In the Middle Ages, the church played a key role in politics and public life. Against the backdrop of the flourishing of architecture and scientific technology, the Inquisition and church courts persecuted dissidents and used torture. Denunciations and executions were massive. Women were especially helpless and powerless. Therefore, today we will tell you about the most terrible medieval torture for girls.

Their life was not like the fairy-tale world of chivalric novels. Girls were more often accused of witchcraft and, under torture, confessed to acts they did not commit. Sophisticated corporal punishment strikes with savagery, cruelty and inhumanity. A woman has always been guilty: for infertility and a large number of children, for an illegitimate child and various bodily defects, for healing and violation of biblical rules. Public corporal punishment was used to obtain information and intimidate the population.

The most terrible torture of women in the history of mankind

Most of the instruments of torture were mechanized. The victim experienced terrible pain and died from his injuries. The authors of all the terrible tools knew the structure of the human body quite well, each method brought unbearable suffering. Although, of course, these instruments were applied not only to females, but they suffered more than others.

Pear of suffering

The mechanism was a metal pear, divided into several segments. There was a screw in the middle of the pear. The device was inserted into the guilty woman's mouth, vaginal or anus. The screw mechanism opened the segments of the pear. As a result, internal organs were damaged: the vagina, cervix, intestines, pharynx. A very terrible death.

The injuries caused by the device were incompatible with life. Usually torture was applied to girls who were accused of being in touch with the devil. At the sight of such a tool, the defendants confessed to cohabitation with the devil, the use of the blood of babies in magical rituals. But confessions did not save the poor girls. They still died in the flames of the fire.

Witch chair (Spanish chair)

Applied to girls convicted of witchcraft. The suspect was restrained with belts and handcuffs on an iron chair, in which the seat, back, and sides were covered with spikes. The man did not die immediately from blood loss, the spikes slowly pierced the body. The cruel suffering did not end there, hot coals were placed under the chair.

History has preserved the fact that at the end of the 17th century, a woman from Austria, accused of witchcraft, spent eleven days in agony on such an armchair, but she died without confessing to the crime.

Throne

A special device for prolonged torture. The "throne" was a wooden chair with holes in the back. The legs of the woman were fixed in the holes, and the head was lowered down. An uncomfortable position caused suffering: the blood rushed to the head, the muscles of the neck and back were stretched. But there were no signs of torture on the body of the suspect.

A rather harmless weapon, reminiscent of a modern vise, delivered pain, broke bones, but did not lead to the death of the interrogated person.

Stork

The woman was placed in an iron device, which allowed her to be fixed in a position with her legs pulled to her stomach. This posture caused muscle spasms. Prolonged pain, convulsions slowly drove me crazy. Additionally, the victim could be tortured with a red-hot iron.

Shoes with spikes under the heel

Torture shoes were fixed on the leg with shackles. With the help of a special device, spikes were screwed into the heel. For some time, the victim could stand on his toes to relieve pain and prevent the spikes from penetrating deeply. But it is impossible to stand in this position for a long time. The poor sinner was in severe pain, blood loss, sepsis.

"Vigil" (insomnia torture)

For this purpose, a special chair was created with a seat in the shape of a pyramid. The girl was seated on the seat, she could not sleep or relax. But the inquisitors have found a more effective way to gain recognition. The bound suspect was seated in such a position that the top of the pyramid penetrated the vagina.

The torture lasted for hours, the unconscious woman was brought to her senses and again returned to the pyramid, which tore her body and injured her genitals. To increase the pain, heavy objects were tied to the legs of the victim, hot iron was applied.

Witch goats (Spanish donkey)

A naked sinner was seated on a wooden block of a pyramidal shape, to enhance the effect, a load was tied to her legs. The torture hurt, but unlike the previous one, it did not tear the woman's genitals.

water torture

This method of interrogation was considered humane, although it often led to the death of the suspect. A funnel was inserted into the girl's mouth, and a large amount of water was poured. Then they jumped on the unfortunate woman, which could cause a rupture of the stomach and intestines. Boiling water, molten metal could be poured through a funnel. Often, ants and other insects were launched into the mouth or vagina of the victim. Even an innocent girl confessed to any sins in order to avoid a terrible fate.

