BB-045 / Punishment
Boiling Alive
The Act
Victims were lowered into or immersed in boiling water, oil, or other liquids. In England under Henry VIII the method was briefly prescribed for poisoners. Similar punishments appear in accounts from several cultures.
The Response
The English statute prescribing boiling was repealed within a few years. The method largely disappeared from European practice by the early modern period, though isolated reports exist elsewhere.