December 14, 1650 On this day in good old England, in the city of Oxford, the execution of Anna Green, accused of murdering her child, took place.
This twenty-two-year-old country girl worked as a maid in the house of Sir Thomas Reid and was seduced by his grandson, Jeffrey Reid. After Anna became pregnant, Jeffrey Reid rejected her. Naive Anna Green hid her pregnancy, and therefore, at the birth of a premature dead boy, she hid his body.
However, the stillborn child was found, and his terrible appearance gave reason to accuse Anna of murder. She was taken into custody, and the court sentenced her to a very common punishment at that time - public execution by hanging. The execution was carried out at a specially designated place for such executions - Cattle Yard Square in Oxford, on Saturday 14 December 1650.
After the priest sang psalms, the official executor told those present about the essence of the crime and condemned the Reed family, which did not show proper care of the girl. Then the execution procedure was carried out. Anna Green went up to the gallows, a noose was thrown around her neck and knocked the ladder out from under her feet. Some of the spectators present at the execution hung on Anna's feet with all their weight, trying to hasten the death of the condemned woman in order to deprive her of unnecessary torment and pain.
However, the executioner, fearing that the rope would break, forced his volunteer assistants to leave the body alone. Anna Green remained hanging in the noose for about half an hour. Her body was placed in a coffin and taken to the home of Dr. William Petty (1623-1687), professor of anatomy at Oxford University, since in accordance with the Decree of King Charles I (1636) all corpses of those executed within 21 miles of Oxford were to be transferred to the medical faculty.
It should be noted that until 1549, anatomical research at the Medical Faculty of the University of Oxford was prohibited. This ban was forced to cancel by King Edward VI, outraged by the fact that the doctors who treated his bladder did not know how it works.
By decree of King Edward VI, every medical student was required to participate in at least four autopsies, two of which had to be performed independently. This innovation caused a real "hunt for corpses", and the solution to the problem came only a hundred years later, thanks to the aforementioned Decree of King Charles I of 1636.
When Dr. William Petty (1623-1687), Thomas Willis (1622-1675), Ralph Bathurst (1620-1692) and others gathered for the autopsy and opened the coffin, they noticed that the ribcage “corpse makes breathing movements, and heard some bubbling rales. Immediately leaving all thoughts about the upcoming autopsy, the pundits began to take all possible measures to return the woman to life.
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They removed Anna Green from the coffin, unclenched her teeth and poured into her mouth an intoxicating drink. This triggered a cough reflex in the "corpse", which prompted the assembled doctors to continue bringing Anna Green back to life even more energetically. They began to rub and massage her arms and legs. A quarter of an hour later, the doctors again poured into her mouth a strong drink and began to tickle her throat with a bird's feather, after which Anna opened her eyes for a moment.
Then they bled her and released 5 ounces of blood. Continuing to rub her arms and legs, the doctors placed tourniquets on Anna's limbs in order to increase the amount of blood flowing to the brain. After that, they again gave her an intoxicating drink, and gave her a hot enema to increase her body temperature. Then Anna Green was put to bed next to another woman, acting as a "heating pad" to keep the body warmth of the reviving execution victim.
Twelve hours later, Anna Green was able to say a few words, and the next day she could answer questions. After 2 days, she fully recovered her memory for everything that was before the execution. After 4 days she could already eat solid food, and after a month she recovered completely.
In the protocol for the return to life of Anna Greene, Dr. William Petty and Thomas Willis described in detail their observations regarding the patient's pulse, the frequency and type of breathing, the state of consciousness and memory. Two weeks after the execution, she began to vaguely recall the events of that day and of a man in a gray cloak, probably an executioner. It was noted that her face remained red and swollen for many days, and a strangulation groove with a knot imprint remained on her neck for a long time.
After a full recovery, Anna Green was pardoned by a special decision of the court and the governor of the Oxford prison, who reasonably judged that since the Lord God gave Anna Green life, the court has no right to cancel the decisions of the Most High. She returned to her village, lived for another 15 years and gave birth to three children.