the execution and its message In Denmark a Royal letter of June 25th1756 provided for a time of preparation of between eight and fourteen days after the final sentence was passed, unless great ignorance on the part of the condemned made a longer stay of execution necessary.266 One such case from 1740–41 was Niels Nielsen. Condemned to death for bestiality the priests set to prepare him again and again found it impossible. After more than half a year of attempts to prepare him, he was finally reprieved.267 When a rare and perhaps unique European example of a priest describing a failed preparation full of conflicts was published, Spilte Guds Ord paa Balle-Lars by Jacob Elisius Gjellebøl, its purpose seems to have been to both underline an example to serve as a warning for others, and to show that he had done everything in his power.268 The French idea of informing the prisoner of the imminent execution at the latest possible moment influenced many countries, although the time and impact varied considerably. In 1892, the last person beheaded in Denmark was given a much shorter time to prepare than was usual: Jens Nielsen was read his sentence in the afternoon and he was executed the next morning. The Ministry of Justice let it be known that had Nielsen wanted the prison chaplains to prepare him, they could have had at most six days for it.269 Nielsen was a special case, though, not least because of his own wish to be executed. In Sweden we also may find a trace of this influence in the practice concerning the final announcement of the time for the execution. It came to happen at the very last execution, of Alfred Ander, in 1910. As several persons, but not Ander himself, who stated his preparedness to die as well as his innocence, asked for clemency, the time of preparation in this case might be judged to anything between twenty-five days starting with the final denial of reprieve denied or two and a half months starting with the final sentencing. The supreme court delivered its capital sentence on August 17th which was given to Ander on September 5th. The king on 266 Kongelige rescripter 1787V:2:121 sq. 267 Reeh 2017 p 116 sqq. 268 Gjellebøl 1861. 269 Duedahl 2016 p 306 sq, 310. 88
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