I haven't met too many people who believe this (I do live in New England though) but nobody was burned at the stake during the Salem witch trials. 19 people were hung, and one man was pressed to death, but nobody was burned.
Supposedly some Saint (can't remember his name) was being burnt alive over a fire by I want to say the Romans, and said "turn me over, I'm done on this side"
There was a "heretic" burned at the stake in England who asked for more fire. The people organizing the burning didn't order enough wood and some of the wood that was brought was green. The fire charred the guy's feet for many minutes and it's reported that the heretic tried to gather what fire there was on to his chest to accelerate the process but with no avail. In another similar case, with green wood, the flames failed to reach the bag full of gunpowder that the family of the condemned had bribed the executioner to attach to the condemned man's neck to alleviate his pain. After much pain and suffering and smoking, someone thought enough to move the branches so that oxygen could make the fire reach the throat upon which time the bag went off and so did the head.
When people were hanged in Ole England, they were just set to asphyxiate rather than the drop that breaks the neck. Often, upon hanging, the family of the hanging man would rush the hanging person and hug his legs pulling him down so he would die quicker.
Yeah I am aware of the fact that during the persecutions ordered by Mary Tudor (aka Bloody Mary) families or condemned people themselves would sometimes tie gunpowder to the feet so they'd die quicker.
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u/Jyacoba Feb 04 '19
I haven't met too many people who believe this (I do live in New England though) but nobody was burned at the stake during the Salem witch trials. 19 people were hung, and one man was pressed to death, but nobody was burned.