Posthumous execution is the ritual execution of an already dead body. A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ...

Examples include:

• Leonidas of Sparta, who was beheaded and crucified following his death in battle of Thermopylae.

• John Wycliffe (1328–1384), who was burned as a heretic 45 years after he died.

• Vlad the Impaler (1431–1476), who was beheaded following his assassination.

• King Richard III of England (1452–1485), who was hanged by his successor King Henry VII following his death at the Battle of Bosworth Field. His body was further desecrated following the Dissolution of the Monasteries and, according to legend, thrown into the River Soar.

• Pietro Martire Vermigli (1500–1562), who was burned as a heretic following his death.

• A number of the regicides of Charles I of England had died before the Restoration of King Charles II. Parliament passed an order of attainder for High Treason on the four most prominent deceased regicides: John Bradshaw the court president, Oliver Cromwell, Henry Ireton, and Thomas Pride.^[1] The bodies were exhumed and the first three were hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn. The most prominent was the former Lord Protector Cromwell, whose body after said "punishment" was thrown, minus its head, into a common pit. The head was finally buried in 1960.^[2] The body of Pride was not "punished" perhaps because it had decayed too much. Of the regicides still alive then, some were executed and others either fled or were imprisoned. For a full list see List of regicides of Charles I.

• The body of Rasputin, the Russian monk, was exhumed from the ground by a mob and burned with gasoline.

• General Gracia Jacques, a supporter of François Duvalier ("Papa Doc") (1907–1971), Haitian dictator, whose body was exhumed and ritually beaten to 'death' in 1986.

• Nils Dacke, leader of a 16th century peasant revolt in southern Sweden.

