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I think that the mallet was used as a form of execution in Italy at this time. In the Count of Monte Cristo, there is a scene where the count witnesses an Italian 'mazzeotto' execution, where a large man smashes the temples of the person on the block using a big mallet.
The article referred to in the footnotes, Charles Nicholl, "Screaming in the Castle", says executed by mallet (yuk!), then quartered . Awien (talk) 19:33, 25 August 2008 (UTC)Reply