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89-764: After the rebellion was put down, Crișan hanged himself in prison, and Horea and Cloșca were executed by being publicly broken on the wheel . Horea is a legendary figure and folk hero in Romania. Horea was born in the Land of the Moți , in the village of Arada, Principality of Transylvania (today known as Horea , in Alba County , Romania ) on Fericet Hill. He was the son of poor peasants who gave him his baptismal name, Ursu (bear), in accordance with an old pagan custom of naming children after strong animals or vigorous trees. In his youth he acquired

178-617: A Sephardic one following in 1874. Most local Jews in the 19th century worked in viticulture and bought land for growing vines; in the 20th century, they were mainly artisans. By 1930, the 1558 Jews of Alba Iulia represented nearly 13% of the town's population. In October 1940, during the National Legionary State , the Iron Guard terrorized local Jews. The following year, the Ion Antonescu regime confiscated Jewish property and sent

267-407: A board, and thus dragged by a horse to the place of execution. The wheel is then slammed twice onto each arm, one blow above the elbow, the other below. Then, each leg gets the same treatment, above and below the knees. The final ninth blow is given at the middle of the spine, so that it breaks. Then, the broken body is woven onto the wheel (i.e., between the spokes), and the wheel is then hammered onto

356-416: A deep track, and then a heavily laden wagon was driven over him. Thus, the latter practice could be seen as a symbolic re-enactment of the previous penalty in which people were literally driven over by a wagon. In France, the condemned were placed on a cartwheel with their limbs stretched out along the spokes over two sturdy wooden beams. The wheel was made to revolve slowly, and a large hammer or an iron bar

445-543: A display of gross incompetence as a deliberate act of cruelty because just prior to his execution Dolle had converted from Catholicism to the Reformed Church. (Essmeyer was a devout Catholic.) The court did not find sufficient evidence for deliberate malice on Essmeyer's part but sentenced him to two years' hard labour and banned him from ever working again as an executioner. His young son was, on grounds of mercy, acquitted of any culpable wrongdoings. A long struggle between

534-441: A family member). Less severe offenders would be cudgelled "top down", with a lethal first blow to the neck. More heinous criminals were punished "bottom up", starting with the legs, and sometimes being beaten for hours. The number and sequence of blows was specified in the court's sentence (for example, in 1581, the serial killer Peter Niers , found guilty of 544 murders was, after two days of extended torture, given 42 strikes with

623-552: A feeling of having been betrayed spread among them. On October 28, 1784, under a bridge at the weekly fair in Brad ( Brád , Tannenhof ), Crișan met with peasants from villages in the area and told them to send representatives to the village of Mesteacăn (Mesztákon) three days later. On October 31, around 600 peasants gathered there with Crișan and Cloșca, who displayed a golden cross that they said Joseph had given to Horea. The emperor, they claimed, had instructed Horea to enlist peasants in

712-443: A guilty verdict for theft in addition to murder. Since the body remained on the wheel after execution, left to scavenging animals, birds and decay, this form of punishment, like the ancient crucifixion , had a sacral function beyond death: according to the belief at that time, this would hinder transition from death to resurrection . If the convict fell from the wheel still alive or the execution failed in some other way, such as

801-458: A man morally worse than a "gallows-bird", a criminal who only deserved hanging for common crimes. He was also a leader in wickedness, since the chief of a gang of brigands (for instance) would be broken on the wheel, while his obscure followers were merely hanged. Philip, Duke of Orléans , who was regent of France from 1715 to 1723, gave the term the sense of impious and callous debauchee, which it has borne since his time, by habitually applying it to

890-587: A people and a nation deserving of independence and freedom. Many authors have written about him. He was the subject of a 1937 opera, Horia , by Nicolae Bretan . A film about him was released in 1984. His native village was renamed in his honor, and more than thirty streets all over Romania are named for him, as are at least two churches. Several schools, moreover, are named for all three rebel leaders. [REDACTED] Media related to Vasile Ursu Nicola at Wikimedia Commons [REDACTED] Media related to Horea's Sessile at Wikimedia Commons Breaking on

979-451: A pole, which is then fastened upright with its other end in the ground. The criminal is then to be left dying "afloat" on the wheel and be left to rot. On 1 October 1786 in the County of Tecklenburg , Heinrich Dolle was to be executed by being broken on the wheel, on account of the aggravated murder of a Jew. The court had decided that Dolle should be broken von oben herab : the first stroke of

