I’ve been lead to believe that to be correctly tar and feathered the tar must be applied thickly and to the whole naked body. This causes a slow and agonising death via the complete shut-down of normal skin function.
I’ve found numerous cases of tarring and feathering and no intentional deaths. It was typically meant to humiliate someone rather than kill them, which is why it’s not considered a method of execution.
What does “complete shut-down of normal skin function” mean?
I think death is the point though…
Death? Tarring and feathering wasn’t an execution, it was a humiliation.
I’ve been lead to believe that to be correctly tar and feathered the tar must be applied thickly and to the whole naked body. This causes a slow and agonising death via the complete shut-down of normal skin function.
I’ve found numerous cases of tarring and feathering and no intentional deaths. It was typically meant to humiliate someone rather than kill them, which is why it’s not considered a method of execution.
What does “complete shut-down of normal skin function” mean?
The skin can’t breath or sweat under a full layer of tar and ends up like a full body case of advanced trench foot causing numerous complications.
The context was medieval full body and naked tarring though and it was something I was told as a child around 40 years ago.