The most sophisticated instruments of torture of the Middle Ages (13 photos). The most terrible and cruel medieval tortures

The mood now is An executed prisoner...

Guillotine

Guillotine - a mechanism for carrying out death penalty through cutting off the head. Execution using the guillotine is often called guillotining.

The main part of the guillotine is a heavy (40-100 kg) oblique knife (the slang name is “lamb”), which moves freely along vertical guides. The knife was raised to a height of 2-3 meters and held with a rope. The head of the guillotined person was placed in a special recess at the base of the mechanism and secured on top wooden plank with a notch, after which the rope holding the knife was released, and it fell at high speed onto the victim’s neck.

Quartering

Quartering is a historical form of capital punishment that involves cutting off limbs. As the name suggests, the body of the convicted person is divided into four parts (or more). After the execution, body parts are put on public display separately (sometimes distributed among four outposts, city gates, etc.). Quartering fell out of use at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries.

Wheeling

Wheeling is a common type of death penalty in ancient and medieval times. Wheeling was used back in Ancient Rome. In the Middle Ages it was common in Europe, especially in Germany and France. In Russia, this type of execution has been known since the 17th century, but wheeling began to be regularly used only under Peter I, having received legislative approval in the Military Regulations. Wheeling ceased to be used only in the 19th century.

A person sentenced to be cast on the wheel had all the large bones of his body broken with an iron crowbar or a wheel, then he was tied to big wheel, and installed the wheel on the pole. The condemned person found himself face up, looking at the sky, and died this way from shock and dehydration, often for quite a long time. The suffering of the dying man was aggravated by the birds pecking at him. Sometimes, instead of a wheel, they simply used a wooden frame or a cross made of logs.

Boiling in boiling water

Boiling in liquid was a common form of capital punishment in different countries peace. In France, this penalty was applied to counterfeiters. In ancient Egypt, this type of punishment was applied mainly to persons who disobeyed the pharaoh. At dawn, the pharaoh’s slaves (especially so that Ra could see the criminal) lit a huge fire, over which there was a cauldron of water (and not just water, but the dirtiest water, where waste was poured, etc.) Sometimes entire people were executed in this way. families.

Crucifixion

Those condemned to death had their hands and feet nailed to the ends of the cross or their limbs were secured with ropes. In this case, the nails were driven not into the palms, but into the wrists, since the nails driven into the palms did not hold the body on the cross; under the weight of the executed person, the nails cut through the tissue of the limbs and the executed person could fall from the cross.

The cross used was wooden, usually oblique, sometimes straight, but there were other forms. Sometimes a small ledge was attached to the center of the cross, on which the crucified person could lean. The cross was then mounted vertically for all to see. Often the crucifixion itself was preceded by a shameful procession, during which the condemned man had to carry the so-called patibulum, a wooden beam, which then served as the horizontal crossbar of the cross.
Execution was known in Babylonia and Greece, but became especially widespread in Ancient Rome, where it became the main type of painful death penalty. This is how especially dangerous criminals (rebels, traitors, murderers, etc.) were executed. In the event of the murder of the owner of the house, all slaves living in the house, regardless of gender and age, were subject to crucifixion. Participants in the Spartacus uprising were also crucified. According to Christian doctrine, Jesus Christ was crucified, which made the cross a symbol of the Christian religion. A number of Christian saints (the apostles Andrew and Peter, the martyr Cleonikos of Amasia) were also executed by crucifixion.
The main cause of death during crucifixion is asphyxia caused by developing edema lungs and fatigue of the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles involved in the breathing process. The main support of the body in this pose is the arms, and when breathing, the abdominal muscles and intercostal muscles had to lift the weight of the entire body, which led to their rapid fatigue. Also, compression of the chest by tense muscles of the shoulder girdle and chest caused stagnation of fluid in the lungs and pulmonary edema. Additional causes of death were dehydration and blood loss.
The possibility of relying on a ledge attached to the cross made breathing somewhat easier, but overall it only delayed the process of death. To speed up the execution, the convicts' legs were broken with a sword, club or ax, which deprived them of additional support.
The crucified person died long and painfully, usually within 6-72 hours. In some cases, in order to prolong the torment, water or vinegar was offered to the crucified person in a sponge.
Crucifixion as a form of death penalty still exists in Sudanese law. But before the crucifixion itself, a preliminary hanging of the condemned person is carried out, that is, an already dead body is crucified.

