Sexual relations between humans and animals is actually legal in some countries. In others, it is a gray area and is neither legal nor illegal. However, centuries ago, bestiality was considered a grievous offense and commanded the death penalty.

Lots of people have been hanged for bestiality. However, not all were guilty. Some were hanged for flimsy reasons, such as looking like a baby animal. Others were found guilty even though the evidence was clearly flawed.

10 George Spencer

In 1642, George Spencer of New Haven, Connecticut, was executed for impregnating a sow. Spencer wasn’t caught in the act; he only became a suspect because the piglet the sow birthed looked like him.

The sow was owned by John Wakeman, who complained to a magistrate that his pig had birthed an abnormal piglet. The piglet was hairless and very soft. Its head was reddish-white, just like the head of a human child. Its ears, neck, mouth, chin and nose also resembled that of a human child. It also had one single eye protruding from the middle of its forehead.

Spencer had protruding eyes, just like the piglet. He also used to work for the former owner of the sow. So he became the suspect. Spencer appeared before the local magistrate, Stephen Goodyear, and denied any illicit relationship with the sow. However, Goodyear was already convinced that Spencer was the father of the piglet and would not take no for an answer.

Spencer continued denying any illicit relationship until Goodyear quoted Proverbs 28:13: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Believing he would be freed if he accepted guilt, Spencer agreed that he fathered the piglet. He later retracted his confession when he realized that the lie was not going to set him free. However, it was too late. He was sentenced to death by hanging.

Spencer was hanged on April 8, 1642. While awaiting execution, the accused sow was brought to the gallows and slaughtered right in his presence. Interestingly, Spencer retracted his earlier denial and confessed that he truly got the sow pregnant. Spencer claimed guilt, not because he did it but because that was what people wanted to hear.^[1]

9 Thomas Hogg

Like Spencer, Thomas Hogg was accused of impregnating a sow because her piglet looked like him. However, he (barely) managed to escape the hangman’s noose. We know this list is about people that were executed, but Hogg’s story is so interesting we couldn’t leave it out.

During the winter of 1645–1646, Margaret Lamberton of New Haven, Connecticut, discovered that her sow had birthed two abnormal piglets. The first was unusually white, and the other had an abnormally bulging right eye and a humanlike head.

Lamberton went to the town’s doctor with the piglets. There, she concluded that the piglets were part human. The suspect was none other than Thomas Hogg, who helped her care for the sow. He had a bulging right eye and was pale and white, just like the piglets. Lamberton was further convinced that Hogg was the father because he was prone to walking around with his privates on display.

In truth, Hogg was innocent. His pale look was caused by Graves’ disease. He unwittingly exposed his genitals because he suffered from an inguinal hernia. He always wore a steel gadget to stop his penis from entering into his body. This device often cut through his breeches, exposing his privates.

Hogg denied impregnating the sow. To prove Hogg truly fathered the piglet, Theophilus Eaton, the governor of New Haven, took Hogg to the sty in which the sow lived. He observed that the sow quickly turned lustful the moment Hogg touched her. To confirm Hogg was guilty, he made Hogg touch another sow in another sty. The sow did not flinch.

Hogg continued to deny the paternity claims and was finally acquitted because there were no witnesses. He would have been hanged like Spencer if he had confessed that he’d fathered the piglet. Hogg was not totally free, though. He was found guilty of displaying his privates and stealing food from Lamberton. He was sentenced to whipping and hard labor.^[2]

8 Thomas Granger

In 1642, Thomas Granger was executed in Plymouth for having sex with several animals, including a turkey. Granger was having sex with a mare when he was caught by another servant, who reported him to the authorities. Granger confessed that he had been having sex with several other animals besides the mare.

Then came the problem of determining the animals Granger had been copulating with. Authorities concluded that he had done it with a cow, a turkey, two goats, two calves, and five sheep. He was sentenced to death by hanging. Just before Granger was executed, the accused animals were marched to the gallows and slaughtered while he watched.^[3]

7 Claudine De Culam

Sometime in 1601, a French court sentenced 16-year-old Claudine de Culam to death after she was found guilty of having sex with a dog. Claudine denied any sexual relation with the dog, but the court had an ingenious way of finding the truth.

Prosecutors took Claudine and the dog to a room just outside the courtroom. Inside, Claudine was ordered to undress. The dog jumped on her immediately and attempted to mate with her. Prosecutors mentioned that the dog would have had its way with her if they had not stopped it. They believed this was enough evidence that Claudine and the dog had been engaging in an illicit relationship.

