The executioner's profession is regrettable, disrespectful, I would even say offensive. For the black sheep. Nobody really wanted to take on sins for the good of society. The executioners were strictly inherited. There was always a shortage of personnel. Some European cities have solved this issue in a rather unusual way - if no one wants to do the dirty work, let the Jews do it. What? They have already killed Christ, it will not be worse. In general, the Jewish communities were required to supply executioners. And here you want it or not - it's no use, they said - do it. But this is me, for a catchphrase, so that you more or less understand how things were with the executioners in Europe. And how was it in Russia? My answer is worse.
First, in Europe, "professionals" appeared in the Middle Ages. Finally, as a closed caste asserted itself in the XV century. In Russia, all this time, the "work" was carried out by archers, the military, up until the 19th century. One fine (no) moment, the government decided that a specialist should kill or maim. And it doesn't turn out nicely. No sooner said than done. The executioner's salary was penny, two times lower than the soldier's, in society exactly the same contempt as in Europe. There were no volunteers on such conditions. Why ruin your soul? Okay, the Senate thought, not the thought, let's raise the salary! Raised twice. And what do you think?
The situation has not changed. Then the government switched to radical measures - after all, why look for a specialist on the side, if you can get everything on the spot, so to speak? The executioners began to recruit prisoners, moreover, often death row. They didn’t have much choice, a “decent” prisoner would not have signed up to that. And then - either kill or be killed. It was impossible to keep such frames in a separate cell - they would let them go to the knives. We settled them separately. For life on earth - the poor fellow paid a pitch hell. Life turned into torture, no one wanted to know them, the church did not recognize them, most of them were always drunk, absolutely all strata of society - from women of low social responsibility to aristocratic offspring - despised the executioners.
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