Pectoral

The torture device looks like a chest piece. Hot metal was placed on the girl's chest. After interrogation, if the suspect did not die from pain shock and did not confess to a crime against faith, charred flesh remained instead of the chest.

The device, made in the form of metal hooks, was often used to interrogate girls caught in witchcraft or manifestations of lust. Such a tool could punish a woman who cheated on her husband and gave birth out of wedlock. A very harsh measure.

Witch Bathing

The inquiry was carried out in the cold season. The sinner was seated in a special chair and tied tightly. If the woman did not repent, dipping was done until she suffocated under water or froze.

Were there tortures of women in the Middle Ages in Russia?

In medieval Russia there was no persecution of witches and heretics. Women were not subjected to such sophisticated torture, but for murders and state crimes they could be buried up to their necks in the ground, punished with a whip so that the skin was torn to shreds.

Well, that's probably enough for today. We think that now you understand how terrible medieval tortures were for girls, and now it is unlikely that any of the fair sex will want to go back to the Middle Ages to the valiant knights.

In the old days, people were sentenced to death for all kinds of crimes: from murder to petty theft. Most often, the executions were public, therefore, in order to attract more onlookers, they tried to make the act of killing more spectacular. And there were no limits to the human imagination.

copper bull

Before execution, the condemned man's tongue was cut off, and then he was locked inside a copper bull. A huge fire was kindled under the bull, and the poor fellow was practically roasted alive in it. Due to the lack of a language, he could not scream, so all that remained for him was to beat against the hot walls. From the blows, the bull staggered and seemed to come to life, causing a stormy delight of the crowd.

Ash execution

The person was locked in a cramped unventilated room filled with ashes. The offender died in long agony, which sometimes lasted several days or weeks.

elephant execution

Those sentenced to death were given to be torn to pieces by a specially trained executioner elephant. He trampled the victim, and she died from injuries. Moreover, those criminals who were stepped on by an elephant, one might say, were still lucky - they died quickly and without torment - while others could be tormented by an elephant for hours.

bamboo execution

The well-known property of bamboo - rapid growth - was also used by the sick human imagination to torture those sentenced to death. The body of a person was placed over the shoots of young bamboo, and the plant sprouted through it, causing unimaginable suffering to the victim.

Milk and honey

The convict was placed in a boat, fixing his body in such a way that he could not move. For a long time, the poor fellow was fed only milk and honey. If he refused to eat, a sharp stick was poked into his eye until he opened his mouth. The skin of the condemned was also smeared with honey. Soon hordes of insects, attracted by the sweet smell, pounced on the body and literally ate the poor fellow alive.

blood eagle

With this method of execution, the condemned was tied up and laid on his stomach. Then the skin on the back was torn open and all the ribs were cut with an ax so that they stick out like wings. After that, the person, as a rule, was still alive. For greater torment, the wounds were sprinkled with salt. And only after some time, the man was finally allowed to die, having torn out his heart and lungs from his tormented body.

Necklace

This type of execution has already been invented today. A rubber tire filled with gasoline is put on a person’s neck or waist and set on fire. The man sentenced to death suffocates from the acrid smoke and burns alive.

The term "inquisition" comes from the Latin. Inquisitio, meaning "interrogation, inquiry." It was widespread in the legal sphere even before the emergence of medieval church institutions with that name, and meant the clarification of the circumstances of the case by investigation, usually through interrogations, often with the use of force. And only over time, the Inquisition began to be understood as spiritual trials of anti-Christian heresies.

The torture of the Inquisition had hundreds of varieties. Some medieval instruments of torture have survived to this day, but most often even museum exhibits have been restored according to descriptions. Their variations are amazing. However, not only medieval Europe was famous for its cruelty.

