The following is a list of people who were beheaded, arranged alphabetically by country or region and with date of decapitation. Special section on "Religious figures" is also appended.

These individuals lost their heads intentionally (as a form of execution or posthumously). A list of people who were decapitated accidentally, including animal-related deaths, can be found at List of people who were decapitated.

Austria Joseph Haydn (1809) – celebrated composer posthumously beheaded; see Haydn's skull

Azerbaijan Kyaram Sloyan (2016) – Yazidi soldier, posthumously decapitated by Azerbaijani soldiers during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Photos and videos of various soldiers posing with his severed head were widely circulated online after his death. Genadi Petrosyan (2020) – ethnically Armenian citizen of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Republic of Artsakh) beheaded by Azerbaijani soldiers during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Yuri Asryan (2020) – ethnically Armenian citizen of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Republic of Artsakh) beheaded by Azerbaijani soldiers during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. Along with Genadi Petrosyan, videos and photos of both beheadings were circulated through social media, most notably Telegram.

Brazil Jordão da Silva Cantanhede (2013) – a Brazilian amateur football referee, was lynched, quartered, and beheaded by football spectators in Pio XII, Maranhão, after he stabbed a player to death in a match he officiated on 30 June 2013. Spectators then put his head on a stake in the middle of the pitch. A viral video later surfaced of medical officials reassembling his body. João Rodrigo Silva Santos (2013) – Brazilian football player, murdered and beheaded by suspected drug traffickers. Wanderly Ribeiro de Souza (2024) – stabbed to death and decapitated by his own son, Victor Wander Ribeiro de Souza, on a public park in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte.

Canada Fred Fulton (2005) – stabbed to death along with Veronica "Verna" Decarie by Gregory Allan Despres during paranoid schizophrenia-led delusions. Fulton was additionally beheaded with a homemade sword. Tim McLean (2008) – murdered, beheaded, and partially cannibalized by Vince Weiguang Li on a Greyhound Canada bus in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. Jun Lin (2012) – fatally stabbed, dismembered, sexually violated and possibly cannibalized in a video depicting his murder by Luka Rocco Magnotta. His severed head was recovered at the edge of a small lake in Montreal's Angrignon Park. Fribjon Bjornson (2012) – severed head found on the Nak'azdli reserve near Fort St. James, British Columbia. Bob Roth (2012) – severed head found inside a garbage bag in Edmonton. He was killed by members of the White Boy Posse. Tien Ly (2022) – decapitated after being killed by her son, Dallas Ly.

Central African Republic Didier Wangay (2021) – Former acting Mayor of Bambari; Wagner and FACA arrested Wangay and his family in Gallougou on 15 December 2021 and beheaded him, his son, wife, niece, and nephew. Afterwards, their heads were displayed in Bambari as trophies. Josué Béfio (2024) – Anti-balaka leader in Ouham-Fafa; Béfio, along with his bodyguard, were beheaded at a military base in Bouca.

China

Huan Yi (Fan Wuji) (桓齮, 227 BC) – traitorous Qin general; his severed head was instrumental in Jing Ke's assassination attempt of the Qin king. Han Xin (韓信, 196 BC) – executed by Empress Lü Wang Mang (王莽, 23 AD) – Founder of the Xin dynasty; posthumously beheaded after being killed by a rebel mob. Guan Yu (關羽, 219) – executed during civil war by Sun Quan Guan Ping (關平, 219) – son of Guan Yu, executed during civil war by Sun Quan Yu Cong (于琮, 881) – Tang official beheaded by agrarian rebel Huang Chao Li Yun (887) – decapitated by Wang Chongrong Zhu Mei (887) – decapitated by Wang Xingyu Chen Jingxuan (陳敬瑄, 893) – Tang general Cui Zhaowei (崔昭緯, 896) – Tang official Wen Tianxiang (文天祥, 1283) – scholar and general Wang Zhi (王直, 1560) – pirate and smuggler executed by the Ming dynasty Xia Wanchun (夏完淳, 1647) – poet, executed by Qing official Hong Chengchou who betrayed Ming before the Ming dynasty fell. St Francis de Capillas (聖劉方濟, 1648) – beheaded at Fogang County Adolf Schlagintweit (1857) – German botanist and explorer; executed by the ruler of Kashgar Lin Xu (林旭, 1898) and Tan Sitong (譚嗣同, 1898) – executed with four others during the Qing dynasty by Empress Dowager Cixi John and Betty Stam (1934) – American Christian missionaries executed by the Chinese Red Army Jun Lin (2012) chinese student beheaded and dismembered by Luka Rocco Magnotta

Chile

María José Reyes and Juan Duarte (2012) – beheaded by a seller of antiquities in Lolol.

Croatia

Petar Berislavić (1520) – beheaded in combat as he got surrounded by many Ottoman soldiers. His head and body were retrieved by Croatian soldiers and taken first to Bihać and subsequently to Veszprem. Petar Kružić (1537) – beheaded in combat against the Ottomans. His severed head was then demonstrated to defenders of Klis fortress to persuade them to surrender. Nikola Šubić Zrinski (1566) – killed and posthumously beheaded by the Ottomans during the Siege of Szigetvár. Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan (1671) – sentenced to death and beheaded for conspiring against Habsburg emperor. Tomislav Salopek (2015) – Croatian topographer who was abducted by ISIS in Egypt and subsequently beheaded.