Claudine and the dog were stangled before their corpses were burned. Their ashes were then sprinkled around.^[4]

6 John Taylor

On December 5, 1774, John Taylor (aka John Philip Snyder) was hanged in Burlington, New Jersey, for bestiality and murder. On October 2, 1774, Orpha Emlay, who employed Taylor as a farmhand, caught him having sex with one of her cows. Emlay shouted, attracting the attention of Taylor.

Taylor grabbed a knife and hammer and went after Emlay, who quickly fled. He caught her, crushed her head with the hammer, and cut her throat. Taylor was hanged with Peter Galwin, who either raped or attempted to rape four girls. The crowd was so angry with the men that they tried to kill them before they could be hanged.^[5]

5 Jacques Ferron

Now, we are back to France. Sometime in 1750, Frenchman Jacques Ferron was found guilty of having sex with a jenny (a female donkey). As you should have noticed from the previous entries, the animals involved in bestiality charges are usually executed along with the accused. However, only Ferron received the death sentence this time.

The citizens of Vanvres wrote to the magistrate, claiming that the jenny was of good behavior and had been an unwitting victim. In the letter, which was signed by the local parish priest, the jenny was said to be well-known for her gentle and honest behavior. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Ferron, who was hanged.^[6]

4 Benjamin Goad

In 1674, 17-year-old Benjamin Goad (or Gourd) was hanged for bestiality in Massachusetts. He was caught having sex with a mare. Goad confessed that he’d been having sex with the horse for a year. No one could vouch for the mare’s behavior this time, and it was slaughtered while Goad watched. Goad himself was executed soon after.

However, we remember the execution for something else. It was the first time a sermon would be delivered at an execution. The sermon was given by the local parish priest, Samuel Danforth, who had known Goad since birth. Danforth said Goad’s execution was justified because sins like masturbation, prostitution, adultery, fornication, and bestiality were the reasons God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.^[7]

3 Walter Robinson

In 1654, 15-year-old Walter Robinson was hanged for bestiality in New Haven, Connecticut. Robinson worked as a shepherd. He was grazing his flock when a fisherman (some sources say a sailor) caught him having sex with his dog.^[8]

Robinson fled when he realized the fisherman had seen him. The fisherman shouted after him and promised that he would be executed. Robinson was later arrested. He initially denied the charge but later agreed that he had sex with the dog but said he did not fully penetrate her.

The fact that he only partially penetrated the dog would not save him from death, and he was sentenced to be hanged. Before his execution, he watched the dog stabbed to death. He and the dog were buried in the same grave.

2 William Potter

By now, you’ve probably noticed that New Haven, Connecticut, has a long history of hanging people for bestiality. William Potter was added to the long list in 1662, after his son caught him having sex with a sow. Ironically, Potter was among the people who founded New Haven.

Potter’s case was particularly of interest because he was thought to be morally and religiously upright. Besides helping in founding the colony, he also attended John Davenport’s church, which had the strictest rules for membership in the whole of New England.^[9]

Potter initially denied the charge of bestiality but later admitted that he really had sex with the sow. He confessed that he had been having sex with animals since he was 11. He said he tried suppressing the urge and once once hanged a dog because he almost had sex with it. But the urge took hold of him, and it continued for over 50 years before he was caught.

John Davenport’s church was so disgusted with the charges that they held a “Solemn Day of Humiliation on this Occasion” to cleanse the church of Potter’s sins. Potter cried as he was taken to the gallows for execution. Before he was hanged, several cows, sheep, and sows he was suspected to have copulated with were slaughtered while he watched.

1 John Farrell And Gideon Washburn

In 1796, John Farrell was sentenced to death by hanging in Massachusetts after he was caught having sex with an unnamed wild animal. Three years later, Gideon Washburn was sentenced to death by hanging in Connecticut for having sex with two mares and a cow.

The sentencing of both men surprised historians for two reasons. First, both men were in their eighties. People accused of bestiality were usually much younger. Also, no state in the Colonies/US had hanged anyone for bestiality for over a century. (Remember, John Taylor also murdered someone.) So what happened?

Historians Doron Ben-Atar and Richard Brown noted that the men were sentenced to death by hanging because of the uncertainty that followed the Revolutionary War. The US was a new and confused nation at the time. Religious teachings and beliefs were being questioned, and some people thought religion was under threat. The Puritans, who imposed many of the earlier bestiality sentences, continued to do so to show that they were in charge. However, solace came Farell’s way when Governor Sam Adams pardoned him. Washburn was also saved from the gallows when he died a few days before his scheduled execution.^[10]

Rulers killing their subjects isn’t new, but neither is rulers killing their own children. The most powerful people of their realms had little control over their own children and, at times, their own tempers.