Dilettant. media collected methods and instruments of torture both in Europe and around the world.

Chinese Bamboo Torture

The infamous way of the terrible Chinese execution all over the world. Perhaps a legend, because to this day not a single documentary evidence has survived that this torture was actually used.

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on earth. Some of its Chinese varieties can grow as much as a meter in a day. Some historians believe that the deadly bamboo torture was used not only by the ancient Chinese, but also by the Japanese military during World War II.

How it works?

1) Live bamboo sprouts are sharpened with a knife to make sharp “spears”;

2) The victim is suspended horizontally, back or belly over a bed of young pointed bamboo;

3) Bamboo grows rapidly in height, pierce into the skin of the martyr and sprout through his abdominal cavity, the person dies very long and painfully.

Iron Maiden

Like torture with bamboo, many researchers consider the "iron maiden" a terrible legend. Perhaps these metal sarcophagi with sharp spikes inside only frightened the defendants, after which they confessed to anything.

The Iron Maiden was invented at the end of the 18th century, that is, already at the end of the Catholic Inquisition.

1) The victim is stuffed into the sarcophagus and the door is closed;

2) The spikes driven into the inner walls of the "iron maiden" are rather short and do not pierce the victim through, but only cause pain. The investigator, as a rule, in a matter of minutes receives a confession, which the arrested person only has to sign;

3) If the prisoner shows fortitude and continues to be silent, long nails, knives and rapiers are pushed through special holes in the sarcophagus. The pain becomes simply unbearable;

4) The victim never confesses to his deed, then she was locked in a sarcophagus for a long time, where she died from blood loss;

5) In some models of the "iron maiden" spikes were provided at eye level to gouge them out.

Skafism

The name of this torture comes from the Greek "skafium", which means "trough". Skafism was popular in ancient Persia. During the torture, the victim, most often a prisoner of war, was devoured alive by various insects and their larvae that were not indifferent to human flesh and blood.

1) The prisoner is placed in a shallow trough and wrapped in chains.

2) He is force-fed with large amounts of milk and honey, which causes the victim to develop copious diarrhea that attracts insects.

3) A prisoner, shabby, smeared with honey, is allowed to swim in a trough in a swamp, where there are many hungry creatures.

4) Insects immediately start the meal, as the main dish - the living flesh of the martyr.

Pear of suffering

This cruel tool was used to punish women who had abortions, liars and homosexuals. The device was inserted into the vagina in women or the anus in men. When the executioner turned the screw, the “petals” opened, tearing the flesh and bringing unbearable torment to the victims. Many died later from blood poisoning.

1) The tool, consisting of pointed pear-shaped leaf-shaped segments, is thrust into the client's desired hole in the body;

2) The executioner slowly turns the screw on the top of the pear, while the “leaves”-segments bloom inside the martyr, causing hellish pain;

3) After the pear is opened, the completely guilty person receives internal injuries incompatible with life and dies in terrible agony, if he has not already fallen into unconsciousness.

copper bull

The design of this death unit was developed by the ancient Greeks, or to be more precise, the coppersmith Perill, who sold his terrible bull to the Sicilian tyrant Falaris, who simply adored torturing and killing people in unusual ways.

Inside the copper statue, through a special door, they pushed a living person.

1) The victim is closed in a hollow copper statue of a bull;

2) A fire is kindled under the belly of the bull;

3) The victim is roasted alive;

4) The structure of the bull is such that the cries of the martyr come from the mouth of the statue, like a bull's roar;

5) Jewelry and charms were made from the bones of the executed, which were sold in the bazaars and were in great demand.

rat torture

Rat torture was very popular in ancient China. However, we will consider the technique of rat punishment, developed by the leader of the 16th century Dutch Revolution, Didrik Sonoy.

1) The naked martyr is laid on a table and tied;

2) Large, heavy cages with hungry rats are placed on the prisoner's stomach and chest. The bottom of the cells is opened with a special valve;

3) Hot coals are placed on top of the cages to stir up the rats;

4) Trying to escape from the heat of hot coals, rats gnaw their way through the flesh of the victim.

