Feb. 25, 2026

The Origin of Weird: Anne Greene, Life After Hanging

A servant is hanged before a crowd, declared dead, and sent to the university as a cadaver. Then a faint gasp stops the scalpels. We follow Anne Greene’s astonishing survival in 1650 Oxford—where public justice, scarce cadavers, and emerging medical practice collided—and explore how a single breath unraveled the era’s certainty about death, guilt, and divine will.

We walk through the culture of the gallows, where executions doubled as entertainment and moral theater, and the legal pipeline that delivered bodies to anatomy labs. Anne’s path from a risky pregnancy and a stillbirth to a murder conviction under the 1624 concealment law exposes the ruthless logic of a system stacked against poor, unmarried women. From there, we examine the mechanics of short-drop hanging, why strangulation often replaced the intended neck break, and how cold air and rope placement might have preserved a thread of life. When Oxford physicians William Petty and Thomas Willis opened her coffin, quick action—rewarming, stimulation, and the period’s humoral remedies—helped pull her back.

The fallout rippled across faith and law. Many called it a miracle, a sign that God had overruled the court. Officials chose a pardon rather than testing the limits of punishment twice, and Anne went on to marry and have children, becoming a living challenge to the assumptions of her age. Along the way, we weigh miracle versus medicine, highlight what records confirm and what remains unknowable, and trace how this case sharpened medical observation and public debate about justice, gender, and power.

If stories that bend the line between death and life fascinate you, hit play and join us. Subscribe, share with a curious friend, and leave a review to help more listeners find the show. What saved Anne Green—providence, physiology, or both? We want to hear your take.

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00:00 - Setting The Stage For Weird

01:21 - Public Spectacle Of Execution

04:55 - Cadavers And Medical Demand

08:16 - Anne Green’s Pregnancy And Peril

12:59 - The Gallows And A Botched Hanging

16:58 - Delivered For Dissection

18:36 - Signs Of Life On The Table

WEBVTT

00:00:15.839 --> 00:00:16.800
Oh, hey there.

00:00:17.039 --> 00:00:17.679
Oh, hey there.

00:00:17.839 --> 00:00:19.199
How's it going today, Kate?

00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:20.239
It's going well.

00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:20.800
How are you?

00:00:20.960 --> 00:00:21.440
I am well.

00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.640
I am Bradley, and this is the origin of weird.

00:00:26.559 --> 00:00:32.240
Where we try to find the origin of weird.

00:00:33.920 --> 00:00:36.079
I mean, it's in the fucking title.

00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:38.079
Need we say more?

00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:40.079
We yes, we should.

00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:41.840
And let me do that right now.

00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:46.399
Um it's never gonna be found because there's so much weird shit in this world.

00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:47.359
I don't know it.

00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:48.640
Holy fuck.

00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:49.039
Yeah.

00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:54.240
We've literally only scratched the surface of weird.

00:00:54.640 --> 00:00:54.880
Yeah.

00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:58.399
Like the Oakville Blobs last episode.

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That was fucking weird.

00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:00.719
Yeah.

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For lack of a better way of saying it.

00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:05.200
And on brand.

00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:06.719
But anyways.

00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:08.560
I mean that was weird.

00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:10.480
At least it wasn't on Brad.

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See what you did there.

00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:15.680
Oh my god.

00:01:16.000 --> 00:01:16.640
Well, are we?

00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.680
I I just want you to know I'm laughing inside.

00:01:19.920 --> 00:01:20.239
Okay.

00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:21.120
Okay.

00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:27.599
Um, so we are going all the way back to 17th century.

00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:29.280
1600s.

00:01:29.599 --> 00:01:30.159
That's right.

00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:32.239
That's how far weird goes back.

00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:34.159
Well, no, it goes back further.

00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:34.879
Probably.

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Jesus, am I right?

00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:43.599
I I I still like to joke that my mom walked with Jesus because she's really old.

00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:45.760
Anyways.

00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.719
1600s, 17th century, let's do this.

00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:49.280
Yes.

00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:50.319
So where are we going?

