HAMMOND, La. (WGNO) — With a hood over his head, everyone in old-world Europe knew who the executioner was. His likeness strolls around the Louisiana Renaissance Festival, as a nod to more gruesome times. "Pierce the Renaissance Festival Executioner" enjoys playing into character with his son and says, "I take care of those who seem to break the laws and not want to reform. There are not always things to do around here. We get a little bored and an execution is a very exciting thing to see. As a matter of fact, I think I heard about a thief actually.  One of our villagers had a goat stolen.  I'm keeping an eye out for a goat thief." Get your thrills riding the human-powered rides at Renaissance Fest Fayçal Falaky is a historian and Tulane professor of French language and culture and says, "It was a profession that would pass often from father to son." In the earlier centuries, public execution had a long bloody history, well before Christianity. The Reign of Terror was a period in France that was one of the bloodiest. It took place during the French Revolution, where at least 17,000 people were executed due to suspicion of being anti-revolutionary. During this time, there was an array of torture devices and machinery designed to end human life as part of a spectacle. "There was also quartering, perhaps the most cruel and reserved for heresy and treason.  They would quarter a person and tie their legs to four different horses running in opposite directions and then they were burned at the stake. There was also the execution wheel, where they would put somebody on a wheel and break their bones with a metal rod," explains Professor Fayçal Falaky. Beheading was held for nobility, while the rope was used to hang the common folk. The public square was the setting for the carnage of public executions. It was a visible deterrent against any rule-breaking. Renaissance Festival 2024 opens Nov. 2 in Hammond The guillotine was designed by Antoine Louis and was invented later in the 1700's. It was considered to be more humane than other forms of execution that predated it. It was supposed to be a swift separation to the neck, rather than a long arduous painful death. "One of the first instances of somebody riding against the death penalty was when the person was tortured with them cutting his tongue out.  He was allegedly saying blasphemous things.  They cut his hand because he didn't remove his hat and then he was beheaded because he was from nobility and then he was burnt at the stake and that started a movement in Europe of people writing against the death penalty," explains Professor Fayçal Falaky. It was but a step in the moving towards private punishment in general, and towards a re-examining of how human beings view capital punishment. Stay up to date with the latest news, weather and sports by downloading the WGNO app on the Apple or Google Play stores and by subscribing to the WGNO newsletter. Latest Posts Mired in delays, US ambassador to Mexico pushes for new border crossing to get done Dementia caregiver? Your wellbeing matters, too Meta's Threads app launches custom feeds amid Bluesky surge Pamela Hayden, longtime 'Simpsons' voice actor, hangs up her mic Sing-along screenings of 'Wicked' coming soon as AMC issues strict warning to fans