Burning

Burning is a type of death penalty in which the condemned person was publicly burned alive on a pre-prepared pyre.

Along with walling up and imprisonment, burning was widely used in the Middle Ages, since, according to the church, on the one hand it happened without “shedding of blood,” and on the other hand, the flame was considered a means of “purification” and could save the soul. Heretics, “witches” and those guilty of sodomy were especially often subject to burning.
Juan Antonio Llorente in his book “History of the Spanish Inquisition” writes that in Spain in 1540-1700, 31,700 people were burned by the Holy Inquisition, excluding its colonies.

Buried alive

Burial alive is known as a method of capital punishment or torture, and also as a result of an accident (for example, when rubble collapses in a mine, etc.); in addition, burial alive occurs by mistake (over a person who is mistakenly believed to be dead).

As a method of capital punishment it is known in Ancient Rome; A Vestal Virgin who broke her vow of virginity was buried alive, and food and water were placed in her grave for one day. Many Christian martyrs were executed by burial alive. In medieval Italy, unrepentant murderers were buried alive. In Russia in the 17th and 18th centuries, women who killed their husbands were buried alive up to their necks.

The accidental burial of a person unconscious or in a lethargic sleep was quite rare, and with modern medicine in developed countries it was completely excluded, but this plot was extremely common in the culture of the 18th-20th centuries. It is constantly found in Edgar Poe. In particular, this topic is specially treated in his story “Premature Funeral”, where a hero is tragicomically depicted who was afraid of being buried alive and made himself a special crypt with a bell, and then woke up buried in the ground; Later it turns out that he was not buried, but fell asleep in the hold of a ship transporting the earth. Coffins with means of survival for those buried alive were actually produced and patented starting from the second half of the 19th century V. until now. Marina Tsvetaeva was afraid of being buried alive and stipulated this in her suicide note before committing suicide. There is a legend that N.V. Gogol died in this way.

Lynchy

Lynching (Chinese: “death by a thousand cuts”) is a particularly painful method of execution by cutting small fragments from the victim’s body over a long period of time.

It was used in China for high treason and parricide in the Middle Ages and during the Qing Dynasty until its abolition in 1905. In 1630, the prominent Ming military leader Yuan Chonghuan was subjected to this execution. The proposal to abolish it was made back in the 12th century by the poet Lu Yu.

During the Qing dynasty, lingchi was carried out in order to intimidate in public places with a large crowd of onlookers. Surviving accounts of the execution differ in detail. The victim was usually drugged with opium, either out of mercy or to prevent him from losing consciousness.

Analysis of photographs indicates that the ceremony took no more than 20 minutes, and Western evidence of its particularly long duration is greatly exaggerated. A bribe to the executioner made it possible to reduce the duration of the procedure.

Garrotte

Garrote is a Spanish method of execution by strangulation. Initially, the garrote was a noose with a stick, with the help of which the executioner killed the victim. Over time, it transformed into a metal hoop, driven by a screw with a lever at the back. Before execution, the convict was tied to a chair or pole; a bag was placed over his head. After the sentence was carried out, the bag was removed so that spectators could see the victim's face.

Later, the garrote was improved. Thus, the Catalan garrote appeared, where the screw was equipped with a point, which, when turned, gradually screwed into the neck of the convicted person and crushed his cervical vertebrae. Contrary to popular belief, such a device was “more humane”, since the victim died faster.

