Preindustrial cities displayed executions publicly and frequently

Evidence

Not only were executions likely to be public in the preindustrial city but they occurred with considerable frequency. Most social orders throughout much of history have found enormous numbers of reasons for putting humans to death. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1092

Categorization

• ADDENDUM: Public execution as a fixture of public space ties to the sacrificial-ritual line in ‘On Sacrifice: The Real Kind, with Corpses.’
• XREF: Public execution as spectacle connects to Foucault’s account of the sovereign’s public punishment, a companion analytic frame to Lofland. — connects to: Urbanization drove executions out of public view into prisons — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1663