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1068-700: A serf, he is supposed to have been able to read and write. Between 1770 and 1773, he lived with his family in Ciucea ( Csucsa , Tschetsch ). Ever since the incorporation of Transylvania — known in German as Siebenbürgen — into the Habsburg domains in 1691, the situation of the Romanian peasants in this region, who were Orthodox Christians , had been particularly precarious. While Hungarians, Székelys , and Germans ( Transylvanian Saxons ) enjoyed certain rights and privileges, however,

1157-402: A small version beside her, or sometimes as a miniature she holds in her hand; the sword then used is also often shown. Alba Iulia Alba Iulia ( Romanian pronunciation: [ˌalba ˈjuli.a] ; German : Karlsburg or Carlsburg , formerly Weißenburg ; Hungarian : Gyulafehérvár [ˈɟulɒfɛɦeːrvaːr] ; Latin : Apulum ) is a city that serves as

1246-459: A stellar shape, was constructed between 1716 and 1735 by two Swiss fortification architects. The first was Giovanni Morandi Visconti , who built two old Italian-style bastions. The second was Nicolaus Doxat de Demoret —nicknamed "Austrian Vauban ". After 1720, the two architects radically transformed the medieval fortress shaped by the former Roman castrum into a seven-bastion baroque fortress, developing Menno van Coehorn's new Dutch system, of which

1335-507: A struggle by the army to eliminate serfdom . A large number of peasants led by Horea then headed for Alba Iulia to join the army, but on the night of November 1 they were attacked by Hungarian nobility's troops in the village of Curechiu ( Kurety ). Repelling the attack, the peasants returned to Brad. On October 2, a number of peasants led by Crișan attacked the noble court in Criscior ( Kristyór , Kreischquell ), and on October 3 they defeated

1424-562: A traditional iconographic style. The first monarchs of the Unified Romania, King Ferdinand I and Queen Marie were crowned in the cathedral on 15 October 1922. The National Museum of Unification in Alba Iulia is located in the "Babylon" Building. It was built between 1851 and 1853 for military purposes and became a museum in 1887. The museum exhibits over 130,000 pieces of artworks, organized chronologically. The Unification Hall, also part of

1513-548: A warning to future would-be rebels. After the suppression of the rebellion, Horea’s son Ion was deported to Banat . He managed several times to escape and return to Transylvania, but he was caught and returned each time. Horea’s home was preserved until 1898, when it was bought by Ion C. Brătianu and moved to his estate at Florica. In 1785, Joseph II ordered an end to serfdom, although the feudal system continued to be practiced for several more decades. The Emperor also ended aristocratic control over peasant marriages and expanded

1602-594: A year and a half until he was murdered in 1601, by General Giorgio Basta 's agents. Alba Iulia became part of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1690. The fortress Alba Carolina , designed by architect Giovanni Morando Visconti, was built between 1716 and 1735, at the behest of Emperor Charles VI of Habsburg . The leaders of the Transylvanian peasant rebellion were executed in Alba Iulia in January 1785. Important milestones in

1691-686: A year. The fact that a serf was received by the Emperor himself suggests that Horea had supporters at court. One source suggests that his sponsor at court was the Austrian geologist Ignatius Born , who had estates in Alba on which Horea worked, and that Horea, when in Vienna, stayed at Born’s home. It is known that Joseph II was, at this time, in conflict with the nobility in Transylvania, because he wished to bring an end to

1780-630: Is a translation of the earlier Slavic form, meaning "white castle of the Gyula" meaning "white city of Julius". Alba is the Romanian feminine form of the word for white , and Iulia ("Julius") refers to Gyula II , a mid-10th-century Hungarian warlord who was baptized in Constantinople . Under the influence of the Hungarian form, Gyulafehérvár, the town's Latin name eventually became Alba Julia or Alba Yulia . Its modern Romanian name, Alba Iulia ,

1869-648: Is also mentioned in the Chilean expression morir en la rueda , "to die on the wheel", meaning to keep silent about something. The Dutch expression ik ben geradbraakt , literally "I have been broken on the wheel", is used to describe physical exhaustion and pain, like the German expression sich gerädert fühlen , "to feel wheeled", and the Danish expression radbrækket refers almost exclusively to physical exhaustion and great discomfort. In Finnish teilata , "to execute by

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1958-516: Is located near the site of the important Dacian political, economic and social centre of Apulon , which was mentioned by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy and believed by some archaeologists to be the Dacian fortifications on top of Piatra Craivii. After Dacia became a province of the Roman Empire , the capital of Dacia Apulensis was established here, and the city was known as Apulum . Apulum