Impalement

Impalement was widely used in Ancient Egypt and the Middle East; its first mentions date back to the beginning of the second millennium BC. e. Execution became especially widespread in Assyria, where impalement was a common punishment for residents of rebellious cities, therefore, for instructive purposes, scenes of this execution were often depicted on bas-reliefs. This execution was used according to Assyrian law and as a punishment for women for abortion (considered as a variant of infanticide), as well as for a number of particularly serious crimes. On Assyrian reliefs there are two options: in one of them, the condemned person was pierced with a stake through the chest, in the other, the tip of the stake entered the body from below, through the anus. Execution was widely used in the Mediterranean and the Middle East at least from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. It was also known to the Romans, although it was not particularly widespread in Ancient Rome. Middle Ages

For much of medieval history, impalement was very common in the Middle East, where it was one of the main methods of painful capital punishment.

Impalement was quite common in Byzantium, for example, Belisarius suppressed soldier revolts by impaling the instigators.

The Romanian ruler Vlad III (Tepes - “impaler”) distinguished himself with particular cruelty. According to his instructions, the victims were impaled on a thick stake, the top of which was rounded and oiled. The stake was inserted into the anus or vagina (in the latter case, the victim died almost within a few minutes from excessive blood loss) to a depth of several tens of centimeters, then the stake was installed vertically. The victim, under the influence of the weight of his body, slowly slid down the stake, and death sometimes occurred only after a few days, since the rounded stake did not pierce the vital organs, but only went deeper into the body. In some cases, a horizontal crossbar was installed on the stake, which prevented the body from sliding too low and ensured that the stake did not reach the heart and other important organs. In this case, death from loss of blood did not occur very soon. The usual version of execution was also very painful, and the victims writhed on the stake for several hours.

Iron Maiden

The Iron Maiden is an instrument of capital punishment or torture of the Middle Ages, which was a cabinet made of iron in the form of a woman dressed in the costume of a 16th-century townswoman. It is assumed that after placing the convict there, the cabinet was closed, and the sharp long nails with which the inner surface the chest and arms of the “iron maiden” pierced his body; then, after the death of the victim, the movable bottom of the cabinet was lowered, the body of the executed person was thrown into the water and carried away by its current.

Moreover, apparently, the nails inside the “iron maiden” were located in such a way that the victim did not die immediately, but after quite a long time, during which her judges had the opportunity to continue the interrogation.

According to the stories of ancient writers, a similar method of execution was first invented by the Spartan tyrant Nabis. The apparatus he invented looked like a woman sitting on a chair, and was called Apega, after the tyrant’s wife; as the condemned man approached, Apega stood up and threw both her arms over his back, studded, like her chest, with sharp nails that tore the body into pieces.

There is no reliable information about the use of the iron maiden for torture and execution. The most famous example was built in Nuremberg at the beginning of the 16th century. It has not survived to this day: in 1944, the fortress, in the basement of which this so-called “Maid of Nuremberg” was located, was destroyed as a result of an air raid. Considering the strict formalization of medieval inquisition processes and the regulation of permitted torture, it is safe to say that if the “iron maiden” was used, it was only by secular courts. However, there is an opinion that it was fabricated during the Enlightenment.

A similar “maiden” was discovered in 2003 in Iraq. It is stated that it was used to deal with opponents of Saddam Hussein.

Keeling

Keeling - in the era sailing ships the punishment consisted of dragging a person with the help of under-keel ends from side to side under the bottom of the ship. Often pitching led to the death of the person being punished.

The condemned man was lifted onto the yard, lowered headfirst into the water and pulled with a rope under the keel to the other side of the ship. Keeling was carried out once, twice or three times, depending on the offense. If the criminal did not choke, then there was a great danger that he would be so cut up by the benthos that had grown on the sides of the ship that he would soon die from bleeding.

Poena cullei

Poena cullei (Latin for “execution in a sack”) is a qualified type of death penalty known to Roman criminal law. It consisted of sewing the executed person into a leather bag along with a live snake, monkey, rooster and dog, followed by drowning the bag in a pond.
It was used for the murder of relatives, primarily the father.
It was of a sacred and symbolic nature, since the criminal who was subjected to poena cullei was likened to the corresponding animals.
According to Cicero, blasphemers were subjected to the same punishment (“Whoever steals or abducts a sacred object or entrusted to the sacred guard, let him be “parricida””).
With the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire, this execution did not disappear. Thus, it was confirmed by the laws of Constantine the Great, although the latter extended this execution to child murderers.