Denmark Anne Palles (1693) – executed in Copenhagen for witchcraft. Povel Juel (1723) – executed in Copenhagen for lèse-majesté. Niels Knudsen Drostrup (1752) – executed by axe in Løgstør for deadly arson. Johann Friedrich Struensee (1772) – executed in Copenhagen for lèse-majesté. Enevold Brandt (1772) – executed in Copenhagen for lèse-majesté. Kim Wall (2017) – Swedish journalist who was murdered and dismembered by Peter Madsen on his submarine.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Zaida Catalán (2017) – Swedish politician of Chilean descent, kidnapped and murdered in 2017

Ecuador

Nepomuceano Ramos Madronero (2024) – beheaded and dismembered by members of a cartel during the El Guabo massacre.

Egypt Unidentified Egyptian civilian (2015) – a civilian captive beheaded alongside Egyptian soldier Ahmed Fathy Abou Al Fotouh Salam by the militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis in Sinai. The civilian’s identity remains unknown, and the execution was part of a widely circulated video intended as propaganda by the group. Ahmed Mohamed Sediq (2022) – beheaded by Abdel Rahman Nazmi, his neighbor, in a broad daylight attack on a street in Ismailia, Egypt. Nazmi was arrested at the scene, later convicted of murder, and sentenced to death by hanging in January 2022.

England

Normans and early Plantagenets Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria (1076) – executed at Winchester by order of William I for taking part in the Revolt of the Earls Dafydd ap Gruffydd, Prince of Wales (1283) – hanged, drawn and quartered in Shrewsbury by Edward I for treason William Wallace, Scottish resistance fighter (1305) – hanged, drawn and quartered by Edward I Piers Gaveston, favourite of Edward II (1312) – executed near Warwick by Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster in the Baron's Revolt Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, Lord High Steward (1322) – executed at Pontefract Castle by Edward II Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel (1326) – executed at Hereford by Queen Isabella, regent for Edward III Hugh Despenser the Younger, chamberlain and favourite of Edward II (1326) – hanged, drawn and quartered by order of Queen Isabella Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, Lord Wardens of the Cinque Ports (1330) – executed at Winchester by Queen Isabella, regent for Edward III Sir Robert Hales, Lord High Treasurer (1381) – executed at Tower Hill by rebels during the Peasants' Revolt Simon Sudbury, Lord Chancellor, Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of London (1381) – executed at Tower Hill by rebels during the Peasants' Revolt Richard Lyons, London merchant and financier and Warden of the Mint (1381) – beheaded in London by rebels during the Peasants' Revolt John Cavendish, Chief Justice of the King's Bench, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1381) – executed in Bury St Edmunds by rebels during the Peasants' Revolt Wat Tyler (1381) – beheaded in London by order of the Lord Mayor of London during the Peasants' Revolt John Ball (1381) – hanged, drawn and quartered at St Albans after the Peasants Revolt Sir Simon de Burley (1388) – executed on Tower Hill by the Merciless Parliament for supporting Richard II John Beauchamp, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Kidderminster (1388) – executed on Tower Hill by the Merciless Parliament for supporting Richard II Sir John Emsley (1388) – executed on Tower Hill by the Merciless Parliament for supporting Richard II Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel (1397) – executed at Tower Hill by order of Richard II William le Scrope, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, Sir John Bussy and Sir Henry Green (1399) – executed in Bristol Castle by the Duke of Hereford (soon to be Henry IV) Ralph de Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley (1400) – executed at Cirencester during the reign of Henry IV for the Epiphany Rising Thomas le Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester (1400) – executed at Bristol by order of Henry IV for the Epiphany Rising John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter, Lord Great Chamberlain and Justice of Chester (1400) – executed at Pleshey Castle, Essex by order of Joan Fitzalan, Countess of Hereford, with the approval of her son-in-law Henry IV, for the Epiphany Rising John Montacute, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (1400) – executed at Cirencester during the reign of Henry IV for the Epiphany Rising Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey, Earl Marshal (1400) – executed at Cirencester during reign of Henry IV for the Epiphany Rising Sir Benard Brocas (1400) – beheaded at Tyburn during the reign of Henry IV for the Epiphany Rising Thomas Percy, 1st Earl of Worcester (1403) – executed by order of Henry IV (hanged, drawn and quartered) Sir David Walsh (1403) – executed by order of Henry IV (hanged, drawn and quartered) Danney Parsons (1403) – executed by order of Henry IV (hanged, drawn and quartered) Thomas de Mowbray, 4th Earl of Norfolk, Earl Marshal (1405) – executed at York by order of Henry IV for treason Richard le Scrope, Archbishop of York (1405) – executed at York by order of Henry IV for treason Sir William de Plumpton (1405) – executed by order of Henry IV for treason Richard of Conisburgh, 3rd Earl of Cambridge (1415) – executed at Southampton by order of Henry V for his involvement in the Southampton Plot Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham (1415) – executed at Southampton by order of Henry V for his involvement in the Southampton Plot William de la Pole (1450) – beheaded at sea, possibly by order of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York James Fiennes, 1st Baron Saye and Sele (1450) – beheaded in London by rebels led by Jack Cade

Wars of the Roses James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley (1459) – executed after the Battle of Blore Heath for being a Lancastrian Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, Lord Chancellor (1460) – executed after the Battle of Wakefield for being a Yorkist Edmund, Earl of Rutland (1460) – executed by order of Lord Clifford for being a Yorkist (stabbed to death during the Battle of Wakefield and later decapitated) Thomas Thorpe, Speaker of the House of Commons (1461) – beheaded by a London mob Sir Owen Tudor (1461) – executed after the Battle of Mortimer's Cross for being a Lancastrian Sir Thomas Kyriell (1461) – executed by order of Queen Margaret after the Second Battle of St Albans for being a Yorkist William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville (1461) – executed by order of Queen Margaret after the Second Battle of St Albans for being a Yorkist Thomas Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon (1461) – executed after the Battle of Towton for being a Lancastrian James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond – 1st Earl of Wiltshire (1461) – executed after the Battle of Towton for being a Lancastrian