2047-417: Is the adoption of this that started to spread in Romanian in ordinary speech in the 18th century. The modern name has been officially used since the town became part of Romania. The 16th-century German name was Weyssenburg . The Saxons later renamed the town to Karlsburg (Carlsburg) in honour of Charles VI (1685–1740). In Yiddish and Hebrew , Karlsburg was prevalent. In Ladino , Carlosburg

2136-499: The Legenda sanctorum , record that St. Catherine of Alexandria was sentenced to be executed on one of these devices for refusing to renounce her Christian belief, which thereafter became known as the Catherine wheel , also used as her iconographic attribute . It is said the wheel miraculously broke when she touched it; she was then beheaded . As an attribute it is usually shown broken in

2225-470: The 2021 census , there was a total population of 64,227 people living in this city. At the 2011 census , there were 63,536 inhabitants; of these, 95.3% were ethnic Romanians, 3.2% Romani , 1.9% Hungarians , and 0.2% Germans (more specifically Transylvanian Saxons ). In 1850, Alba Iulia had 5,408 inhabitants, 2,530 of them being Romanians (46.78%), 1,009 Hungarians (18.67%), 748 Germans/Transylvanian Saxons (13.83%), and 1,121 (20.73%) others. In 1891,

2314-582: The Alba Iulia Orthodox Cathedral . Alba Iulia is historically important for Romanians , Hungarians , and Transylvanian Saxons . In December 1918, Alba Iulia was officially declared Capital of the Great Union of Romania . The city administers four villages: Bărăbanț ( Borbánd ), Micești ( Ompolykisfalud ), Oarda ( Alsóváradja ), and Pâclișa ( Poklos ). During the Roman period the settlement

2403-769: The Eastern Hungarian Kingdom from which the Principality of Transylvania emerged by the Treaty of Speyer in 1570 and it was the capital of the Principality of Transylvania until 1711. At one point it also was a center of the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan of Transylvania with suffragan to Vad diocese. On 1 December 1918, the Union of Transylvania with Romania was declared in Alba Iulia, and Romania's King Ferdinand I and, in 1922 Queen Marie were crowned in

2492-662: The Electorate of Hesse in 1836: the last known execution by the "Wheel" took place in Prussia in 1841. In the Holy Roman Empire it was a " mirror punishment " for highwaymen and street thieves , and was set out in the Sachsenspiegel for murder , and arson that resulted in fatalities. Those convicted as murderers , rapists , traitors or robbers to be executed by the wheel, sometimes termed to be "wheeled" or "broken on

2581-574: The German-speaking areas , only a few archaeological discoveries of breaking wheel victims have been documented. In autumn 2013, the skeleton of a man was found in Groß Pankow , Germany, during the laying of Federal Highway 189 ( Bundesstraße 189 ) between Perleberg and Pritzwalk in Brandenburg , whose position and signs of injury indicate death by the "breaking wheel". Based on an iron belt buckle,

2670-538: The Gilău Mountains , where they were betrayed by locals and arrested by Austrian soldiers on December 27. Crișan was captured on January 30. All three were taken to Alba Iulia ( Gyulafehérvár , Karlsburg ), where they were interrogated by the Austrians. At first dozens of rebels were sentenced to be killed, but Joseph II granted them amnesties, and ordered that only the three leaders should be executed. On February 26,

2759-489: The Sikh community and Islamic rulers resulted in execution of Sikhs . In 1746, Bhai Subeg Singh and Bhai Shahbaz Singh were executed on rotating wheels. In Scotland , a servant named Robert Weir was broken on the wheel at Edinburgh in 1603 or 1604 (sources disagree). This punishment had been used infrequently there. The crime had been the murder of John Kincaid , Lord of Warriston , on behalf of his wife, Jean Kincaid . Weir

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2848-528: The Union of Transylvania with the Kingdom of Romania . The representatives of the Transylvanian Saxons decided to join this declaration on 8 January 1919. In 1922, Ferdinand I of Romania was symbolically crowned King of Romania in Alba Iulia. In October 2012, at the 90th anniversary of King Ferdinand's coronation, his great-granddaughter Princess Margarita of Romania visited Alba Iulia to commemorate