Cradle of Judas

The Cradle of Judas was one of the most painful torture machines in the arsenal of the Suprema - the Spanish Inquisition. The victims usually died from the infection, due to the fact that the peaked seat of the torture machine was never disinfected. The cradle of Judas, as an instrument of torture, was considered "loyal", because it did not break bones and did not tear ligaments.

1) The victim, whose hands and feet are tied, is seated on the top of a pointed pyramid;

2) The top of the pyramid pierces the anus or vagina;

3) With the help of ropes, the victim is gradually lowered lower and lower;

4) Torture continues for several hours or even days, until the victim dies from powerlessness and pain, or from blood loss due to rupture of soft tissues.

Rack

Probably the most famous, and unsurpassed in its kind, death machine called "rack". It was first experienced around 300 CE. e. on the Christian martyr Vincent of Zaragoza.

Anyone who survived the rack could no longer use their muscles and turned into a helpless vegetable.

1. This instrument of torture is a special bed with rollers at both ends, on which ropes were wound, holding the wrists and ankles of the victim. When the rollers rotated, the ropes stretched in opposite directions, stretching the body;

2. Ligaments in the hands and feet of the victim are stretched and torn, bones pop out of the joints.

3. Another version of the rack was also used, called strappado: it consisted of 2 pillars dug into the ground and connected by a crossbar. The interrogated person was tied with his hands behind his back and lifted by the rope tied to his hands. Sometimes a log or other weights were attached to his bound legs. At the same time, the hands of a person raised on a rack twisted back and often came out of their joints, so that the convict had to hang on twisted arms. They were on the rack from several minutes to an hour or more. This type of rack was used most often in Western Europe.

4. In Russia, a suspect raised on a rack was beaten with a whip on the back, and “applied to the fire”, that is, they drove burning brooms over the body.

5. In some cases, the executioner broke the ribs of a person hanging on a rack with red-hot tongs.

Shiri (camel cap)

A monstrous fate awaited those whom the Zhuanzhuans (the union of nomadic Turkic-speaking peoples) took into their slavery. They destroyed the memory of the slave with a terrible torture - by putting Shiri on the head of the victim. Usually this fate befell young guys captured in battles.

1. First, the slaves shaved their heads, carefully scraping out every hair under the root.

2. The executioners slaughtered the camel and skinned its carcass, first of all, separating its heaviest, densest part.

3. Divided into pieces, it was immediately pulled in pairs over the shaved heads of the prisoners. These pieces, like a plaster, stuck around the heads of slaves. This meant putting on wide.

4. After putting on the width, the neck of the doomed was shackled in a special wooden block so that the subject could not touch his head to the ground. In this form, they were taken away from crowded places so that no one would hear their heartbreaking cries, and they were thrown there in an open field, with their hands and feet tied, in the sun, without water and without food.

5. The torture lasted 5 days.

6. Only a few remained alive, and the rest died not from hunger or even from thirst, but from unbearable, inhuman torments caused by drying out, shrinking rawhide camel skin on the head. Inexorably shrinking under the rays of the scorching sun, the width squeezed, squeezing the shaved head of a slave like an iron hoop. Already on the second day, the shaved hair of the martyrs began to sprout. Coarse and straight Asian hair sometimes grew into the rawhide, in most cases, finding no way out, the hair bent and again went into the scalp with its ends, causing even greater suffering. A day later, the man lost his mind. Only on the fifth day did the Zhuanzhuans come to check whether any of the prisoners had survived. If at least one of the tortured was caught alive, it was believed that the goal was achieved.

7. The one who was subjected to such a procedure either died, unable to withstand the torture, or lost his memory for life, turned into a mankurt - a slave who does not remember his past.

