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The reasons behind the executioner’s hood

What was the purpose behind the executioner’s hood? Was it meant to prevent splatter? Or protect the identity of the executioner from vengeance?

Iron mask with grotesque nose-piece, moulded eye-brows and furrowed brow, worn by executioner, European, 1501-1700

They were worn primarily to secure their identity though not worn that often.

“An executioner is said to have worn this mask before delivering the final blow, with either an axe or sword. It cuts a gruesome figure and is deliberately macabre and menacing to further terrify the prisoner. Executioners often wore masks to hide their identity and avoid any retribution. They were often booed and jeered, especially if the person to be executed was a popular or sympathetic figure.”

Symbolic or real, executioners were rarely hooded, and not robed in all black; hoods were only used if an executioner's identity and anonymity were to be preserved from the public. As Hilary Mantel noted in her 2018 Reith Lectures, "Why would an executioner wear a mask? Everybody knew who he was".

In the book “The Faithful Executioner” the author says they were not worn and the myth of the executioner’s hood appeared in the 1700–1800’s

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