2937-474: The feudal system and wanted Romanian serfs to be able to join his army, something the nobles forbade because it would deprive them of free labor. Horea is said to have told his fellow Romanian serfs that the Emperor had authorized him to encourage them to wipe out the Hungarian nobility of Transylvania. In any event, during the period when Horea represented them, the Romanian peasants’ situation worsened – their working hours were increased and their right to exploit

3026-515: The 10th century. Geula was baptized in the Byzantine Empire and built around 950 in Alba Iulia the first church of Transylvania. The ruins of a church were discovered in 2011. According to Ioan Aurel Pop and other historians, here lived Hierotheos the first bishop of Transylvania, who accompanied Geula back to Hungary after Geula had been baptized in Constantinople around 950. Analysis of

3115-532: The 12th or 13th century. In 1442, John Hunyadi , Voivode of Transylvania , used the citadel to prepare for a major battle against the Ottoman Turks . The cathedral was enlarged during his reign and he was entombed there after his death. In 1542 — after the partition of the Kingdom of Hungary — Alba Iulia became the capital of Transylvania and some of its neighboring territories to the west (later known as Partium ),

3204-470: The Austrians agreed to send the rebels’ demands to the emperor. But the local governor refused to accept the arrangement and called off negotiations. Crișan, who did not trust the Habsburgs, continued to fight, defeating a large army at Lupșa (Lupsa) on November 27. When no response from Vienna was forthcoming, Horea called for a resumption of hostilities, whereupon the governor tried to restore calm by offering

3293-474: The Hungarian army at Ribița ( Ribice ). Cloșca and his men went on to conquer Câmpeni ( Topánfalva , Topesdorf ), Abrud ( Abrudbánya , Großschlatten ), and the Arieș (Aranyos) valley. By October 5, the revolt had spread to the counties of Alsó-Fehér , Hunyad , Kolozs , Arad , Szilágy , and Maros-Torda . The number of peasants involved in the revolt eventually numbered in the thousands. The uprising ravaged

3382-533: The National History Museum, retains historical significance from having hosted, on 1 December 1918, the rally of the 1228 Romanian delegations from Transylvania who determined the province's union with the Kingdom of Romania. The building was used in 1895 as a military casino. The Princely Palace (Palatul Principilor or Palatul Voievodal) was Michael the Brave's residence during the first political unification of

3471-537: The Roman Catholic cathedral is the most representative building in the medieval Romanic style in Transylvania, and is considered to be an important monument of early Transylvanian medieval architecture. The tombs of John Hunyadi and Isabella Jagiełło —Queen of Hungary are located there. The Batthyaneum Library is held in a former church built in Baroque style. In 1780, Ignác Batthyány , bishop of Transylvania, adapted

3560-469: The Romanians in 1600. Foreign chronicles pictured it as an extremely luxurious building, richly adorned with frescos and marble stairs, which later deteriorated. During the rule of Princes Gábor Bethlen and George II Rákóczi the second palace was restored, but not to its previous condition. After 1716, the building was used as an Habsburg Imperial Army barracks. Alba Iulia is twinned with: According to

3649-556: The Romanians still had no representation in politics. The Romanian peasants were serfs with no individual freedom, and had no support for their ecclesiastical institutions. Moreover, they paid high taxes to their feudal nobles, who were mostly Hungarian Catholics , as well as to the Emperor. Probably because he was literate, Horea became the spokesman for the Romanian peasants, traveling to Vienna on four occasions between 1779 and 1784 to present their grievances in personal audiences with Emperor Joseph II . On his first journey to Vienna he

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3738-465: The autonomous Principality of Transylvania , and remained so until 1690. The Treaty of Weissenburg was signed in the town in 1551. During the reign of Prince Gábor Bethlen , the city reached a high point in its cultural history with the establishment of an academy. The former Ottoman Turkish equivalent was Erdel Belgradı or Belgrad-ı Erdel ("Belgrade of Transylvania" in English) where Erdel ( Erdély )

3827-421: The body, not death. Therefore, the most common form would start with breaking the leg bones . To this end, the executioner dropped the execution wheel on the shinbones of the convicted person and then worked his way up to the arms. Here, rhythm and number of beatings were prescribed in each case, sometimes also the number of spokes on the wheel. To increase its effect, often sharp-edged timbers were placed under

3916-469: The breaking wheel. In 1348, during the time of the Black Death , a Jewish man named Bona Dies underwent the punishment. The authorities stated he remained conscious for four days and nights afterwards. In 1581, the German serial killer Christman Genipperteinga remained conscious for nine days on the breaking wheel before expiring, having been deliberately kept alive with "strong drink". Alternatively,