8. The skins of one camel were enough for five or six widths.

spanish water torture

In order to best perform the procedure of this torture, the accused was placed on one of the varieties of the rack or on a special large table with a rising middle part. After the victim's hands and feet were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner went to work in one of several ways. One of these methods was that the victim was forced to swallow a large amount of water with a funnel, then beaten on the inflated and arched stomach.

Another form involved placing a rag tube down the victim's throat, through which water was slowly poured in, causing the victim to bloat and suffocate. If that wasn't enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then reinserted and the process repeated. Sometimes cold water torture was used. In this case, the accused lay naked on the table for hours under a jet of icy water. It is interesting to note that this kind of torment was regarded as light, and confessions obtained in this way were accepted by the court as voluntary and given to the defendants without the use of torture. Most often, these tortures were used by the Spanish Inquisition in order to knock out confessions from heretics and witches.

spanish armchair

This instrument of torture was widely used by the executioners of the Spanish Inquisition and was a chair made of iron, on which the prisoner was seated, and his legs were enclosed in stocks attached to the legs of the chair. When he was in such a completely helpless position, a brazier was placed under his feet; with hot coals, so that the legs began to slowly roast, and in order to prolong the suffering of the poor fellow, the legs were poured with oil from time to time.

Another version of the Spanish chair was also often used, which was a metal throne, to which the victim was tied and a fire was made under the seat, roasting the buttocks. The well-known poisoner La Voisin was tortured on such an armchair during the famous Poisoning Case in France.

GRIDIRON (Torture by Fire Grid)

This type of torture is often mentioned in the lives of saints - real and fictional, but there is no evidence that the gridiron "survived" until the Middle Ages and had at least little circulation in Europe. It is usually described as an ordinary metal grate, 6 feet long and two and a half wide, set horizontally on legs so that a fire can be built under it.

Sometimes the gridiron was made in the form of a rack in order to be able to resort to combined torture.

Saint Lawrence was martyred on a similar grid.

This torture was rarely resorted to. Firstly, it was easy enough to kill the interrogated person, and secondly, there were a lot of simpler, but no less cruel tortures.

blood eagle

One of the most ancient tortures, during which the victim was tied face down and his back was opened, the ribs were broken off at the spine and spread apart like wings. In Scandinavian legends, it is stated that during such an execution, salt was sprinkled on the wounds of the victim.

Many historians claim that this torture was used by pagans against Christians, others are sure that spouses convicted of treason were punished in this way, and still others claim that the bloody eagle is just a terrible legend.

"Catherine's Wheel"

Before tying the victim to the wheel, her limbs were broken. When rotating, the legs and arms finally broke out, bringing unbearable torment to the victim. Some died from pain shock, while others suffered for several days.

spanish donkey

A wooden log in the form of a triangle was fixed on the "legs". The naked victim was placed on top of a sharp corner that cut right into the crotch. To make the torture more unbearable, weights were tied to the legs.

spanish boot

This is a fastening on the leg with a metal plate, which, with each question and subsequent refusal to answer it, as required, tightened more and more to break the bones of the person's legs. To enhance the effect, sometimes an inquisitor was connected to the torture, who hit the mount with a hammer. Often, after such torture, all the bones of the victim below the knee were crushed, and the wounded skin looked like a bag for these bones.

Quartering by horses

The victim was tied to four horses - by the arms and legs. Then the animals were allowed to run. There were no options - only death.

What do you think was the worst thing in the Middle Ages? Lack of toothpaste, good soap or shampoo? The fact that medieval discos were held to the tedious music of mandolins? Or maybe the fact that medicine did not yet know vaccinations and antibiotics? Or endless wars? Yes, our ancestors didn't go to the cinema or send emails to each other. But they were also inventors. And the worst thing they invented was the tools for torture, the tools with which the system of Christian justice was created - the Inquisition. And for those who lived in the Middle Ages, "Iron Maiden" is not the name of a heavy metal band, but one of the most disgusting gadgets of the time.

Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden. Nuremberg Maiden

This is not "three girls under the window." This is a huge sarcophagus in the form of an open empty female figure, inside which numerous blades and sharp spikes are fixed. They are located in such a way that the vital organs of the victim imprisoned in the sarcophagus are not affected, so the agony of the condemned to death was long and painful. The Virgin was first used in 1515. The condemned man died for three days.

Pear

This device was inserted into the holes of the body - it is clear that not in the mouth or ears - and opened so as to cause unimaginable pain to the victim, tearing these holes.

Copper Bull

This torture was developed in Greece, Athens. This was the shape of a bull made of metal (brass) and hollow inside, with a door on the side. The convict was placed inside the "bull". A fire was lit and heated to such an extent that the brass turned yellow, which eventually led to slow roasting. The bull was so arranged that when screaming and screaming from the inside, the roar of a rabid bull was heard.

rat torture

Rat torture was very popular in ancient China. However, we will look at the rat punishment technique developed by the leader of the 16th century Dutch Revolution, Didrik Sonoy.

How it works?

1. The naked martyr is laid on a table and tied;
2. Large, heavy cages with hungry rats are placed on the prisoner's stomach and chest. The bottom of the cells is opened with a special valve;
3. Hot coals are placed on top of the cages to stir up the rats;
4. Trying to escape from the heat of hot coals, rats gnaw their way through the flesh of the victim.

Vigil or Cradle of Judas

The know-how belongs to Hippolyte Marsili. At one time, this instrument of torture was considered loyal - it did not break bones, it did not tear ligaments. First, the sinner was lifted up on a rope, and then he sat down on the Cradle, and the top of the triangle was inserted into the same holes as the Pear. It hurt to such an extent that the sinner lost consciousness. It was lifted, "pumped out" and again planted on the Cradle. I do not think that in moments of enlightenment, sinners thanked Hippolytus for his invention.

Elephant trampling

For several centuries, this execution was practiced in India and Indochina. The elephant is very easy to train and to teach him to trample the guilty victim with his huge feet is a matter of several days.

How it works?

1. The victim is tied to the floor;
2. A trained elephant is brought into the hall to crush the martyr's head;
3. Sometimes before the "control in the head" animals squeeze the victims' arms and legs in order to amuse the audience.

Rack

This device is an oblong rectangle with a wooden frame. Hands were firmly fixed from below and from above. As the interrogation / torture, the executioner twisted the lever, with each turn the person was stretched and hellish pain set in. Usually, at the end of the torture, the person either simply died from pain shock, because that’s all his joints were pulled out.

Dead man's bed (modern China)

The "dead man's bed" torture is used by the Chinese Communist Party mainly on those prisoners who try to protest their illegal imprisonment through a hunger strike. In most cases, these are prisoners of conscience who went to prison for their beliefs.

How it works?

1. The hands and feet of a naked prisoner are tied to the corners of the bed, on which, instead of a mattress, there is a wooden board with a hole cut out. A bucket for excrement is placed under the hole. Often, ropes are tightly tied to the bed and the body of a person so that he cannot move at all. In this position, a person is continuously from several days to weeks.
2. In some prisons, such as Shenyang City No. 2 Prison and Jilin City Prison, the police even place a hard object under the victim's back to increase the suffering.
3. It also happens that the bed is placed vertically and for 3-4 days a person hangs, stretched by the limbs.
4. To these torments, force-feeding is also added, which is carried out using a tube inserted through the nose into the esophagus, into which liquid food is poured.
5. This procedure is done mainly by prisoners on the orders of the guards, and not by health workers. They do it very rudely and not professionally, often causing more serious damage to the internal organs of a person.
6. Those who have gone through this torture say that it causes displacement of the vertebrae, joints of the arms and legs, as well as numbness and blackening of the limbs, which often leads to disability.