00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:51.920
We are going to England.

00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:52.879
Yes, we are.

00:01:53.040 --> 00:02:00.159
Um, and they had a very um public relationship with death.

00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:01.519
Okay.

00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:02.400
Mm-hmm.

00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:04.879
Executions in particular.

00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:05.599
Sure.

00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:06.719
I mean, they were all about it.

00:02:06.959 --> 00:02:08.080
At the gallows.

00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:09.039
Yes.

00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:11.759
Were not quiet affairs.

00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:13.599
They were spectacles.

00:02:13.919 --> 00:02:15.680
They they were public.

00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:16.879
Very, very public.

00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:19.039
They were social gatherings, if you will.

00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:20.080
They really were.

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The people would come from miles to watch.

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Oh, this person is gonna get hanged.

00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:30.560
Honey, what you doing tomorrow night?

00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:32.240
Going to the gallows.

00:02:32.479 --> 00:02:33.520
Me too.

00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.759
No, it's it was a public gathering.

00:02:38.080 --> 00:02:38.719
Me too.

00:02:39.120 --> 00:02:40.000
Me too.

00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.360
Yes, crowds gathered early.

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Vendors sold food, probably.

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We don't know.

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People brought their children along.

00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:52.719
Maybe there was a ring toss game where you could like win a goldfish or big stuff.

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We don't know.

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Those games are fucking rigged.

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They've been rigged for 600 years.

00:02:58.960 --> 00:03:04.960
But a hanging was part moral lesson, part ritual, part entertainment.

00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:05.919
Oh, for sure.

00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.199
And if you were condemned, your private moments were not.

00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:09.759
No.

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Final move moments were not private.

00:03:12.639 --> 00:03:22.080
So do you think, and this is just not in your research, do you think people put bets on if they were gonna shit themselves or not?

00:03:25.199 --> 00:03:29.840
No, I would think that they would bet on if their neck snapped or not.

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Now hear me out.

00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:32.000
Okay.

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When you die, there's a very good chance you're gonna shit yourself.

00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:37.280
Yes.

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Because the sphincter loses all control.

00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:42.319
Yes.

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Does it happen every time?

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No.

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Does it happen a lot of times?

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Oh yes.

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Now when you're hanged, which isn't a common thing in our time, obviously.

00:03:57.199 --> 00:03:58.000
Gravity.

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I'm just saying gravity.

00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:01.759
Alright.

00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:02.400
Sorry.

00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:08.080
So once you were um declared dead, well, yeah.

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It actually meant one thing back then.

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That was it was actually useful when you died.

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The study of anatomy was advancing quickly, but bodies were scarce.

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So they would take the bodies.

00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:22.160
Yes.

00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:35.519
So universities were constantly in need of cadavers, and there was a law that mentioned um it would allow bodies of executed criminals to be handed over for dissection.

00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:42.879
Because basically they were null and void of being human at that point, if to a to a lesser degree.

00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:45.519
I'm not saying exactly those words, but yes.

00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:46.160
Yeah.

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And they didn't want to grave grave rob anymore.

00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:50.399
Yeah.

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They used to do that.

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Yeah.

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For for the advancement of human society.

00:04:56.560 --> 00:05:05.199
So in 1650 in Oxfordshire, a young woman named Anne Green found herself at the center of all of this.

00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:11.759
Um, Anne Green was not famous, she was not wealthy, she was a servant.

00:05:11.920 --> 00:05:15.759
She was young, low status, largely invisible to the world.

00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:18.000
Um but what did she do?

00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:20.560
She ended up getting pregnant.

00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:23.920
By the husband of the people she served?

00:05:24.240 --> 00:05:27.199
By the son of the people she served.

00:05:27.439 --> 00:05:28.879
Oh, scandalous.

00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:29.600
Yes.

00:05:29.920 --> 00:05:32.720
So do we know how old she was?

00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:34.160
The what's her?

00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:35.279
I'm sorry, what's her name?

00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:36.959
Her name is Ann Green.

00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:40.000
Um, no, I didn't come across how old she was.

