The Memoirs of a Prague Executioner: A Historical Novel Based on Actual Events

by Josef Svátek

A young man from a privileged family, Jan Mydlar, is about to graduate from medical school when a sudden shift of fate changes his life forever. He becomes stuck in the most detested profession for the rest of his life—an executioner. Master Jan Mydlar finds himself in the middle of historical events of Bohemia. The religious and political turmoil in the Habsburg empire reaches its climax in the beginning of the 17th century. When Protestant leaders throw imperial Catholic governors out of the window of their offices at the Prague Castle, a civil war between Protestants and Catholics in Bohemia breaks out. The civil war explodes into a European conflict that lasts thirty years and leaves much of Europe in ruins. In the 1621 White Mountain Battle at Prague, Protestant rebels are defeated by Catholic forces and Master Jan is to execute 27 rebel leaders, most of whom are his fellow Protestants and countrymen. In “The Memoirs of a Prague Executioner,” Jan Mydlar describes how he went from a medical graduate to an executioner, gives an account of medieval crime and punishment, and explains the manners and values of late 16th and early 17th century society. The book deals with documented crimes of the time in a similar way as the work of François Gayot de Pitaval. The book contains graphic descriptions of medieval torture.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Ebooks

402 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Josef Svátek (24. února 1835 v Praze - 9. prosince 1897 tamtéž) byl český novinář, kulturní historik a spisovatel, zejména historických románů.
Svátek sice vystudoval reálné gymnázium a následně roku 1858 České vysoké učení technické v Praze, ale pak se věnoval žurnalistice a historii. Byl vrstevníkem májovců a v mládí se přátelil s Adolfem Heydukem. Působil v redakci Pražských novin a Pražského deníku, psal také pro Prager Zeitung. Ve svých dílech zpracovával výsledky svého bádání v málo známých nebo těžko přístupných archivech. Jeho prózy, týkající se zejména mocenské sítě jezuitů v Evropě a v Čechách, stavovského povstání a pobělohorských represí i revoluce v roce 1848, sympatizují s nekatolíky, vynikají množstvím historických a kulturních detailů a bohatým i fantastickým dějem.
Svátek patří společně Václavem Benešem Třebízským, Aloisem Jiráskem a Zikmundem Wintrem k nejvýznamnějším
spisovatelům historických próz v české literatuře.

Josef Svátek zemřel 9. prosince roku 1897 v Praze.

Reviews

[Autumn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been so much better. The author did an amazing job with research, background, & setting the stage, then piques your interest about the subject matter. After that though you never really get what you came to find because it is executed very poorly {bad pun ,I know}. It reads like a children's textbook glossing over some of the finer points of the job of an executioner in favor of repeating hanging after hanging & one beheading after another with the main character moving through his life as though he is in a video game with cheat codes on. There are no surprises, no "conflict". It is just someone recounting things they think are interesting, kept going by the characters saying things like "Please, tell me about it?" And "I would love to know more!". "I bet this will happen!" Then, the next day-it does. I understand that the author wanted to include actual events in the narrative, but that would've been possible to do as well as talk about many other methods of torture besides the 3 or 4 mentioned here. With the main character learning all about the trade you never learn of anything that the average person doesn't already know about it. This book also needs a good edit & some proofreading. It takes you out of the story when someone tells another to "keep quite or I will use the chocking pear." I think this was a wonderful idea, and could easily be a 5 star book if it was reworked a little and cleaned up some. Unfortunately you never really get the sense of appreciation the author wants you to for this man because he has just related to you why things should be amazing about it, but doesn't make you feel why.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting look at the work and status of executioners in Bohemia in the late 16th-early 17th centuries. Boring and repetitive in parts of the book. Would have benefited by good editing.

[Danessa Violette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

This book deserves several more stars! Normally I wouldn't choose this unique topic or style but I'm more than happy I did! Top three best books I've ever read! Thankyou

[Dayle · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Eyewitness" account by the executioner during the Thirty Years war. Historical background is interesting, very dry but it kept my attention.