Collar (Modern China)

One of the medieval tortures used in modern Chinese prisons is the wearing of a wooden collar. It is put on a prisoner, which is why he cannot walk or stand normally. The collar is a board from 50 to 80 cm long, from 30 to 50 cm wide and 10 - 15 cm thick. There are two holes for the legs in the middle of the collar. The shackled victim is difficult to move, must crawl into the bed, and usually must sit or lie down, as the upright position causes pain and injury to the legs. Without assistance, a person with a collar cannot go to eat or go to the toilet. When a person gets out of bed, the collar not only presses on the legs and heels, causing pain, but its edge clings to the bed and prevents the person from returning to it. At night, the prisoner is not able to turn around, and in winter, a short blanket does not cover his legs. An even worse form of this torture is called "crawling with a wooden collar." The guards put a collar on the man and order him to crawl on the concrete floor. If he stops, he is hit on the back with a police baton. An hour later, fingers, toenails and knees bleed profusely, while the back is covered with wounds from blows.

Impalement

Terrible wild execution that came from the East. The essence of this execution was that a person was placed on his stomach, one sat on him to prevent him from moving, the other held him by the neck. A person was inserted into the anus with a stake, which was then driven in with a mallet; then they drove a stake into the ground. The weight of the body forced the stake to go deeper and deeper, and finally it came out under the armpit or between the ribs.

Chinese water torture

The person was seated in a very cold room, they tied him so that he could not move his head, and in complete darkness cold water was dripped on his forehead very slowly. After a few days, the person froze or went crazy.

spanish armchair

This instrument of torture was widely used by the executioners of the Spanish Inquisition and was a chair made of iron, on which the prisoner was seated, and his legs were enclosed in stocks attached to the legs of the chair. When he was in such a completely helpless position, a brazier was placed under his feet; with hot coals, so that the legs began to slowly roast, and in order to prolong the suffering of the poor fellow, the legs were poured with oil from time to time. Another version of the Spanish chair was also often used, which was a metal throne, to which the victim was tied and a fire was made under the seat, roasting the buttocks. The well-known poisoner La Voisin was tortured on such an armchair during the famous Poisoning Case in France.

GRIDIRON (Torture by Fire Grid)

Torture of Saint Lawrence on the gridiron.

This type of torture is often mentioned in the lives of saints - real and fictional, but there is no evidence that the gridiron "survived" until the Middle Ages and had at least little circulation in Europe. It is usually described as a simple metal grate 6 feet long and two and a half feet wide, set horizontally on legs to allow a fire to be built underneath. Sometimes the gridiron was made in the form of a rack in order to be able to resort to combined torture. Saint Lawrence was martyred on a similar grid. This torture was rarely resorted to. Firstly, it was easy enough to kill the interrogated person, and secondly, there were a lot of simpler, but no less cruel tortures.

Pectoral

Pectoral in ancient times was called a breast adornment for women in the form of a pair of carved gold or silver bowls, often strewn with precious stones. It was worn like a modern bra and fastened with chains. By a mocking analogy with this decoration, the savage instrument of torture used by the Venetian Inquisition was named. In 1985, the pectoral was red-hot and, taking it with tongs, put it on the chest of the tortured woman and held until she confessed. If the accused persisted, the executioners heated up the pectoral, cooled by the living body again, and continued the interrogation. Very often, after this barbaric torture, charred, torn holes remained in place of the woman's breasts.

ticklish torture

This seemingly harmless influence was a terrible torture. With prolonged tickling, a person’s nerve conduction increased so much that even the lightest touch caused at first twitching, laughter, and then turned into terrible pain. If such torture was continued for a long time, then after a while spasms of the respiratory muscles arose and, in the end, the tortured person died from suffocation. In the simplest version of torture, sensitive places were tickled by the interrogated either simply with hands or with hairbrushes and brushes. Rigid bird feathers were popular. Usually tickled under the armpits, heels, nipples, inguinal folds, genitals, women also under the breasts. In addition, torture was often used with the use of animals that licked some tasty substance from the heels of the interrogated. A goat was often used, because its very hard tongue, adapted for eating herbs, caused very strong irritation. There was also a form of beetle tickling, most common in India. With her, a small bug was planted on the head of the penis of a man or on the nipple of a woman and covered with half a nut shell. After some time, the tickling caused by the movement of the legs of an insect over a living body became so unbearable that the interrogated person confessed to anything ...