These monarchs didn’t settle for a time-out or a slap on the wrist when they felt that their children were misbehaving. Being the child of a monarch could prove to be deadly as these royal kids found out the hard way. Here are 10 monarchs who felt that crowns were thicker than blood.

10 Ivan IV Of Russia And Ivan Ivanovich

Ivan IV of Russia (aka Ivan the Terrible) had a son, Ivan Ivanovich, with his first wife, Anastasia Romanovna. Ivan the Terrible enjoyed literature and music. He also tortured small animals as a boy.

As an adult, he defeated the Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, uniting them with Russia. Like a worse version of Henry VIII, Ivan had eight wives. Each wife was found dead under mysterious circumstances, was murdered, or was sent to a convent. He transformed Russia from a medieval state into an empire.

He beat his pregnant daughter-in-law, who was not properly dressed, and caused her to miscarry her child. His son confronted him. In a fit of rage, Ivan the Terrible struck his own son on the head with a pointed staff and killed him. This murder was immortalized by Russian realist artist Ilya Repin in one of the most haunting paintings ever created.^[1]

Among all the horrendous things Ivan the Terrible did in his life, his killing of his own son still stands out as one of the worst. There was no line Ivan the Terrible would not cross. Even worse, Ivan Ivanovich was his only capable son.

9 Herod The Great And His Sons, Alexander And Aristobulus

The Christian Bible has painted Herod the Great in a negative light and blamed him for the “slaughter of the innocents” as recounted in the New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew. As the king of Judea, Herod supposedly ordered the deaths of all male children aged two and younger in the vicinity of Bethlehem. He was born to a high-ranking Roman officer named Antipater the Idumaean. Herod the Great rebuilt Jerusalem, including the temple, and promoted Hellenistic culture.

He was not a complete monster, but he wouldn’t win father of the year. Besides murdering other people’s kids, Herod the Great killed his own children. Antipater II deftly incited the aging king’s anger with rumors of his favored brothers’ disloyalty. Herod became paranoid by this and acted swiftly.^[2]

Herod the Great ordered that Aristobulus and Alexander be strangled to death on charges of treason in 7 BC. (Some sources say 8 BC.)

8 Empress Irene And Constantine VI

On January 14, 771, Irene gave birth to a son named Constantine VI before she became the first female ruler of the Byzantine Empire. She came from a noble family in Athens.

Irene became regent in her son’s place when he was given control of the land. Unpopular for his military defeats, Constantine VI would soon be betrayed by his mother.^[3]

She had Constantine blinded and imprisoned in 797. Irene organized her own rebellion and eventually killed her son, thereby claiming sole rulership over the empire as empress. Nobody got in her way of seizing power, not even the child to whom she had given birth. Irene’s reputation did not stop her from becoming a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

7 Constantine The Great And Crispus

Emperor Constantine converted the Roman Empire to Christianity, ending the abuse of Christians and the worship of Roman gods. He lived most of his life as a pagan and converted to the once-hated religion on his deathbed. He signed the Edict of Milan which said that Christians should be free to practice their faith as they pleased.

Like many emperors, Constantine produced an heir named Crispus. Loved by his soldiers, Crispus was the leader in victorious military operations against the Franks and the Alamanni. Receiving his education from the Christian writer Lactantius, Crispus was married to a young woman called Helena, who bore Crispus a son.

Constantine was proud of his son’s accomplishments and very pleased to become a grandfather. Being a married man with an heir and military victories would make any father proud.

However, Constantine’s second wife, Fausta, reportedly accused Crispus of trying to seduce her.^[4] Constantine killed Crispus in a fit of rage. Later, Constantine discovered the charge to be false and had Fausta suffocated in her bath. Christian forgiveness had its limits.

6 Abbas I Of Persia And Mohammad Baqer Mirza

Abbas I was considered the greatest ruler of the Safavid dynasty, one of the most significant ruling dynasties of Iran. He was a military genius who saved his country from the brink of collapse, built prosperous cities, and welcomed Christians to his country. He was willing to learn from people in foreign nations, especially Europeans.^[5]

Mohammad Baqer Mirza, the crown prince of the Safavid dynasty during Abbas’s reign, was born to one of his Christian Circassian wives. Unfortunately, Mohammad was caught in one of the intrigues of the court and conspired with Circassians. Abbas I had his heir apparent killed and handed the throne to his grandson instead.

