s after an
auto da fé, the condemned had been garrotted previously. It is one of the first depictions of a garrotte.
Pedro Berruguete,
Saint Dominic Presiding over an Auto-da-fé. The garrotte () is known to have been used in the first century BC in Rome. It is referred to in accounts of the
Second Catilinian Conspiracy, where conspirators including
Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura were strangled with a in the
Tullianum, and the implement is shown in some early reliefs. 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;
heretics, who converted to Christianity after their conviction, would receive a quick strangulation from the
Spanish Inquisition. A later version of the garrotte used an iron collar with a large metal screw in the back. The theory was that when the screw was tightened, it would crush the
brain stem and kill the victim instantly; however, if the screw missed the point where the brain meets the
spinal column, it would simply bore into the victim's neck while they were strangled by the iron collar. In the
Ottoman Empire, execution by strangulation was reserved for very high officials and members of the ruling family. Unlike the Spanish version, a bowstring was used instead of a tightening collar. During the
Peninsular War of 1808–1814, French forces regularly used the garrotte to execute Spanish
guerrilleros, priests, and other opponents of
Napoleonic rule. Around 1810 the earliest known metallic garrotte appeared in Spain, and on 28 April 1828, the garrotte was declared the sole method of executing civilians in that country. In May 1897, the last public garrotting in Spain was performed in
Barcelona. After that, all executions were performed inside prisons. == Abolition ==