4005-703: The breaking wheel. On 7 June 1757, the French colonist Jean Baptiste Baudreau dit Graveline II was executed on a breaking wheel in front of the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans , Louisiana by the French colonial authorities. At the end of the Revolt of Horea, Cloșca and Crișan , in 1785 (in the Hungarian Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867) ), two of the revolt leaders, Horea and Cloșca, were sentenced to be executed by

4094-471: The breaking wheel. Crișan hanged himself in prison before that sentence could be carried out. According to a book published the same year by Adam F. Geisler, the two leaders were broken "von unten auf", from bottom up, meaning the lower limbs were broken before the upper limbs, prolonging the torture. The breaking wheel was frequently used in the Great Northern War in the early 1700s. Johann Patkul

4183-724: The church in Cizer ( Csizér ) which dates back to 1773 and was moved in 1967 (or 1968) to the National Museum of Transylvanian History in Cluj-Napoca . The words “worked by Ursu H” are carved on the nave's beam in Cyrillic letters. Horea is also said to have taken part in the construction of the Orthodox Moon Church in Oradea ( Hungarian : Nagyvárad , German : Großwardein ). Although

4272-522: The city's development include the creation of the Batthyaneum Library in 1780 and the arrival of the railway in the 19th century. At the end of World War I, representatives of the Romanian population of Transylvania, the National Assembly of Romanians of Transylvania and Hungary , gathered in Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918 during the so-called Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia to proclaim

4361-414: The condemned were spreadeagled and broken on a saltire , a cross consisting of two wooden beams nailed in an "X" shape, after which the victim's mangled body might be displayed on the wheel. Historian Pieter Spierenburg mentions a reference in sixth-century author Gregory of Tours as a possible origin for the punishment of breaking someone on the wheel. In Gregory's time, a criminal could be placed in

4450-443: The convict's joints . Later, there were devices in which the convicted person could be "harnessed". Although not commonplace, the executioner could be instructed to execute the convicted person at the end of the first act, by aiming for the neck or heart in a " coup de grâce ". Even less often, this occurred immediately from the start (from the head down). In the second act, the body was braided into another wooden spoked wheel, which

4539-400: The event. The Jewish community, which was the first in Transylvania, was established in the 14th century. A community was officially founded by permission of Prince Gabriel Bethlen in 1623. The 18th century saw an influx of Ashkenazim from Hungary and Wallachia, as well as Sephardim. From 1754 to 1868, the town rabbi was the chief rabbi of Transylvania. A synagogue was built in 1840, with

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4628-485: The forests was taken from them. On January 31, 1784, Joseph ordered an increase in the number of border guards in Transylvania, and peasants from around the region, including many from Romania, traveled to Alba Iulia ( Gyulafehérvár , Karlsburg ) to enroll in the army and thus escape the exploitative feudal system. When the Romanian serfs got the impression that officials in Karlsburg were resisting their efforts to enroll,

4717-764: The fortress of Alba Iulia is the best preserved example. Inside the fortress are The Union Hall with the National Honour Gallery, The National History Museum of Unification, the Princely Palace (Voivodal Palace), the Orthodox cathedral, the Roman Catholic cathedral, the Batthyaneum Library, the Roman Catholic bishop's palace, the Apor Palace, and the University of Alba Iulia . Built in the 10th and 11th centuries,

4806-422: The helpless victim. Eventually, shock and dehydration caused death. In France, a special grace, the retentum , could be granted, by which the condemned was strangled after the second or third blow, or in special cases, even before the breaking began. In the Holy Roman Empire , the wheel was punishment reserved primarily for men convicted of aggravated murder (murder committed during another crime, or against

4895-503: The inside of the building for use as a library. It is famous for its series of manuscripts, incunabula and rare books—such as half of the 9th century Codex Aureus of Lorsch , the 15th century Codex Burgundus and the 13th century Biblia Sacra (13th century). The first astronomical observatory in Transylvania was founded here in 1792. The Apor Palace, situated on the same street as the Bathyaneum Library, belonged to Prince Apor and

4984-574: The men to forced labor. After World War II, the community was re-established but soon dwindled as Jews emigrated. Alba Iulia has a humid continental climate ( Dfa in the Köppen climate classification ). The main historical area of Alba Iulia is the Upper Town region, developed by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor in honour of whom the Habsburgs renamed the city Karlsburg. The fortress, with seven bastions in

