Decapitation

complete separation of the head from the body

14 dated entries naming Decapitation, drawn from 14 separate years between 212 CE and 1766 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

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3rd century

212Roman jurist Papinian, one of the famous jurists who flourished during the reign of the late emperor Septimius Severus, refuses to write a legal defence for the murder of Caracalla's brother, Emperor Geta. He is beheaded in Rome, in Caracalla's presence.source

4th century

303September 25 – On a voyage preaching the gospel, Saint Fermin of Pamplona is beheaded in Amiens (Modern day France).source

5th century

408August 22 – Stilicho is accused of treason against Honorius and is decapitated at Ravenna. His Hun bodyguard is killed; mass murders of Vandal soldiers follow.source
461August 7 – Majorian, having been beaten and tortured for five days, is beheaded near the Iria River (Lombardy).source

6th century

549Totila conquers the city of Perugia (Central Italy) and stations a Gothic garrison. He takes bishop Herculanus prisoner, and orders him to be completely flayed. The Ostrogoth soldier asked to perform this gruesome execution shows pity, and decapitates Herculanus before the skin on every part of his body is removed.source

7th century

607Yángdi is offended by his general Gao Jiong, who makes several comments critical of the emperor's policies, against Tujue submissive Yami Qaghan. He is executed (beheaded), and Gao's sons are exiled to the border provinces (Northern China).source

8th century

719Ex-Emperor Anastasios II starts a revolt against Leo III with considerable support, including auxiliaries provided by Tervel, emperor (khagan) of the Bulgarian Empire. His attack on Constantinople fails; Anastasios is captured and is put to death (by beheading), on the orders of Leo.source
794May 20 – King Æthelberht II of East Anglia visits the royal Mercian court at Sutton Walls (Herefordshire), with a view to marrying Princess Ælfthryth. He is taken captive and beheaded, on the orders of King Offa.source

9th century

850June 18 – Perfecto, a Christian priest in Muslim Córdoba, is executed (beheaded) after he refuses to retract critical comments he made about Muhammad.source
896March – King Lambert II proceeds to re-conquer Italy. Heading north, he captures western Lombardy, and decapitates count Maginulf of Milan. In the meantime, the deposed king Berengar I recovers Verona (March of Friuli) from Arnulf's candidate, count Walfred of Verona, who dies in office with "great fidelity to the emperor".source

10th century

922March 26 – Mansur al-Hallaj, a Persian mystic writer, is sentenced to death for heresy after a long trial at Baghdad. Having supported reform in the Abbasid Caliphate, he has been seen as a rabble-rouser, and is flogged, mutilated and executed (by beheading).source

11th century

1009February 14 or March 9 – The first known mention is made of the name of Lithuania, in connection with the murder of Bruno of Querfurt. He is beheaded and his 18 companions are hanged the same day during a mission among the Prussians in the Baltic region.source

18th century

1707February 4 – Great Northern War: Eighteen months after losing the Battle of Warsaw, while leading a cavalry charge for Saxony against the army of Sweden, General Otto von Paykull of Swedish Livonia is beheaded outside of Stockholm, following his conviction for treason.source
1766July 1 – François-Jean de la Barre, a young French nobleman, is tortured and beheaded, before his body is burnt on a pyre, along with a copy of Voltaire's Dictionnaire philosophique nailed to his torso, supposedly for the crime of not saluting a Roman Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, and for other sacrileges, including desecrating a crucifix.source