00:05:40.240 --> 00:05:40.480
Okay.

00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:44.720
She was younger, but um how old was the son?

00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:47.040
I I didn't look that up either.

00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:47.839
That's okay.

00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:49.439
What would you guess?

00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:53.360
Twenties, early set teens and twenties, somewhere around there.

00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:54.800
That's fine.

00:05:55.360 --> 00:06:02.160
Um, so we're not sure if the relationship was consensual or coerced or something different.

00:06:02.959 --> 00:06:05.199
Because of power placement or something, yeah.

00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.360
Yeah, but an unmarried pregnant servant carried enormous risk.

00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:19.360
A single accusation could ruin a woman's reputation, cost her employment, threaten her ability to survive at all in a world.

00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:29.519
It also could threaten the family that because hey, I this is your your heir, if you will, right?

00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:30.079
Yeah.

00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:34.480
I mean, they could be like, hey, I have a part in this now.

00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:41.040
So in late 1649, um, Anne went into premature labor.

00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:41.920
Oh dear.

00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:43.759
The infant was stillborn.

00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:53.120
Um she was terrified and alone, and she did the only thing that she could think of um at the time to protect herself, and that was to hide the body.

00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:54.399
Oh shit.

00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:57.120
I mean, yeah, I get I I get it, though.

00:06:57.439 --> 00:06:58.800
But it was discovered.

00:06:59.040 --> 00:06:59.519
Of course.

00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:06.879
And under the 1624 Concealment of Birth of Bastards Act, didn't know that was an act.

00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:14.079
An unmarried woman who hit the death of her child was presumed guilty of murder unless she could prove that the child had been born dead.

00:07:14.399 --> 00:07:14.720
Oh.

00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:18.720
Which at the time, proving that was nearly impossible.

00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:20.560
I say, how how could you prove that?

00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:25.199
Yeah, today there would be like an autopsy to see if there was air in the baby's lungs.

00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:26.560
Yep, all that good stuff.

00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:31.519
Yeah, and of course, Anne insisted that the baby had never lived, but it was still born.

00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.279
She was already presumed guilty.

00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:35.920
Well, that's usually how the world works.

00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:44.639
She was tried in Oxford, and the verdict came quickly with very little room for mercy, and Anne Green was sentenced to hang.

00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:45.600
Jesus.

00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:50.000
On December 14th, 1650, Anne Green was led to the gallows.

00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:51.360
Jesus Christ.

00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:55.519
Executions were supposed to be efficient.

00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:01.600
Um, short drop, rope, gravity, the end.

00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:03.600
Neck neck break, yeah.

00:08:03.839 --> 00:08:04.240
Yes.

00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:08.560
Um, but they're not exactly a precise calculation at this time.

00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:13.040
They you wouldn't how do I say this delicately?

00:08:13.279 --> 00:08:17.439
They're not proficient in their craft, if you will.

00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:22.319
So sometimes death came by strangulation rather than a broken neck.

00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:23.279
Oh, sure.

00:08:23.519 --> 00:08:24.879
And that could take some time.

00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:27.759
Yep, because they're wriggling and rylin'.

00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:28.720
Yep, yep, yep.

00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:36.720
So Anne was placed on a ladder, and when it was kicked away, Anne struggled at the end of the rope and the crowd watched, waiting for the moment where she would be still.

00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:44.879
But she's accounts say that friends tugged on her legs to like quicken the death.

00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:46.320
Friends did?

00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:52.559
Yeah, it sounds horrifying, but it was actually kind of an act of kindness because they were trying to end her suffering.

00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:52.879
Yeah.

00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:53.840
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:59.600
Half an hour later, oh my god, she was finally still.

00:09:00.399 --> 00:09:05.200
Her body was cut down, placed in a coffin, and death was officially declared.

00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:10.320
The crowd began to disperse, and the spectacle were was over, or so everyone believed.

00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:12.480
So everyone thought.

00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:20.240
As was customary, her body was delivered to physicians at the University of Oxford for anatomical study.

00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:21.120
Wow.

00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:22.720
Did she wake up?

