Jan Mydlář

Jan Mydlář
Born	c. 1572
Died	1664 (aged 91–92)
Nationality	Bohemia
Occupation	Executioner
Title	Headsman

Execution of 27 Bohemian Revolt leaders, Old Town Square, Prague, 21 June 1621

Jan Mydlář (c. 1572–1664) was a 17th-century executioner from Bohemia. He is most known for the red hood he donned when performing executions.

Old Town Square execution

Mydlář carried out the Old Town Square executions of 27 Bohemian Revolt leaders. These leaders were men of high importance, representing various ranks in the society and professions of Bohemia. They had organized an uprising against the Habsburg Emperor Matthias and later Ferdinand II.

On 21 June 1621, Mydlář executed the 27 men on behalf of the Austrian House of Habsburg. There were 3 lords, 7 knights and other important men of the land. He beheaded 12 of the men using four swords. He beheaded them without using a block; just a single swing of the sword. He would have lost his job and his reputation if he had needed two sword strokes. It had to be a clean death. He used a new, sharp sword when executing his friend Jan Jessenius, an educated man who performed the first public autopsy in the Czech Lands. Jessenius also happened to be a spokesperson for the noblemen. Mydlář had to cut out Jessenius's tongue first, then behead him, then quarter his body. (Although the original sentencing was for Jessenius's body to be quartered before beheading, the emperor changed the punishment.)

The Habsburgs displayed the men's heads on the Prague Old Town Bridge Tower. The heads remained there for 10 years, then were taken down and buried in secret. Their location is unknown to this day. Two heads were sent to two other towns where their previous “owners” were mayors. A total of 47 men were sentenced to death (27 in Bohemia and 20 in Moravia) but the unprecedented cruelty of the Prague executions stopped the Moravian “sequel”. The Moravian men received a pardon, but all their lands and property were confiscated. The stage built for this bloody theatre was 20 steps long and 20 steps wide, covered in black linen. The executions started at 5 AM on a clear day, yet it’s been said that a rainbow appeared over the square. The executions lasted 5 hours and guns and drum rolls drowned out the final words of each of the convicted men. There were thousands of spectators, some of whom fainted. When all was finished, Mydlář and his helpers took apart the stage. They could have kept the wood as part of their pay, but nobody wanted it. The wood is thought to have been used to build a roof and stairs in a monastery.

Jan Mydlář had two sons, both of whom followed in his footsteps, as did his grandson Daniel.

There are 27 white crosses on the pavement of the Old Town Square commemorating the noblemen. The Czechs do not walk on them. Votive candles (a method of commemorating the dead in the Czech Republic) are put on each cross every year on the anniversary of the mass executions.

Legacy

Mydlář is the central character of a 19th-century novel by Josef Svátek based on his life, The Memoirs of a Prague Executioner. According to the novel, young Mydlář became an executioner because of a disappointment in love, just before graduating from medical school.

Mydlář is featured on the thrash metal band Sodom’s debut EP In The Sign Of Evil.

External links

• The Memoirs of a Prague Executioner