*Boo* 10 Creepy Facts About Historical Burials No.1 Suicide Victims Were Buried At Crossroads With Stakes Through Their Hearts  Suicide in England was once considered a heinous crime and the punishment extended even after death. To the English, suicide was self-murder and the perpetrators of unsuccessful suicides were charged as felons. The property of a suicide victim would be confiscated by the Crown after death which prompted families to disguise suicides to preserve their inheritance. Another deterrent to suicide was that the victim would be denied Christian burial rites. People were concerned this would affect their afterlife and prevent their resurrection. Friends or family would also have to bury the body themselves. The English enforced these laws to combat suicides but also because they feared them. Superstition held that a suicide victim’s spirit could return to haunt their home after death. In order to prevent spirits from roaming the town, the bodies of suicide victims were buried at crossroads. It was believed that being buried in such a manner would confuse the restless soul and prevent them from finding their way back home. A further safety measure included driving a stake through the corpse’s heart. In some cases, bodies were even buried near the seashore to prevent them from returning and terrorizing the living. 
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 23:28:52 +0000
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