The worst way to die?

On August 23, 1305, William Wallace was put to death in a truly barbaric fashion by being drawn and quartered. Readers of The Reckoning know about this gruesome, savage form of execution. It is sometimes said that Davydd ap Gruffydd was the first to suffer this fate. There were a few other cases prior to Davydd’s death in 1283, but in Davydd’s execution we see the origins of the state trial, and drawing, quartering, and disembowelment then became the official method of executing those charged with treason. It was Edward I’s legacy to future kings, and while I am sure he wanted to intimidate would-be rebels, I do not doubt that he also wanted Dayvdd and Wallace to suffer greatly as they died—and they did. In the Reckoning, I was faced with the challenge of dramatizing Davydd’s agonizing death. I suspected that my readers did not want to read a detailed blow by blow depiction of his suffering; my mother said if I did that, I was out of the will.  So I chose to write about Davydd’s last hours as he sought to fend off his fears, his ghosts, and his regrets, determined that he would show his enemies how a Prince of Wales died. In some ways, that just as difficult to write.