Thomas Aikenhead

On a chilly evening in Edinburg, Scotland in 1696, twenty-year-old Thomas Aikenhead was walking with three other medical students when he remarked that at that moment he would prefer to be in Hell, where at least he would be warm. A few months later he would be on trial, with his life at stake.

At that time blasphemy was a crime in Great Britain. Under the provisions of a 1695 “Act Against Blasphemy,” any person who “shall in their writing or discourse, deny, impugn or quarrel, argue or reason, against the being of God, or any of the persons of the blessed trinity, or the authority of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, or the providence of God in the government of the world” was subject to imprisonment for the first two offences and death for the third.

Aikenhead was charged with blasphemy in violation of the Act and was brought to trial in Edinburgh in December 1696. Five of his supposed friends testified against him, reporting not only his quip about Hell, but also that Aikenhead had claimed that the Bible was composed of fables and that theology was nonsense, that he scoffed at the doctrines of the trinity and the incarnation, and that he had said he preferred Muhammad to Christ. Upon hearing the evidence, the court found Aikenhead guilty of blasphemy and sentenced him to death.

Aikenhead, who was representing himself, filed an appeal to the Scottish Privy Council, apologizing for his impiety, professing his repentance, noting that he was a man of “tender years,” and pointing out that it was only his first offense. Unpersuaded that his repentance was sincere, the Privy Council announced that it would change the sentence only on the request of the Scottish Kirk (Church). Rather than request clemency, the Church of Scotland demanded that the execution proceed, in order to “curb the abounding of impiety and profanity in this land.” The sentence was affirmed.

After being forced to walk the two miles from his cell to the gallows, Thomas Aikenhead was hanged on January 8, 1697, three hundred twenty-six years ago today. He became the last person to be executed for blasphemy in Great Britain.