.
08:15Your son will not sit long on the throne, I swear it.
08:19Twenty years after taking the throne, Edward was forced to abdicate in favor of his son, Edward III,
08:25and was imprisoned. His death later that year is infamous for its alleged brutality.
08:30Chroniclers claim that he was murdered at Berkeley Castle with a red-hot poker,
08:35though the truth remains debated.
08:37Saint Bartholomew
08:39Saint Bartholomew was one of Jesus Christ's twelve apostles.
08:42He is remembered as a devoted preacher, carrying Christianity to distant lands,
08:47and said to have traveled across the known world, from India in the east to Armenia and Azerbaijan in the west.
08:53He spread the gospel, despite relentless opposition, eventually leading to his martyrdom.
08:58Tradition holds that Bartholomew was captured in Armenia by those outraged at his conversions.
09:04Refusing to renounce his faith, he was subjected to savage torture.
09:08He was reportedly flayed alive and then beheaded.
09:12Today, Saint Bartholomew is venerated as a patron saint of tanners and leather workers,
09:17a nod to the method of his execution.
09:20Blackbeard
09:21Englishman Edward Teach is perhaps better known by his nickname, Blackbeard.
09:25Blackbeard terrorized the seas of North America in the early 18th century with his ship, Queen Anne's Revenge.
09:31But his notorious adventures came to an end on November 22, 1718.
09:36The governor of Virginia had ordered Blackbeard's capture, and he was attacked by Lieutenant Robert Maynard and his crew.
09:42According to Maynard himself, quote,
09:44He fell with five shot, seek, in him, and twenty dismal cuts in several parts of his body.
09:50His body was carelessly thrown into the water, and his head was attached to the bow spirit of Maynard's ship.
09:57It then stood for several years in Chesapeake Bay as a public warning against piracy.
10:02Timothy Treadwell
10:04In all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy.
10:12You may love nature, but nature does not love you back.
10:16Timothy Treadwell was a fervent bear enthusiast.
10:18I must hold my own if I'm going to stay within this land.
10:22For once there is weakness, they will exploit it, they will take me out.
10:25He started an organization to help protect bear habitats, and then he lived amongst them in Alaska's Katmai National Park.
10:32But his devotion to these wild animals would be his downfall.
10:36Treadwell was camping with his girlfriend Amy Huguenard when they were attacked by a massive brown bear.
10:42Treadwell's camera was on at the time, and it captured the audio of his demise.
10:46This audio has never been released, but listeners have provided descriptions that are horrific enough.
10:51Truly, you must never listen to this.
10:54I know, Werner. I'm never going to.
10:56Both the camera and the couple's remains were found the next day.
11:00Gordon Moffat
11:02This Scottish man from the town of Buckhaven was working on an oil rig when he suffered a gruesome demise.
11:07Moffat was dangling from a harness that was fed through a mousehole,
11:11a small hole from which the harness cable spools, measuring 10 to 12 inches in diameter.
11:16The winch pulled Moffat towards the mousehole at a speed of 11 inches per second, and his body was forced through.
11:23The official cause of death was crush asphyxiation and multiple injuries.
11:27The drilling company was fined £60,000 for the debacle.
11:31Debra Stone
11:33Between 1974 and 1988, Disneyland had an attraction called America Sings.
11:39This was a rotating theatre that contained a bunch of singing animatronic animals.
11:50The attraction was open for just nine days before tragedy struck.
11:54An employee named Debra Stone was in the wrong position when the stage began to move.
11:59As a result, she was crushed between the rotating and the stationary walls.
12:03Stone reportedly screamed, but theatre-goers thought it was part of the show.
12:07Luckily, one audience member thought otherwise and went to get help.
12:11Unfortunately, Stone was already dead by the time they arrived.
12:15The Biford Dolphin Incident
12:17A drilling rig that operated in the North Sea, the Biford Dolphin saw its share of accidents.