Crocodile

These tubular metal tongs "Crocodile" were red-hot and used to tear the penis of the tortured. At first, with a few caressing movements (often performed by women), or with a tight bandage, they achieved a stable hard erection and then the torture began.

Tooth crusher

These serrated iron tongs slowly crushed the testicles of the interrogated. Something similar was widely used in Stalinist and fascist prisons.

A creepy tradition

Actually, this is not torture, but an African rite, but, in my opinion, it is very cruel. Girls from 3-6 years old without anesthesia were simply scraped out the external genitalia. Thus, the girl did not lose the ability to have children, but was forever deprived of the opportunity to experience sexual desire and pleasure. This rite is done “for the benefit” of women, so that they will never be tempted to cheat on their husband ...

blood eagle

Part of an image engraved on a Stora Hammers stone. The illustration shows a man lying on his stomach, an executor standing over him, ripping open the man's back with an unusual weapon. One of the most ancient tortures, during which the victim was tied face down and his back was opened, the ribs were broken off at the spine and spread apart like wings. In Scandinavian legends, it is stated that during such an execution, salt was sprinkled on the wounds of the victim.

Many historians claim that this torture was used by pagans against Christians, others are sure that spouses convicted of treason were punished in this way, and still others claim that the bloody eagle is just a terrible legend.

spanish water torture

In order to best perform the procedure of this torture, the accused was placed on one of the varieties of the rack or on a special large table with a rising middle part. After the victim's hands and feet were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner went to work in one of several ways. One of these methods was that the victim was forced to swallow a large amount of water with a funnel, then beaten on the inflated and arched stomach. Another form involved placing a rag tube down the victim's throat, through which water was slowly poured in, causing the victim to bloat and suffocate. If that wasn't enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then reinserted and the process repeated. Sometimes cold water torture was used. In this case, the accused lay naked on the table for hours under a jet of icy water. It is interesting to note that this kind of torment was regarded as light, and confessions obtained in this way were accepted by the court as voluntary and given to the defendants without the use of torture. Most often, these tortures were used by the Spanish Inquisition in order to knock out confessions from heretics and witches.

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In the old days, people were sentenced to death for all kinds of crimes: from murder to petty theft. Most often, the executions were public, therefore, in order to attract more onlookers, they tried to make the act of killing more spectacular. And there were no limits to the human imagination.

copper bull

Before execution, the condemned man's tongue was cut off, and then he was locked inside a copper bull. A huge fire was kindled under the bull, and the poor fellow was practically roasted alive in it. Due to the lack of a language, he could not scream, so all that remained for him was to beat against the hot walls. From the blows, the bull staggered and seemed to come to life, causing a stormy delight of the crowd.

Ash execution

The person was locked in a cramped unventilated room filled with ashes. The offender died in long agony, which sometimes lasted several days or weeks.

elephant execution

Those sentenced to death were given to be torn to pieces by a specially trained executioner elephant. He trampled the victim, and she died from injuries. Moreover, those criminals who were stepped on by an elephant, one might say, were still lucky - they died quickly and without torment - while others could be tormented by an elephant for hours.

bamboo execution

The well-known property of bamboo - rapid growth - was also used by the sick human imagination to torture those sentenced to death. The body of a person was placed over the shoots of young bamboo, and the plant sprouted through it, causing unimaginable suffering to the victim.

Milk and honey

The convict was placed in a boat, fixing his body in such a way that he could not move. For a long time, the poor fellow was fed only milk and honey. If he refused to eat, a sharp stick was poked into his eye until he opened his mouth. The skin of the condemned was also smeared with honey. Soon hordes of insects, attracted by the sweet smell, pounced on the body and literally ate the poor fellow alive.