00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:23.919
Perhaps.

00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:24.879
Oh, Jesus.

00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:26.000
Seriously?

00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.000
Among the doctors were Dr.

00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.919
William Petty and Dr.

00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:34.639
Thomas Willis, men of science, curious, practical, smart men.

00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:38.799
Um, and Anne was no longer a person with a story.

00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:39.840
She was a specimen.

00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:40.720
Well, of course.

00:09:40.960 --> 00:09:44.879
I mean, she was tried and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:46.639
Now she's literally nothing.

00:09:46.799 --> 00:09:47.200
Yeah.

00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:52.000
To especially to them, because they're just scientists at this point.

00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:52.320
Yeah.

00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:53.919
And they have a specimen.

00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:58.159
Nobody fucking cared what she was in life at that point.

00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:04.799
So the coffin was opened and the doctors prepared their examination, but as they worked, they noticed something.

00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:05.440
Oh dear.

00:10:05.919 --> 00:10:07.679
There was a faint sound.

00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:12.559
Like at first they thought it was like a s air escaping her the body.

00:10:12.799 --> 00:10:19.120
Was it which but that's kind of a common occurrence, just like gases.

00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:19.759
Yeah, yeah.

00:10:20.000 --> 00:10:20.720
Yeah, yeah.

00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:24.159
But then came like another noise, more of a gasp.

00:10:24.399 --> 00:10:27.600
And that's when they noticed that there was slight movement in her chest.

00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:28.720
Oh shit.

00:10:29.039 --> 00:10:37.600
To the astonishment, Anne began to revive as her breathing deepened and her pulse grew str uh stronger.

00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:44.879
And for uh, you know, these men were trained observers, they were not prone to hysteria.

00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:52.960
And here was this woman who had been hanged, declared dead, um, coffined, transported, and now breathing on their table.

00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:54.240
That's fucking wild.

00:10:54.480 --> 00:11:07.519
They moved quickly, uh, put their scalpels down, and they warmed her body up with um placing her by a fire, rubbing her limbs, and pouring warm liqueur through her lips.

00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:11.840
And this would help like stimulate her breathing.

00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:12.320
Sure.

00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:15.840
They reportedly also tickled her throat with a feather.

00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:18.720
Oh, that's a common practice till to this day.

00:11:18.960 --> 00:11:19.279
Yeah.

00:11:19.519 --> 00:11:21.360
And bled her slightly.

00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:22.960
I like how you're like, yeah.

00:11:23.200 --> 00:11:27.279
Which was a medical practice back then meant to balance the humors of the body.

00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:28.559
The the the what?

00:11:28.720 --> 00:11:29.600
The humors.

00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:36.320
Like the blood, black, black vial, yellow bile, and phlegm.

00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.919
They're like boun they were supposed to like balance out the body.

00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:40.799
So I don't know.

00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:43.919
I mean, you when you say humors, I'm like, that's a good joke.

00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:45.360
Yeah, they called it humors.

00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:45.679
Anyway.

00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:46.399
I didn't know that.

00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:46.799
Okay.

00:11:47.039 --> 00:11:55.679
Um, so she began to uh speak in faint whispers, and within hours she was conscious enough to respond.

00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:56.320
Wow.

00:11:56.639 --> 00:11:59.679
Um, so within days she was able to sit up in bed.

00:11:59.919 --> 00:12:00.080
Okay.

00:12:00.480 --> 00:12:02.399
Um, now very much alive.

00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:04.720
So the word spread rapidly.

00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:05.360
Sure.

00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:14.559
A hanged woman had come back to life, and in a deeply religious society, this was not merely medical, it was theological.

00:12:14.879 --> 00:12:16.799
Correct, because it was miracle.

00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:19.759
Everyone's like, oh, thanks be to Jesus.

00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:20.320
Yeah.

00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:20.799
Yeah.

00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.960
So many interpreted her survival as divine intervention.

00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:31.519
If God had allowed her to live after lawful execution, perhaps the execution had been unjust.

00:12:31.840 --> 00:12:36.320
So the physicians documented this case carefully.

