Thomas Aikenhead

Thomas Aikenhead was prosecuted and executed at the age of 20 on a charge of blasphemy. He was the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy. His execution occurred 85 years after the death of Edward Wightman, the last. person to be burned at the stake for heresy in England.

About Thomas Aikenhead in brief

Summary Thomas AikenheadThomas Aikenhead was a Scottish student from Edinburgh, who was prosecuted and executed at the age of 20 on a charge of blasphemy. He was the last person in Great Britain to be executed for blasphemy. His execution occurred 85 years after the death of Edward Wightman, the last. person to be burned at the stake for heresy in England. Aiken head was said to have died Bible in hand, with all the Marks of a true Penitent. Professor David S. Nash said that AikenHead’s execution was a providential moment for Calvinist philosopher David S. Nash.

The case was prosecuted by the Lord Advocate, Sir James Stewart, who demanded the death penalty in order to set an example to others who might otherwise express such opinions. The Church of Scotland’s General Assembly, sitting in Edinburgh at the time, urged ‘vigorous execution’ to curb ‘the abounding of impiety and profanity in this land’