5 Pharasmanes I Of Iberia And Rhadamistus

Pharasmanes I was a king of Iberia during the first century. His son Rhadamistus had ambition, extraordinary strength, tall stature, and good looks. But he did not have patience. He waited in frustration for his father to meet his maker, so Rhadamistus could become the next king.

The Iberian prince reigned over the Kingdom of Armenia but was considered a usurper. The Romans demanded that Pharasmanes withdraw from Armenian territory and remove his son.

Rhadamistus was overthrown and forced to flee for his life. His pregnant wife feared capture and convinced Rhadamistus to kill her. He stabbed her, murdering her and their unborn child. Then he threw her into the Aras River and decided to return home.

Pharasmanes wanted to prove his loyalty to Emperor Nero of Rome, so he executed Rhadamistus as a traitor. The king of Iberia did not live long after that himself and was succeeded by his son Mihrdat.^[6]

4 Vitellius And Petronianus

Vitellius was the son of Lucius Vitellius, a consul and former governor of Syria, and a noblewoman, Sextilia. Vitellius was a Roman emperor for eight months. He won the favor of three emperors: Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

Caligula was impressed with Vitellius’s chariot racing. Claudius admired how well Vitellius played dice. Finally, Vitellius caught the eye of Nero due to both talents. After Nero’s death, Rome was plunged into chaos. Galba and Otho became Roman emperors but were viciously deposed. Vitellius did not fare better.

He was said to eat three or four heavy meals a day, usually followed by a drinking party. He had a bad relationship with astrologers. He banned them from Rome and executed any astrologers he came across.

The new emperor had a son named Petronianus who was blind in one eye and emancipated from his father’s control as a result of being named his mother’s heir. It is not surprising that someone who was close to Nero would poison his own son to get his son’s inheritance.

Vitellius tried to escape Rome disguised in dirty clothes.^[7] However, he was captured by Vespasian’s men. While pleading for his life, the half-naked emperor was dragged through the streets, tortured, killed, and thrown into the Tiber. Vespasian was named the new emperor.

3 Philip II Of Spain And Don Carlos

Maria Manuela of Portugal, the wife of Philip II of Spain, died after giving birth to his heir. The child, Don Carlos, had one shorter leg and shoulders of different height. He also had mental deficiencies.

For example, Don Carlos enjoyed riding his horses to death and beating little girls. He also thought that diamonds were poisonous. He was going to inherit his father’s throne by birthright, but it was clear that Don Carlos was not fit to be king.^[8]

In 1568, Don Carlos was pronounced dead—rumored to have been poisoned by his own father.

2 King Yeongjo And Prince Sado

Prince Sado was a royal Korean crown prince who was sealed in a rice chest and starved to death by his father, King Yeongjo. The king was a hard man to please. So when his son, Sado, grew up to be a disturbed young man, it made things worse.

It got so bad that after speaking a few words to his son, the king would always rinse out his mouth, wash his ears, and change into a fresh robe. Prince Sado idolized his father but never earned King Yeongjo’s approval.

Sado was accused of holding the severed head of a eunuch he had killed as well as assaulting and raping many ladies-in-waiting. Being unloved and frowned upon by his father, Sado descended into madness.

The tragic relationship between father and son was destined have a bitter end. The crown prince was stripped of his royal title and ordered to get into a cramped, wooden rice box. He spent his last eight days screaming for mercy from the king. He was only 27 years old.^[9]

1 Peter I And Alexei

Peter the Great was named after Peter, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ. Peter the Great’s goal was to make Russia into a superpower and modernize the country. For example, he was the first Russian ruler to promote secular education and numerous secular schools were opened during his reign.

Although he continued to achieve his goals, his role as a father was also a challenge. Peter’s tsarina, Eudoxia, was a conservative who was uneducated and disliked foreigners. Naturally, she deeply opposed Peter’s reforms and even took a lover outside of their marriage. Peter also found himself in the arms of a woman who wasn’t his wife.^[10]

Their son shared his mother’s traditional views. Eudoxia made sure that Alexei’s education was restricted to Bible readings and other religious lessons. Peter I did not spend too much time with Alexei due to his bad relationship with Eudoxia.

Alexei held no love for Peter the Great and saw him as a threat. His brief defection to Austria scandalized the Russian government. Under his father’s orders, Alexei was tortured. Peter the Great eventually had his son executed.

Summer Gallardo was named after Summer Sanders. She enjoys comic books, history, math, and making lists.