5073-465: The necropoles of the city prior to the 11th century show that they were used by a population different from the conquering Hungarians. After Stephen I adopted Catholicism, and the establishment of the Catholic Transylvanian bishopric, recent archaeological discoveries suggest that the first cathedral was built in the 11th century or possibly before. The present Catholic cathedral was built in

5162-448: The nickname Horea, because he played a flute-like instrument called the horea. One source describes him as having two brothers, Peter and Damian, and a sister, while another source mentions only one brother, Gavrilă. Horea was married to Ilina, with whom he had two sons, Ion and Luca, the former of whom participated alongside his father in the rebellion. Horea was a craftsman who built wooden churches , some of which still exist, among them

5251-424: The nobles in which he demanded that the nobility be abolished, that the nobles abandon their estates, and that the estates be divided among the common folk. Meanwhile, many of the Hungarian nobles had retreated to the city of Deva ( Déva , Diemrich ). Fighting resumed, with extensive losses. A truce was agreed to, with Cloșca signing it at Tibru ( Tibor , Tiburg ) and Horea at Valea Bradului ( Vályabrád ), and

5340-568: The peasants’ grazing rights. The peasant rebellion had repercussions throughout Europe. It shook up the feudal system and is considered by many to have inspired the French Revolution . In 1785 Jacques Pierre Brissot , who would become a leader of the French Revolution, published an open letter to Joseph II in which he asserted the right of royal subjects to protest. Horea is considered a folk hero who helped Romanians to see themselves as

5429-549: The punishment of death was inflicted by decapitation with a large sword, by burning, and by breaking on the wheel. At the time, the Prussian penal code required a criminal to be broken upon the wheel when a particularly heinous crime had been committed. The king always issued an order to the executioner to strangle the criminal (which was done by a small cord not easily seen) before his limbs were broken. The last execution by this stronger form of capital punishment, of Rudolf Kühnapfel,

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5518-486: The rebels a general amnesty. The peasant army won a series of victories against the Austrian army, but on December 7 the Austrians defeated the peasants in a decisive battle in Mihăileni , in which the peasants suffered great losses. On December 14, at Câmpeni ( Topánfalva , Topesdorf ), Horea told the peasants to return to their homes but said that they would resume fighting in the spring. Horea and Cloșca then retreated to

5607-502: The same sense as the English idiom " rack one's brain " or, as in German, to mangle language. The word roué , meaning a debauched or lecherous person, is French, and its original meaning was "broken on the wheel". As execution by breaking on the wheel in France and some other countries was reserved for crimes of particular atrocity, roué came by a natural process to be understood to mean

5696-441: The scaffold: in a word, after four strokes with a hatchet, the head was separated from the body, and the body quartered. Such was the end of the renowned Patkul: and may God have mercy on his soul! The breaking wheel was used as a form of execution in Germany as recently as the early 19th century. Its use as a method of execution was not fully abolished in Bavaria until 1813, and still in use until 1836 in Hesse-Kassel . In Prussia ,

5785-407: The seat of Alba County in the west-central part of Romania . Located on the river Mureș in the historical region of Transylvania , it has a population of 63,536 (as of 2011 ). During ancient times, the site was the location of the Roman camp Apulum . Since the High Middle Ages , the city has been the seat of Transylvania's Roman Catholic diocese . Between 1526 and 1570 it was the capital of

5874-461: The skeleton was dated to the 15th to 17th centuries. The identity of the man is unknown. A similar archaeological find has since also been discovered in 2014, in Pöls-Oberkurzheim , Styria , Austria. The breaking wheel was also known as a great dishonor, and appeared in several expressions as such. In Dutch , there is the expression opgroeien voor galg en rad , "to grow up for the gallows and wheel", meaning to be destined to come to no good. It

5963-463: The three men were sentenced to death on the wheel, and several thousand Romanian peasants were brought in to witness their execution. On the night of February 27, 1785, Crișan had hanged himself in prison, taking advantage of the negligence of his guards. The next day, Horea and Cloșca were broken on the wheel at Dealul Furcilor (Gabelberg, Forks Hill), Alba Iulia. Their bodies were then cut into pieces, which were scattered at various villages to serve as

6052-437: The use of a wheel that was not heavy enough. The inadequate weight meant that the chest had not been crushed. Furthermore, one of Dolle's arms and one of his legs had not broken according to proper penal procedure. And finally the nail that was customarily hammered through the convict's brain in order to fasten him upon the wheel had been hammered in far too low. Many believed that Essmeyer's act of malpractice had been not so much