12:22The most dreadful occurred on November 5, 1983.
12:26Six men were working inside a diving chamber, which is meant to hold people underwater.
12:31This chamber requires significant pressurization to protect the inhabitants from the ambient pressure of the deep sea.
12:38Unfortunately, a dive tender named William Crammond prematurely opened the clamp before the chamber was correctly pressurized.
12:45A massive, uncontrolled decompression occurred, killing five of the six men.
12:50Their blood boiled, and one of them was forced through an extremely narrow opening.
12:55Ferdinand Magellan
12:57A world-famous explorer, Ferdinand Magellan died on April 27, 1521, at the age of 41.
13:04Magellan was exploring what is now the Philippines when he encountered fierce resistance from a local tribe.
13:10The two parties engaged in the Battle of Mactan, which resulted in a decisive Mactan victory.
13:16It also resulted in the death of Ferdinand Magellan.
13:19Magellan was storming the beach with his men when he was hit by spears.
13:22He was also cut on the leg, and when he collapsed, was pounced on by numerous Mactan men.
13:28What remained was kept as a war trophy by Mactan chief Lapu-Lapu.
13:33Sean Doyle
13:35New York medical examiner Judy Melanick calls Sean Doyle's death the worst she has ever seen.
13:40Doyle went out drinking with his friend Michael Wright and Wright's girlfriend.
13:45Perhaps inebriated, Wright made the assumption that Doyle was hitting on his partner.
13:49He attacked Doyle and threw him down a manhole.
13:52Unfortunately, a main had broken, and at the bottom lay a pool of boiling water.
13:57Doyle did not die instantly.
14:00Unfortunately, responders were not able to enter the manhole owing to the incredible heat, and Doyle didn't make it.
14:06John Jones
14:08An amateur spelunker, John Jones was exploring Utah's Nutty Putty Cave with his brother on the night of November 24, 2009.
14:17Jones came across what he thought was the infamous Birth Canal passageway.
14:21However, Jones' estimation was a bit off, and he entered an unmarked opening measuring 10 by 18 inches.
14:28Jones was traversing the passage when he got stuck upside down.
14:31He has since slid back into that original position with his head down at a 60 or 70 degree angle, so a very uncomfortable spot.
14:39He remained upside down for the next 28 hours.
14:42Rescuers tried to save Jones, but there was nothing they could do with the size and geography of the passage.
14:48Jones' body eventually failed from being upside down for so long, and he went into cardiac arrest.
14:54Cato the Younger
14:56A prominent opponent of Julius Caesar, Cato the Younger was a powerful Roman senator.
15:01His policies indirectly led to Caesar's Civil War, which lasted from 49 to 45 BCE.
15:07Caesar emerged victorious, and rather than beg for forgiveness or pardon, Cato decided to end his own life.
15:14Cato grabbed a sword while having dinner and drove it into his stomach.
15:18According to the Greek historian Plutarch, Cato was quickly seen to by a physician.
15:23When Cato regained consciousness and realized that his attempt had failed, he tore open the stitches and finished the job.
15:29As gross as this is, there's a chance that Plutarch greatly exaggerated the story.
15:34Arthur Aston
15:36An English army officer, Arthur Aston fought for King Charles I during the English Civil War, which raged for 10 years between 1642 and 1652.
15:46Aston took part in the Siege of Drogheda, which saw him protecting the coastal Irish town from the invading Oliver Cromwell and his parliamentarians.
15:54Cromwell emerged victorious and laid waste to Drogheda, killing soldiers and civilians alike.
16:01Aston was confronted at Millmount Fort and killed after surrendering.
16:05It's reported that parliamentarian soldiers grabbed Aston's heavy wooden leg and beat him to death with it.
16:12He was one of the nearly 4,000 casualties that occurred during the siege.
16:16Julius Caesar
16:18Serving as the dictator of Rome between 49 and 44 BC, Julius Caesar went out in dramatic fashion.