00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:37.120
Sure.

00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:43.120
They published accounts detailing the sequence of events and the message methods used to revive her.

00:12:43.840 --> 00:12:48.399
And in their view, it was a triumph of observation and intervention.

00:12:49.679 --> 00:12:55.519
Um, and an excellent um advertisement for their competence as well.

00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:00.879
Well, yeah, because they want to make it seem like they're doing their fucking job properly, right?

00:13:01.200 --> 00:13:03.840
But there was still a question that hung in the air.

00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:07.600
What does one do with a woman who's already been executed?

00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.000
Technically, the sentence had been carried out.

00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:10.320
Yeah.

00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:13.919
The rope had done its work, just not quite thoroughly enough.

00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.399
So is it isn't it like that movie?

00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:19.200
Um, oh fuck, it's got what, her name?

00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:20.399
Ashley Judd.

00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:22.559
Um Double Jeopardy.

00:13:22.720 --> 00:13:23.759
Yes, thank you, thank you.

00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:24.799
Right?

00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:32.159
I mean You can't be tried for the same thing if you're already like found a guilty or not guilty for it.

00:13:32.240 --> 00:13:35.679
So yeah, so they were like, is she gonna be hanged again?

00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:39.519
The law did not have like a addendum for something like this.

00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:40.240
Nope.

00:13:40.480 --> 00:13:45.919
But the authorities chose not to test the fate, and Anne Green received a pardon.

00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:47.120
Oh shit, really?

00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:47.759
Yep.

00:13:48.000 --> 00:13:54.559
If Sun believed her survival was an act of God, it would have been unwise and probably unpopular to argue.

00:13:54.799 --> 00:13:56.960
Who do you think she would have got a pardon from at that point?

00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:00.000
Was it would have could have been the a judge?

00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:00.639
Judge?

00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:05.759
Well, usually pardons would come from like the highest authority.

00:14:06.159 --> 00:14:06.480
Yeah.

00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:09.759
And which kings can pardon.

00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:15.440
Yeah, I don't because Elizabeth wouldn't have been queen at this time.

00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:17.039
I think she would have already been passed.

00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:22.159
So I'm I'm not sure who would have been king, but I would I would assume it would come from that level.

00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:22.559
Yeah.

00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:24.080
I have no idea if I'm right.

00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:24.480
Yeah.

00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:27.519
But I would have that's where I would my brain goes.

00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:28.639
So anyway, sorry.

00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:29.519
Yeah.

00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:36.159
So she became something of like a living curiosity as people came to see her and speak with her.

00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:37.200
Yep.

00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.240
Confirmed that she was real and breathing and present.

00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:42.080
Confirmed she was real.

00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:47.840
And eventually married a man named John Bunn, had children, lived for years afterwards.

00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:54.000
Um we have court records, we have physician accounts, but we don't know anything from her point of view.

00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:54.639
Sure.

00:14:54.799 --> 00:14:55.120
Yeah.

00:14:55.360 --> 00:14:59.279
There were no like private recollections or diaries or anything.

00:14:59.519 --> 00:14:59.840
Okay.

00:15:00.480 --> 00:15:05.919
In 1650, medical knowledge of oxygen deprivation and brain injury was limited.

00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:06.399
Yep.

00:15:06.559 --> 00:15:10.399
And a hanging did not always mean immediate irreversible death.

00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:19.120
If the neck did not break and the airway was not completely obstructed, um survival, though rare, was still possible.

00:15:19.360 --> 00:15:20.320
Oh, yeah, definitely.

00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:23.759
That day, the cold winter air may have slowed her metabolism.

00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:24.159
Sure.

00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:32.879
The short drop may have um spared her cervical spine, and the delay before dissection may have given her body time to recover.

00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:34.000
Yeah, no doubt.

00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:41.120
So there are additional medical explanations like imperfect rope placement, incomplete asphyxiation.

00:15:41.279 --> 00:15:41.440
Yep.

00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:46.559
Um, but there was also rapid rapid intervention once signs of life were noticed.

