10 Horrific Punishments From History That Could Be In Game Of Thrones

6. Butchered In Public By A Child For Her Son's Treachery - Margaret Pole

Margaret Pole lived in the turbulent reign of Henry VIII. At one point she was the fifth wealthiest peer in England and was a great patron of new learning. However, she was involved in several disputes with the king and her popularity at court was very unstable. Her problems came when her son Reginald Pole, one of the last Plantagenet claimants to the throne, began conspiring with the Pope and other powers in Europe to depose Henry VIII. She was thrown in jail despite never encouraging her son's campaign. In fact, she wrote asking him to cease his 'folly'. After 2 and a half years in the Tower of London, she was told she would be executed. Defiant to the last, she wrote a poem about her innocence on the wall of her cell and had to be forced down onto the block. Her executioner was apparently a 'blundering youth' who 'hacked her head and shoulders to pieces'. Accounts vary, but it seems that the first blow struck her shoulder and did not kill her, and a further 10 attempts were made to remove her head. Some accounts even suggested that she got up and tried to run away as the executioner hit her repeatedly. She was 67 years old.