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Concept
Body snatching
Summary
Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft from the burial site itself. The term 'body snatching' most commonly refers to the removal and sale of corpses primarily for the purpose of dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. The term was coined primarily in regard to cases in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. However, there have been cases of body snatching in many countries, with the first recorded case dating back to 1319 in Bologna, Italy.
Those who practiced the act of body snatching and sale of corpses during this period were commonly referred to as "resurrectionists" "resurrection men". Resurrectionists in the United Kingdom who often worked in teams and who primarily targeted more recently dug graves, would be hired in order to provide medical institutions and practitioners with a supply of fresh cadavers for the purpose of anatomical study. Despite a significant decline in body snatching as a practice, there do exist contemporary instances of body snatching cases occurring around the globe.
Before the Anatomy Act of 1832, the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical purposes in the UK were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts. Dissections, the main way doctors aimed to gain understanding, required fresh corpses. Those who were sentenced to dissection by the courts were often guilty of capital crimes, such as murder, burglary, rape, and arson. However, in 1832, Parliament of the United Kingdom passed the Anatomy Act of 1832, which gave doctors and medical students the right to dissect donated bodies for education and research purposes. Although this act was created to stop the illegal tradeoff of corpses, it did not provide near enough corpses needed by medical schools annually, which could be up to 500 in number.
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