Editing Guillotine (section)

===Precursors===
[[File:The Halifax Gibbet - geograph.org.uk - 350422.jpg|thumb|alt=photograph|A replica of the [[Halifax Gibbet]] on its original site in [[Halifax, West Yorkshire]], in 2008]]
[[File:The Maiden, National Museum of Scotland.jpg|thumb|The original [[Maiden (guillotine)|Maiden]], introduced in 1564 and used until 1716, now on display at the [[National Museum of Scotland]] in [[Edinburgh]]]]
The use of beheading machines in Europe long predates such use during the French Revolution in 1792. An early example of the principle is found in the [[Old French]] [[Perlesvaus|''High History of the Holy Grail'']], dated to about 1210. Although the device is imaginary, its function is clear.<ref name="grail" /> The text says:

{{quote|Within these three openings are the hallows set for them. And behold what I would do to them if their three heads were therein ... She setteth her hand toward the openings and draweth forth a pin that was fastened into the wall, and a cutting blade of steel droppeth down, of steel sharper than any razor, and closeth up the three openings. "Even thus will I cut off their heads when they shall set them into those three openings thinking to adore the hallows that are beyond."<ref name="grail">High History of the Grail, translated by Sebastian Evans {{ISBN|9781-4209-44075}}</ref>}}

The [[Halifax Gibbet]] in England was a wooden structure consisting of two wooden uprights, capped by a horizontal beam, of a total height of {{convert|4.5|m|0}}. The blade was an axe head weighing 3.5&nbsp;kg (7.7&nbsp;lb), attached to the bottom of a massive wooden block that slid up and down in grooves in the uprights. This device was mounted on a large square platform {{convert|1.25|m|ft|0}} high. It is not known when the Halifax Gibbet was first used; the first recorded execution in [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]] dates from 1280, but that execution may have been by sword, axe, or gibbet. The machine remained in use until [[Oliver Cromwell]] forbade capital punishment for petty theft.

A [[Hans Weiditz]] (1495–1537) woodcut illustration from the 1532 edition of [[Petrarch]]'s ''De remediis utriusque fortunae'', or "Remedies for Both Good and Bad Fortune" shows a device similar to the Halifax Gibbet in the background being used for an execution.<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/image/1613536198 Asset No. 1613536198], The British Museum Collection.</ref>

''[[Holinshed's Chronicles]]'' of 1577 included a picture of "The execution of Murcod Ballagh near Merton in [[Ireland]] in 1307" showing a similar execution machine, suggesting its early use in Ireland.<ref>[http://www.guillotine.dk/Pages/History.html History of the guillotine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906164403/http://www.guillotine.dk/pages/history.html |date=6 September 2015 }}, The Guillotine Headquarters 2014.</ref>

The [[Maiden (guillotine)|Maiden]] was constructed in 1564 for the Provost and Magistrates of [[Edinburgh]], Scotland and was in use from April 1565 to 1710. One of those executed was [[James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton]], in 1581, and a 1644 publication began circulating the legend that Morton himself commissioned the Maiden after he had seen the Halifax Gibbet.<ref name="Maxwell">Maxwell, H ''[https://archive.org/stream/edinburghhistori00maxwrich/edinburghhistori00maxwrich_djvu.txt Edinburgh, A Historical Study]'', Williams and Norgate (1916), pp. 137, 299–303.</ref> The Maiden was readily dismantled for storage and transport, and it is now on display in the [[National Museum of Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/scottish-history-and-archaeology/the-maiden/ |title=The Maiden |publisher=[[National Museums Scotland]] |website=Nms.ac.uk |access-date=2 August 2019 }}</ref>