The guillotine is best known for its use in France, particularly during the French Revolution, where the revolution's supporters celebrated it as the people's avenger. The revolution's opponents vilified it as the pre-eminent symbol of the violence of the Reign of Terror. While the name "guillotine" itself dates from this period, similar devices had been used elsewhere in Europe over several centuries. The use of an oblique blade and the stocks set this type of guillotine apart from others. The display of severed heads had long been one of the most common ways European sovereigns exhibited their power to their subjects. Ways European sovereigns exhibited their power to their subjects.