[Sarah E · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book immediately upon finishing Tyll, which was a marvelous read, because the bits about the professional executioners in Tyll were so titillating and I needed to know MORE. This book is such an oddball. It's an historical novel that makes no concessions to the taste of modern readers. If you're reading it because you're into torture porn you'll be sorely disappointed. If you're reading it for a glimpse into life in Bohemia during the 30 Years War you will be bored out of your skull- events are recounted as dryly as possible, presumably to hit some historically accurate tone mark. If it's vibrant characters you're after, you'll find only cardboard cutouts- virtuous women and not, criminal personalities and upstanding men. There's material to be mined about how an executioner felt, for instance, nailing a human being to a post by his tongue, which isn't addressed at all. The book doesn't explore anything, doesn't go anywhere. Events happen drearily, mostly dead torsos are quartered, inner lives are absent. I learned a bit more, and I'm happy for that, but unless you just read Tyll and want to keep going, or end times have happened and this is literally the only book left on earth, give it a pass. If you can handle the This happened- then this happened- then this happened pace read an actual historical source. If you want to read a novel, there are infinite better options.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this to be an interesting (if not silly and inconsistent) read.

I find the start of the story weak. With multiple holes left for the protagonist to escape his fate early on. He was masked the entire time, after all.

The story is then, at times, non existent. Out of place descriptions of particular executions with the author taking the pains to re-describe things he has already told us at least 2 separate times. Often retold in the exact way they were told the first time. 2/3 of this book, it can be said, is unorganized. Yet fascinating.

I understand many of these events to be true. With the Bohemian Revolt execution being the most well documented as most definitely being done by Jan Mydlar. Beyond that, there seems to be some mystery, even among Czech sources, on Jan Mydlar and Svatek's own research when writing this book. Not to mention - who even wrote the English translation. Or the minimalistic and clearly somewhat modern Forward and Prologue?

Having said that - the execution scenes are graphic. Detailed. They seem to hold up rather well to modern scrutiny with some very notable exceptions that you'll have to read for yourself (Did I mention this gets silly?). They are also comedic. The day Jan becomes Prague's Old Town Executioner in particular is pretty hilarious, I do have to say.

I wasn't bored with this read. I struggle a bit knowing what to take with a grain of salt and what to not. But I believe the majority of it is fiction - outside of detailed explanations of certain execution methods.

[Jonathan Hubbard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hidden Window to the Past

This is an excellent retrospective on life, death, and everything between in 16-17th century Bohemia (Czech Republic). Both a history lesson and a compelling account, we get a peek into the realities of the executioner’s lot in life. The world is better for this being written, and I am better for having read it.

[Jeff Cramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great way to learn the history of this time and place

I knew little about Prague save what I knew of Czechoslovakia under comunism. This story was a great way to understand Bohemia and Europe

[Maurice Coutanceau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

Written in a conversational style, this book took me into the author’s life and also the life of the citizens of Prague. The people mentioned in this book are all real and so is not only entertaining but also a historical document.

[Ryan Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the time the focus of this book, Jan Mydlar, was the master executioner in late 16th to early 17th century Prague, he executed his fair share of...well...executions. Some instances were harder to swallow than others, even for Mydlar, a man accidentally thrust into one of the lowliest and most spat upon professions of medieval times. I shan't spoil the reasons he found himself on the wielding side of the ax, but I can assure you, it's unique to say the least. Needless to say, even though he is responsible for ending the lives of many, he takes no pleasure in his tasks. He lives his life believing he is meting out the word of the Lord's divine justice. Hey, whatever helps a hangman sleep at night? Amiright? *wink* Unfortunately for a conscientious man, his tenure of the gallows just happened to coincide with one of the bloodiest times (certainly not the last however) in Western Europe's history; the 30 Years' War in Bohemia between the Catholics and the protestants. This story is as much about the testament of a very interesting fellow in quite a peculiar profession as it is about the time period it is written in. From a historical standpoint I give this book an A++. That being said, for some readers, the torture may be difficult to bear as it is very detailed and quite (unfortunately) accurate. If you have a weak constitution spare yourself the guttural agony of Googling the various torture implements mentioned and used within these pages. If that doesn't bother you, then you will have a riotously good time. I'd give this book ten stars if I could, and I can almost assure you I will be reading it again quite soon.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I certainly didn't expect to like a book about the life of an executioner. I thought I'd start the book, then realize it wasn't worth reading, and not finish it. It turned out to be a good book. Executioners had a somewhat schizophrenic life. On one hand their services were needed as only those charged with being executioners could execute people sentenced by the courts to die. Their skills were held in high esteem. On the other hand, they were reviled as people. They had to live outside the confines of the city, could only enter the city through one gate, could worship at only one church where there was a hidden area for them and their family to sit, they could touch no one. Anyone touched by an executioner became as isolated as the executioner.

