Garrotte facts for kids

A garrote ( GƏ-ro(h)t; alternatively spelled as garotte and similar variants) or garrote vil is an execution device consisting of a handheld ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line, used to strangle a person.

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.

Garrote-like assassination techniques were widely employed in 17th- and 18th-century India, particularly by the Thuggee cult.

The garrote is known to have been used in the first century BC in Rome. It was also used in the Middle Ages in Spain and Portugal. It was employed during the conquista of the Americas, notably in the execution of the Inca emperor Atahualpa.

It was intended as a more merciful form of execution than death by burning.

In the Ottoman Empire, execution by garrote was reserved for very high officials and members of the ruling family.

During the Peninsular War of 1808–1814, French forces regularly used the garrote to execute Spanish guerrilleros, 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 in Barcelona. After that, all executions were performed inside prisons.

Notable people executed by garroting