Elisabeth T. Hurren, Dissecting the Criminal Corpse: Staging Post-Execution Punishment in Early Modern England, Palgrave MacMillan, 2016, ISBN 978-1-137-58249-2 (eBook)

Anne Carol (1, 2)

1 AMU - Aix Marseille Université
2 TELEMME - Temps, espaces, langages Europe méridionale-Méditerranée

This opus relates to the management of the criminal corpses over a period that extends from the adoption of the Murder Act (1752) until that of the Anatomy Act (1832). It discusses how these corpses were managed by lawyers and, above all, by penal surgeons whose role was regulated by both the Murder Act and the Anatomy Act. The Murder Act provided that in case of “horrid crimes”, the sentenced should be publicly dissected (ca 5% of the sentenced); hence it introduced post mortem punishments involving the medical profession. The Anatomy Act broadened its access to corpses insofar as it allowed the dissection of those unclaimed after death, for instance the poor who died in hospitals, workhouses or jails.

Mots clés: history of death; human remains; history of dissection

Domaines: Histoire; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Anne Carol. Elisabeth T. Hurren, Dissecting the Criminal Corpse: Staging Post-Execution Punishment in Early Modern England, Palgrave MacMillan, 2016, ISBN 978-1-137-58249-2 (eBook). Human Remains and Violence, 2019, pp.110-112. ⟨10.7227/HRV.5.2.8⟩. ⟨hal-02544644⟩