 As the most egregious offence an individual could commit , viewed as seriously as though the accused had personally attacked the monarch , high treason demanded the ultimate punishment . But whereas men guilty of this crime were hanged , drawn and quartered , women were drawn and burned . In his Commentaries on the Laws of England the 18th @-@ century English jurist William Blackstone noted that the sentence , " to be drawn to the gallows , and there to be burned alive " , was " full as terrible to the sensation as the other " . Blackstone wrote that women were burned rather than quartered as " the decency due to the sex forbids the exposing and publicly mangling their bodies " . However , an observation by historian Jules Michelet , that " the first flame to rise consumed the clothes , revealing poor trembling nakedness " , may , in the opinion of historian Vic Gatrell , suggest that this solution is " misconceived " . In The Hanging Tree , Gatrell concludes that the occasional live burial of women in Europe gave tacit acknowledgement to the possibility that a struggling , kicking female hanging from a noose could " elicit obscene fantasies " from watching males . 
 As the most egregious offence an individual could commit , viewed as seriously as though the accused <a href='been_done' title='1'><mark>had</mark></a> personally attacked the monarch , high treason demanded the ultimate punishment . But whereas men guilty of this crime <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>were</mark></a> hanged , drawn and quartered , women <a href='uninflect' title='3'><mark>were</mark></a> drawn and burned . In his Commentaries on the Laws of England the 18th @-@ century English jurist William Blackstone noted that the sentence , " to be drawn to the gallows , and <a href='dey_it' title='4'><mark>there</mark></a> to be burned alive " , was " full as terrible to the sensation as the other " . Blackstone wrote that women <a href='uninflect' title='5'><mark>were</mark></a> burned rather than quartered as " the decency due to the sex <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>forbids</mark></a> the exposing and publicly mangling their bodies " . However , an observation by historian Jules Michelet , that " the first flame to rise consumed the clothes , revealing poor trembling nakedness " , may , in the opinion of historian Vic Gatrell , suggest that this solution is " misconceived " . In The Hanging Tree , Gatrell <a href='uninflect' title='7'><mark>concludes</mark></a> that the occasional live burial of women in Europe gave tacit acknowledgement to the possibility that a struggling , kicking female hanging from a noose could " elicit obscene fantasies " from watching males . 
As the most egregious offence an individual could commit , viewed as srsly as tho the accused done personally attacked da monarch , high treason demanded tdaultimate punishment . But whereas men guilty of this crime was hanged , drawn and quartered , women was drawn and burned . In his Commentaries on thdaaws of England thedath @-@ century English jurist William Blackstone noted dat the sentence , " to be drawn to the gallows , and it to be burned alive " , was " full as terrible to the sensation as the other " . Blackstone wrote that women was burned rather than quartered as " the decency due to the sex forbid the exposing and publicly mangling their bodies " . However , an observation by historian Jules Michelet , that " the first flame to rise consumed the dathes , revealing poor trembling nakedness " , may , in the odaion of historian Vic Gatrell , suggest tdatdis solution is " misconceived " . In The Hadang Tree , Gatrell conclude thdathe occasional live burial of women in Europe gave tacit acknowledgement to the posdaility thadatstrugglin , kicking female hanging from a noose could " elicit obscene fantasies " from watchin males .