16:24Caesar's senators feared that he was growing too tyrannical and was no longer fit to lead the Roman Republic.
16:30I'm going to consider revoking my brother's exile.
16:33I'm still considering it.
16:35As a result, they committed what they saw as tyrannicide and killed Caesar in the Curia of Pompey.
16:41On March 15th, 44 BC, Caesar was stabbed a total of 23 times, and the resulting autopsy theorized that he had died from severe blood loss.
16:50What are you waiting for? Now! Now!
16:53Despite the numerous stabbings, it's believed that only one of the wounds proved fatal.
16:57Caesar's wildly dramatic death was turned into the subject of theater and immortalized in Shakespeare's famous play.
17:07Giles Corey
17:09Are you protecting Satan? Confess! You did see attacking spirits!
17:13No! I only thought I saw them, but I did not!
17:16In the late 1600s, hundreds of people in colonial Massachusetts were accused of witchcraft, and many were killed.
17:22I am no witch! You're all burned in hell!
17:26A farmer named Giles Corey had it pretty darn bad.
17:29Corey was accused of witchcraft, but refused to enter a plea.
17:33When this happened, the accused would be subjected to a form of torture called pien fortidur.
17:38Corey was laid on the ground, and large rocks were placed on top of him.
17:42The hope was that the increasing weight would cause so much pain that Corey would eventually cave and enter a plea.
17:48What say you, Corey?
17:50More weight.
17:56Lay on.
17:57But Corey remained silent, and the accumulative weight slowly but surely crushed him to death.
18:03The Brazen Bull
18:05My sisters!
18:07They're in the bull!
18:08Modern historians aren't sure if the Brazen Bull really existed, but it is extensively referenced by an ancient Greek historian named Diodorus Siculus.
18:17Siculus wrote about the Brazen Bull in his famous work Bibliotheca Historica.
18:23Back in the 500s BC, the city of Acragas, Sicily was ruled by the tyrant Phalaris.
18:29As the story goes, a man named Paralos made the Brazen Bull for Phalaris as a new method of execution.
18:35A condemned criminal would climb inside the hollow bronze bull, and a fire would be lit directly underneath it.
18:42The interior of the bull would then gradually increase in temperature, and the criminal inside was slowly roasted to death.
18:53Their screams would then be heard as bull sounds from the outside.
18:57David Douglas
18:59A famous botanist from the 19th century, David Douglas is the namesake for the Douglas Fir Tree of western North America.
19:06After traversing the Pacific Northwest, Douglas made his way to Hawaii, and it was here that he would die.
19:12Douglas was climbing a dormant volcano called Mauna Kea when he fell into a trapping pit meant for wild cattle.
19:19While inside the pit, Douglas was mauled and trampled to death by a wild bull. Not a great way to go.
19:30However, suspicion also fell on a local hunter named Edward Gurney.
19:34Gurney was the last person to see Douglas alive, money was missing from Douglas' body after it was recovered,
19:40and it was Gurney's pit into which Douglas supposedly fell.
19:44St. Lawrence
19:46A Christian martyr, St. Lawrence was a Roman deacon under Pope Sixtus II, who served for just one year between 257 and 258 AD.
19:56The Roman Emperor Valerian persecuted Christians and ordered the execution of its leaders.
20:01As a result, many prominent Christians were killed in August of 258, including Pope Sixtus II and St. Lawrence.
20:09Legend has it that Lawrence was placed on a gridiron over some coals and essentially cooked to death.
20:15As a result, he's now the patron saint of chefs.
20:23This account was recorded by a poet named Prudentius and St. Ambrose of Milan.
20:28However, some modern historians contest this story, arguing instead that Lawrence was decapitated like Pope Sixtus II.
20:36William Wallace
20:39Born in 1270, William Wallace has become immortalized in pop culture thanks to Mel Gibson and his seminal film Braveheart.