In Christian countries until relatively recently, it was believed that to rise on judgement day the body had to be whole and preferably buried with the feet to the east so that the person would rise facing God.^[3][4] A Parliamentary Act from the reign of King Henry VIII stipulated that only the corpses of executed murderers could be used for dissection.^[5] Restricting the supply to the cadavers of murderers was seen as an extra punishment for the crime. It follows that if one believes dismemberment stopped the possibility of resurrection on judgement day, then a posthumous execution is an effective way of punishing a criminal.^[6] Attitudes towards this issue changed very slowly in the United Kingdom and were not manifested in law until the passing of the Anatomy Act in 1832. However for many of the British population it was not until the twentieth century that the link between the body and resurrection was finally broken.^{[citation needed]} Respect for the bodies of the dead is still a sensitive issue in the United Kingdom as can been seen by the furor over the Alder Hey organs scandal when the organs of children were kept without parents' informed consent.^[7] Leonidas (Greek: - Lions son, Lion-like) was a king of Sparta, the 17th of the Agiad line, one of the sons of King Anaxandridas II of Sparta, who was believed to be a descendant of Heracles. ... For other uses, see Battle of Thermopylae (disambiguation). ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Heresy, as a blanket term, describes a practice or belief that is labeled as unorthodox. ... Portrait of Vlad III in the Innsbruck Ambras Castle Vlad III Basarab (other names: Vlad Ţepeş IPA: in Romanian, meaning Vlad the Impaler; Vlad Draculea in Romanian, transliterated as Vlad Dracula in some documents; Kazıklı Bey in Turkish, meaning Impaler Prince), (November or December, 1431 – December 1476). ... Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 1483 until his death. ... Henry VII (January 28, 1457 – April 21, 1509), King of England, Lord of Ireland (August 22, 1485 – April 21, 1509), was the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty. ... Combatants King Richard III of England, Yorkist Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, Lancastrian Commanders Richard III of England† Nominally, Richmond in practice, the Earl of Oxford Strength 6,000 (king had 15,500 but Lord Stanley with 4,000 and his brother, Sir William Stanley with 2,500 betrayed; Henry... dissolution see Dissolution. ... The river in Leicester The River Soar is a tributary of the River Trent in the English East Midlands. ... Pietro Martire Vermigli, known as Peter Martyr (1500-1562), was a theologian of the Reformation period. ... For other uses, see Regicide (disambiguation). ... Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was King of England, King of Scotland and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. ... King Charles II, the first monarch to rule after the English Restoration. ... Charles II (29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685) was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. ... Under English (and later, British) law, high treason is the crime of disloyalty to the Sovereign amounting to an intention to undermine their authority or the actual attempt to do so. ... John Bradshaw (1602-October 31, 1659) was one of the judges to preside over the trial and subsequent death sentence of Charles I of England. ... Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England, Scotland and Ireland into a republican Commonwealth and for the brutal war exercised in his conquest of Ireland. ... Henry Ireton Henry Ireton (1611 - November 26, 1651), was an English general in the army of Parliament during the English Civil War. ... For the recipient of the Victoria Cross see Thomas Pride (VC). ... To be hanged, drawn and quartered was the penalty once ordained in England for treason. ... Tyburn was a former village in the county of Middlesex close to the current location of Marble Arch. ... Lord Protector is a particular English title for Heads of State, with two meanings (and full styles) at different periods of history. ... Regicides of Charles I are considered to be the 59 Commissioners (Judges) who formed the tribunal that tried King Charles I of England and signed his death warrant, along with other officials who participated in his trial or execution, and Hugh Peters an influential republican preacher. ... Grigori Rasputin Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin (Russian: ) (22 January [O.S. 10 January] 1869 – 29 December [O.S. 16 December] 1916) was a Russian mystic with an influence in the later days of Russias Romanov dynasty. ... Dr. François Duvalier, known as Papa Doc (April 14, 1907 – April 21, 1971[1]), was the President of Haiti from 1957 and later dictator (President for Life) from 1964 until his death. ... Nils Dacke was the leader of a 16th century peasant revolt in Småland, southern Sweden called the Dacke War (se: Dackefejden), fought against the Swedish king Gustav Vasa. ... For other uses, see Christian (disambiguation). ... // Main article: Jewish eschatology Orthodox Judaism holds that belief in the Resurrection of the Dead is one of the cardinal principles of the Jewish faith. ... The term Judgement Day may refer to: The Last Judgement; the ethical-judicial trial, judgement, and punishment/reward of individual humans (assignment to Heaven or to Hell) by a divine tribunal at the end of time. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... In Westminster System parliaments, an Act of Parliament is a part of the law passed by the Parliament. ... “Henry VIII” redirects here. ... A cadaver is a dead body. ... The Anatomy Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. ... The Alder Hey organs scandal involved the unauthorized removal, retention, and disposal of human tissue, including children’s organs during a period from 1988-1995. ...

Notes

1. ^ Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8: 1660–1667 (1802), pp. 26-7 House of Commons Attainder predated to 1 January 1649 (It is 1648 in the document because of old style year)
2. ^ Cambridgeshire Museums Online
3. ^ Essex, Mass. - Cemetery: The Old Burying Ground, Essex, Mass.I. Description and History "Up until the early 1800s, graves were marked by pairs of headstones and footstones, with the deceased laid to rest facing east to rise again at dawn of Judgement Day."
4. ^ Grave and nave: an architecture of cemeteries and sanctuaries in rural Ontario "Sanctuaries face east, and burials are with the feet to the east, allowing the incumbent to rise facing the dawn on the Day of Judgment"
5. ^ The history of judicial hanging in Britain: After the execution "Henry VIII passed a law in 1540 allowing surgeons 4 bodies of executed criminals each per year. Little was known about anatomy and medical schools were very keen to get their hands on dead bodies that they could dissect"
6. ^ Miriam Shergold and Jonathan GrantThe evolution of regulations for health research in England(pdf) Prepared for the Department of Health, February 2006. Page 4. "For example, the Church banned dissection and autopsies on the grounds of the spiritual welfare of the deceased."
7. ^ Alder Hey organs scandal: the issue explained by David Batty and Jane Perrone Friday April 27, 2001 in The Guardian