6141-450: The utmost horror; for as the headsman had no skill in his business, the wretch under his hands received upwards of fifteen blows, with each of which were intermixed the most piteous groans, and invocations of the name of God. At length, after two strokes given on the breast, his strength and voice failed him. In a faltering dying tone, he was just heard to say, "Cut off my head!" and the executioner still lingering, he himself placed his head on

6230-527: The very bad male company who amused his privacy and his leisure. The locus classicus for the origin of this use of the epithet is in the Memoirs of Saint-Simon . Another French expression is rouer de coups , which means giving a severe beating to someone. In English, the quotation " Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? " from Alexander Pope 's " Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot " is occasionally seen, referring to putting great effort into achieving something minor or unimportant. Medieval hagiographies , such as

6319-402: The wheel The breaking wheel , also known as the execution wheel , the Wheel of Catherine or the ( Saint ) Catherine ( 's ) Wheel , was a torture method used for public execution primarily in Europe from antiquity through the Middle Ages up to the 19th century by breaking the bones of a criminal or bludgeoning them to death. The practice was abolished in Bavaria in 1813 and in

6408-456: The wheel and raised it on a pole. The town physician climbed up on a ladder (the Essmeyers had gone by then) and ascertained that Dolle was indeed alive; he died six hours later. The Essmeyers were taken to court for severe malpractice. It was established that the string around Dolle's neck had not been drawn tightly enough, and that Essmeyer had, contrary to his duties as an executioner, accepted

6497-402: The wheel itself breaking or falling from its placement, it was interpreted as God 's intervention. There exist votive images of saved victims of the wheel, and there is literature on how best to treat such sustained injuries. The survival time after being "wheeled" or "broken" could be extensive. Accounts exist of a 14th-century murderer who remained conscious for three days after undergoing

6586-430: The wheel should crush his chest (traditionally thought to kill him instantly). The court instructed the executioner, Essmeyer, that Dolle should be clandestinely strangled (by garrotte ) prior to the first stroke. The bystanders were shocked by what they thought was a severely botched execution by Essmeyer and his son and thought Dolle had been alive during the entire proceeding and also after Essmeyer had secured Dolle onto

6675-577: The wheel", refers to forceful and violent critique or rejection of performance, ideas or innovations. The German verb radebrechen ("to break on the wheel") can refer to speaking incorrectly, for example with a strong foreign accent or with a great deal of foreign vocabulary. Similarly, the Norwegian radbrekke can be applied to art and language, and refers to use which is seen as despoiling tradition and courtesy, with connotations of willful ignorance or malice. In Swedish , rådbråka can be used in

6764-420: The wheel", would be taken to a public stage scaffold site and tied to the floor. The execution wheel was typically a large wooden spoked wheel, the same as was used on wooden transport carts and carriages (often with iron rim ), sometimes purposely modified with a rectangular iron thrust attached and extending blade-like from part of the rim. The primary goal of the first act was the agonizing mutilation of

6853-517: The wheel, and was, at last, quartered alive ). Corpses were left for carrion -eaters, and the criminals' heads often placed on a spike. The "Zürcher Blutgerichtsordnung" (Procedures for the Blood Court in Zürich ) dates from the 15th century and contains a detailed description of how the breaking on the wheel shall occur: Firstly, the delinquent is placed belly down, bound hands and feet outstretched to

6942-508: The whole of Transylvania, and resulted in the destruction of many castles and manor houses, especially those belonging to the Hungarian aristocracy. They brutally massacred nobles and Catholics, most of them Hungarians, and sacked churches. They captured some nobles, but let them go if they agreed to convert to the Orthodox faith. While going after Hungarian targets, they let Austrian soldiers alone and refrained from sacking imperial properties. On November 11, 1784, Horea dispatched an ultimatum to

7031-422: Was a Livonian gentleman who was condemned on charges of treason by Swedish king Charles XII in 1707. The priest Lorentz Hagen was a friend of Patkul's and described the horrors his friend had to endure when Patkul was condemned to be broken on the wheel: Here the executioner gave him the first stroke. His cries were terrible. "O Jesus! Jesus, have mercy upon me!" This cruel scene was much lengthened out, and of