20:48After fighting for Scottish independence, Wallace was named Guardian of Scotland and eventually convicted of high treason by King Edward I of England.
20:57Wallace was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered.
21:00We won't get into the specifics, but suffice to say, quartered is exactly what it sounds like.
21:06Following the incredibly graphic and painful execution, Wallace, or what was left of him, was made an example of atop London Bridge.
21:14Things were done very, very differently back then.
21:19In the early 1500s, Dozier led a peasants' rebellion against the nobility of the Kingdom of Hungary.
21:25He and his soldiers fought well, but they didn't stand a chance against the kingdom's massive army.
21:30Dozier was eventually captured, and his execution led to the fall of the Kingdom of Hungary.
21:35In the early 1500s, Dozier was executed by the King of Hungary.
21:40He and his soldiers fought well, but they didn't stand a chance against the kingdom's massive army.
21:45Dozier was eventually captured, and his execution was crafted to mock his ambitions.
21:50Dozier was placed on a scalding iron throne and forced to wear a smoldering crown.
21:56A crown for a king.
22:00He was then made to witness the execution of his own brother.
22:05And while Dozier was still alive, his body, shall we say, provided sustenance for other prisoners of war.
22:12That must have made for one hellish sight.
22:14I'll have fries with that.
22:16Hisachi Ouchi.
22:18Radiation sickness is an extraordinarily painful way to go.
22:21And while most people remember disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima,
22:25the worst nuclear-related death started in the Japanese village of Tokai.
22:30On September 30th, 1999, technician Hisachi Ouchi was blasted with an enormous amount of radiation.
22:37Following the accident, Ouchi immediately felt sick and grew disoriented.
22:41While at the hospital, it was discovered that the incident had essentially destroyed Ouchi's immune system,
22:47and that it was only a matter of time before he died.
22:50But his family insisted that the doctors do everything they could,
22:53so they kept Ouchi alive for months, despite his body literally withering away.
22:59After numerous resuscitations, Ouchi finally died of a massive heart attack.
23:04Grigori Rasputin.
23:06Rasputin.
23:07Rasputin.
23:09This man has a reputation for being incredibly hard to kill.
23:13A reputation that is buoyed by the likes of the animated Anastasia movie,
23:17and that super-catchy Boney M song.
23:23Rasputin was a supposed mystical healer who found himself in the social circles of Russian nobility.
23:29The accounts of his last stand are exaggerated,
23:31but yes, he certainly did experience a prolonged and painful death.
23:36Time to dance.
23:38On your graves.
23:41First, he ate cake and drank wine that had been laced with cyanide.
23:45Nothing happened.
23:46Conspirators drop in pretenses, he was then shot in the chest.
23:50He collapsed, but ultimately survived.
23:59It took two more shots, including one to the head, to finally put Rasputin down for good.
24:04His body was subsequently dumped into the Malayonevka River in St. Petersburg.
24:09You said yourself I hit him in the head.
24:11F*** Rasputin, this guy.
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24:29Balthazar Girard
24:31In March of 1580,
24:33King Philip II of Spain offered a sizable reward for the head of William of Orange.
24:39William was the leader of the Dutch revolt against Spain
24:42and one of the main instigators of the Eighty Years' War.
24:45This bounty was answered by a man named Balthazar Girard,
24:49who killed William on July 10, 1584.
24:52In response, Girard was tortured and executed.
24:56The methods of torture were extraordinarily harsh, even for the time.
25:00The ordeal is way too graphic to be conveyed,
25:03but it consists of 300-pound weights, fire, branding, flaying, and sharp nails.
25:09Girard was finally put out of his misery in the market square on July 14,
25:13having suffered what is probably the worst death in human history.
25:17Which brutal historical death haunts you the most?
25:20Let us know in the comments below.
25:22Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian.
25:25Perhaps you should have done the same.
25:28Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
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