This story is set in Prague in the 1600's. It was written in the 1800's and was based on a real executioner named Jan Mydlár. The Catholics and Protestants are at war on and off. The executioner in this book had completed medical school when circumstances prevented him from returning to his wealthy family. He happened to be at the right place at the right time when Old Town Prague needed a new executioner. Jan's medical background was to his benefit and he quickly became the best executioner in Europe. He never lost his humanity despite the job he had to do. He was a very likable character.

Definitely a good book for those who like history.

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I was hoping for something more stylistically approachable as a historical document, but the translation (and/or adapatation - it's not really clear) of the documents into the colloquial, particularly a bunch of criminals talking like Alabama rednecks, kind of threw me. That said, it was an interesting and fairly quick read with tons of interesting detail. I especially loved the details of Prague in the late 16th-early 17th centuries, especially with the aftermath of the Battle of White Mountain, the change from the religious tolerance of Rudolf II to complete religious intolerance and the very objective - nay, scientific - way the executioner approached his craft and life. I also loved the popups of various figures I'd studied from Prague history, and his first hand accounts of being face to face with them (in many cases, in their last moments.) And a nice bonus was the ending wrapup of the Czech Republic's own move away from torture and executions.

Still, this is no great work, so all personal bias aside, I'd give it about 2 and three quarters. Heh, "quarters."

[Erik Sapp]

The first 2/3 or so of the book was amazing. I really loved reading about how the main character became an executioner and how he changed the public perception of executioners. The accounts of the executions were blunt, though not so detailed as to make the reader sick at the thought. I also liked how the main character interacted with the other characters, including how he met his wife.

About 2/3 of the way through, the book became an account of the wars between Catholics and Protestants in that part of the world. In hindsight, the story needed to be told, as it had an effect on how the main character did his job (and how he was seen). However, the accounts quickly became long and boring.

Finally, the politics and the wars ended, as did the main character's career as an executioner. He retired, turned the position over to his oldest son, and ended the book.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Milan Kundera got me hooked on Czech writers. Though I could never imagine reading a book about an executioner, I found this one fascinating because of the history and the story. Some parts are hard because of the horror of torture used in the sixteenth century. Not for the faint of heart. Mirek Katzl's English translation is wonderful.
I found out he is finishing another translation of JEWISH LEGENDS OF PRAGUE. I look forward to that as well. I was in Prague a couple of years ago and was in awe of the oldest Jewish cemetery there.

[📚Vanessa📚 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. I really enjoyed this. Pretty gruesome but engaging and moved quite fluidly. It sure made me think about the differences in the way we treat our criminals in these modern times. In the Middle Ages, in Central Europe at least, the focus was on making examples of criminals by making a spectacle of their torture and punishment. And now, here we are, doing the complete opposite. We bend over backwards to be more humane and with capital punishment, try to inflict the least amount of pain as possible. Which method is better? Something to ponder.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the title the book wasn't as graphic as you might initially think. It does give an insight into life in the city during the 16th Century, and also how one decision can affect the rest of your life. I have to admit that I enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone with an interest in Medieval European history

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The executioner

This is an an interesting if graphic historical account of torture and public executions. It was interesting to note that while the public enjoyed this form of justice, they considered the executioner an unclean and disgusting person. The way the executioner rationalized his job was a fascinating psychological study.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this on the reccomendation of a tour guide in Prague when I went last year. I was under the impression it was really his memoir, not historical fiction. It was OK, but not what I was expecting. I wish it would have focused more on the 1621 executions, since that was a big thing in Prague and this didn't really convey that.

[Brad Hoyt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the late 19th century by a Czech writer who based the story of the diary of the 15th century executioner in Prague, this book provides a window into a brutal past that most today would find difficult to imagine. It was interesting how the executioner was actually respected within the society while at the same time being shunned due to rampant superstition.

[Jodie Downes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting look back in to the practice of torture and execution within the walls of Prague. A fictionalised account based on the writings of actual executioner Jan Mydlar, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would read something similar again

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning about the history of Prague. I liked the fact that it was all based in reality but the narrative became a little repetative.

[Ruth Casey May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great historical read

I found the history the author used in this book made for an interesting read. Even tho it is "fiction",it is based on true events.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. Not sure how much it stuck to the truth of historic events but still a good read.

[Keith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish this. Not much of a plot, except how to execute prisoners and other law breakers. I got tired of reading about how many different was you could kill and torture a person.