| The Hanged Man: A Story of Miracle, Memory, and Colonialism in the Middle Ages Subjects: Hanging -- Wales -- History -- To 1500 -- Case studies; Executions and executioners -- Wales -- History -- To 1500 -- Case studies; Near-death experiences -- Religious aspects -- Christianity -- History of doctrines -- Middle Ages 600–1500; Resurrection; Seven hundred years ago, executioners led a Welsh rebel named William Cragh to a wintry hill to be hanged. They placed a noose around his neck, dropped him from the gallows, and later pronounced him dead. But was he dead? While no less than nine eyewitnesses attested to his demise, Cragh later proved to be very much alive, his resurrection attributed to the saintly entreaties of the defunct Bishop Thomas de Cantilupe. Robert Bartlett is Wardlaw Professor of Medieval History at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. He is the author of The Making of Europe: Conquest, Coloniziaton and Cultural Change, 950-1350. |