7120-548: Was accompanied by Dumitru Todea and Cloșca, and, according to one source, Gavrilă, who is identified as his brother. On his second excursion to Vienna, in 1780, he was accompanied only by Cloșca; it was on this occasion that the Emperor is said to have ordered him to investigate the motives behind the Hungarians’ mistreatment of the Serbs and, particularly, the Romanians. His third trip was in 1782; his final Vienna sojourn, in 1783, lasted

7209-555: Was added to prevent confusion with Belgrat and Arnavut Belgradı ("Albanian Belgrade" in Turkish, early name of Berat during Ottoman rule). In 29 November 1599, Michael the Brave , Voivode of Wallachia , entered Alba Iulia following his victory in the Battle of Șelimbăr and became Voivode of Transylvania. In 1600 he gained control of Moldavia , uniting the principalities of Wallachia, Moldavia and Transylvania under his rule, which lasted for

7298-522: Was built in the second half of the 17th century. At the beginning of the 18th century, it was the residence of the Austrian army leader Prince Steinville. The palace was renovated in 2007 under the supervision of the Romanian Ministry of Culture. The Orthodox Unification Cathedral was built between 1921 and 1923, following the plans of architect D.G. Ștefănescu and built under the supervision of eng. T. Eremia. The frescoes were painted by Constantin in

7387-559: Was called Apulum (from the Dacian Apoulon , mentioned by Ptolemy ). When the settlement with its Roman ruins became the seat of a dukedom in the 10th century, the population may have been Slavic . From the 9th to the 11th centuries, the settlement bore the Slavic name Bălgrad (meaning "white castle" or "white town"). The old Romanian name of the town was Bălgrad , which originated from Slavic . The Hungarian name Gyulafehérvár

7476-408: Was on 13 August 1841. Since victims' bodies of the breaking wheel were often left exposed to environmental influences over a long period of time, hardly any archaeological features for the "breaking wheel" exist; as a deterrence, the bodies were often left on public display over many years, exposed to wind and weather, birds and other scavenging animals could also take away the remains and bones. In

7565-415: Was possible through the broken limbs, or tied to the wheel. The wheel was then erected on a mast or pole, like a crucifixion . After this, the executioner was permitted to decapitate or garrotte the convicted if need be. Alternatively, fire was kindled under the wheel, or the "wheeled" convict was simply thrown into a fire. Occasionally, a small gallows was set up on the wheel, for example, if there were

7654-462: Was secured to a cart wheel and was struck and broken with the coulter of a plough . Lady Warriston was later beheaded. In New York , at least one slave was executed on the breaking wheel following their involvement in a failed slave rebellion in 1712. Between 1730 and 1754, eleven slaves in French Louisiana , who had either killed, assaulted or escaped from their masters, were killed via

7743-520: Was the largest urban centre in Roman Dacia and was the seat of the XIII Gemina Legion . Apulum is the largest castrum located in Romania, occupying 37.5 hectares (93 acres) (750 x 500 m ). The Gesta Hungarorum mentions a Hungarian regent named Jula or Geula—the maternal grandfather of Stephen I of Hungary and lord [regent] of Transylvania—who built the capital of his dukedom there during

7832-445: Was then applied to the limb over the gap between the beams, breaking the bones. This process was inhumanely repeated several times per limb. Sometimes it was "mercifully" ordered that the executioner should strike the condemned on the chest and abdomen, blows known as coups de grâce ( French : "blows of mercy"), which caused fatal injuries. Without those, the broken man could last hours and even days, during which birds could peck at

7921-1138: Was used. Alba Carolina was also a Medieval Latin form of its name. Among Ruthenians , the city was known as Bilhorod ("white city"). The city's Latin name in the 10th century was Civitatem Albam in Ereel . The first part of the name Alba denotes the ruins of the Roman fort Apulum , the pre-feudal white citadel. Later in the Middle Ages, different names were used: Frank episcopus Belleggradienesis in 1071, Albae Civitatis in 1134, Belegrada in 1153, Albensis Ultrasilvanus in 1177, eccl. Micahelis in 1199, Albe Transilvane in 1200, Albe Transsilvane in 1201, castrum Albens in 1206, canonicis Albensibus in 1213, Albensis eccl. Transsylvane in 1219, B. Michaelis arch. Transsilv. in 1231, Alba... Civitas in 1242, Alba sedes eptus in 1245, Alba Jula in 1291, Feyrvar in 1572, Feyérvár in 1574, Weissenburg in 1576, Belugrad in 1579, Gyula Feyervár in 1619, Gyula Fehérvár in 1690 and Karlsburg in 1715. The modern city

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