00:15:47.039 --> 00:15:50.960
Which was probably what part of the reason why she was saved, really.

00:15:51.360 --> 00:15:51.759
Yeah, yeah.

00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:52.559
Wouldn't you think?

00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:53.519
Yeah, absolutely.

00:15:53.759 --> 00:16:00.879
Yeah, because otherwise, if they neglected that and be like, eh, it's just uh just like watching her breathe.

00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:04.879
Well, they honestly we're talking the 1650s, right?

00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:05.120
Yeah.

00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:09.440
You said yeah, they could have been like that, it's just a reflex of the body, right?

00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:11.519
They don't fucking know better, right?

00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:12.000
Yeah.

00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:16.000
So I mean, good on them for oh shit, no.

00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.480
That this chick is fucking alive.

00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.320
So yeah, wow.

00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:28.399
But her her case remains one of the best documented examples of survival after execution in early modern England.

00:16:28.720 --> 00:16:29.519
That's crazy.

00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:34.559
Yeah, that's so weird because like so many things could have gone wrong for her.

00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:35.279
Yeah.

00:16:35.600 --> 00:16:45.279
Because of well, clearly certain things went wrong for her because she was hanged for hiding her stillborn.

00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:46.320
Okay.

00:16:46.799 --> 00:16:51.440
I was just gonna say, unjustly hanged, because we don't know.

00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:53.679
Nobody really knows, right?

00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:58.159
If she did what they say she did to her baby.

00:16:58.399 --> 00:16:58.559
Yeah.

00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:02.159
If it was stillborn, she wasn't guilty of anything.

00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:02.720
Yeah.

00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:06.559
So she was unjustly hung at that point.

00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:12.799
Now, on the flip side, if she did do that, okay, she was justly hung.

00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:16.559
But either way, she fucking survived this?

00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:20.400
That is impressive in sixteen in the in the sixteen fifties.

00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:21.359
Yeah.

00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:29.039
Excuse me, but I mean, could you imagine being like, yeah, I was hung once.

00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:29.920
What?

00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:30.640
Ready.

00:17:31.039 --> 00:17:31.839
Wait, what?

00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.599
Yeah, now I've got three or however many kids she have ever.

00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:37.839
Did you say how many she had or no?

00:17:38.240 --> 00:17:42.319
Okay, but she had kids afterwards and married somebody else.

00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:54.319
But because she was, I don't know, had the bastard child of her words I'm looking for.

00:17:54.559 --> 00:17:55.359
People she worked for?

00:17:55.519 --> 00:17:59.279
Yeah, it was the son of it was the son of the people that she worked for.

00:17:59.440 --> 00:17:59.599
Yeah.

00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:01.680
And it's like, holy fuck.

00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:04.240
Well, actually, it wasn't even proven that it was that person.

00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:07.039
It was just like potentially this person.

00:18:07.359 --> 00:18:09.759
It was hinted at, we'll say.

00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:10.319
Yeah.

00:18:10.799 --> 00:18:13.440
But no proof, obviously.

00:18:13.759 --> 00:18:16.640
And they couldn't, like, well, let's check the DNA.

00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:17.519
Yeah.

00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:21.039
Hold on, let's wait 300 years and we'll do that.

00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:23.119
So they obviously couldn't do that.

00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:24.960
That's fucking weird though.

00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:30.640
I mean, to fucking be hung and like, nah, I'm good.

00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:33.279
I'm gonna go on living my life.

00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:33.599
Yeah.

00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:34.640
Holy shit.

00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:36.319
I mean, good on her.

00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:36.720
Yeah.

00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:37.680
So yeah.

00:18:38.000 --> 00:18:39.200
Well, I suppose.

00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:40.480
All right, buffoons.

00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:41.920
That's it for today's episode.

00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:46.240
Buckle up because we've got another historical adventure waiting for you next time.

00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:48.640
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00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:53.599
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00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.279
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00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:00.079
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00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:04.559
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00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:07.759
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00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:12.640
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00:19:12.799 --> 00:19:16.160
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00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:19.039
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The Origin of Weird: Anne Greene, Life After Hanging

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