Hanging

Hanging is a type of mechanical asphyxia that occurs when the neck is compressed by a noose tightened under the weight of the body of the deceased. Usually the loop is a ring, a knot, the free end of which is fixed motionless. Hanging is used as a method of capital punishment, murder or suicide.

In most cases, the death of a hanged person does not occur from suffocation, as many people think, but from compression of the carotid arteries that supply blood to the brain. When deprived of support, the hanged person loses consciousness within a few seconds (but if he does not lose consciousness, the excruciating agony can last longer), and after a few minutes biological death can be recorded due to irreversible damage to the cerebral cortex. Cardiac activity continues for some time after breathing has stopped. Since the second half of the 19th century, in many countries, a type of hanging has been used in the death penalty, in which the body of the convicted person is not simply deprived of support and hangs on a rope, but falls from a great height (several meters) through a hatch. In this case, death occurs not from asphyxia in a few minutes, but from rupture of the cervical vertebrae and spinal cord almost instantly. With such hanging, it is necessary to calculate the length of the rope depending on the weight of the convicted person so that the head does not separate from the body.

Stoning

They were sentenced to stoning only for those 18 types of crimes for which the Bible directly prescribes such execution. However, in the Talmud, stoning was replaced by throwing the condemned person onto the stones. According to the Talmud, the condemned person should be thrown from such a height that death occurs instantly, but his body is not disfigured.

Stoning happened like this: the person sentenced by the court was given an extract of narcotic herbs as a painkiller, after which he was thrown from a cliff, and if he did not die from this, one large stone was thrown on top of him.

Inquisition(from lat. inquisitio- investigation, search), in the Catholic Church there is a special church court for heretics, which existed in the 13th-19th centuries. Back in 1184, Pope Lucius III and Emperor Frederick 1 Barbarossa established a strict procedure for the search by bishops of heretics and the investigation of their cases by episcopal courts. Secular authorities were obliged to carry out the death sentences they passed. The Inquisition as an institution was first discussed at the 4th Lateran Council (1215), convened by Pope Innocent III, which established a special process for the persecution of heretics (per inquisitionem), for which defamatory rumors were declared sufficient grounds. From 1231 to 1235, Pope Gregory IX, through a series of decrees, transferred the functions of persecuting heresies, previously performed by bishops, to special commissioners - inquisitors (initially appointed from among the Dominicans, and then the Franciscans). In a number of European states (Germany, France, etc.) inquisitorial tribunals were established, which were entrusted with investigating cases of heretics, pronouncing and executing sentences. This is how the establishment of the Inquisition was formalized. Members of the inquisitorial tribunals had personal immunity and immunity from the jurisdiction of local secular and ecclesiastical authorities and were directly dependent on the pope. Due to the secret and arbitrary proceedings, those accused by the Inquisition were deprived of all guarantees. The widespread use of cruel torture, the encouragement and reward of informers, the material interest of the Inquisition itself and the papacy, which received huge funds thanks to the confiscation of the property of those convicted, made the Inquisition a scourge Catholic countries. Those sentenced to death were usually handed over to the secular authorities to be burned at the stake (see Auto-da-fe). In the 16th century I. became one of the main weapons of the Counter-Reformation. In 1542, a supreme inquisitorial tribunal was established in Rome. Many outstanding scientists and thinkers (G. Bruno, G. Vanini, etc.) became victims of the Inquisition. The Inquisition was especially rampant in Spain (where from the end of the 15th century it was closely connected with royal power). In just 18 years of activity of the main Spanish inquisitor Torquemada (15th century), more than 10 thousand people were burned alive.

The tortures of the Inquisition were very varied. The cruelty and ingenuity of the inquisitors amazes the imagination. Some medieval instruments of torture have survived to this day, but most often even museum exhibits have been restored according to descriptions. We present to your attention a description of some famous instruments of torture.

The "interrogation chair" was used in Central Europe. In Nuremberg and Fegensburg, until 1846, preliminary investigations using it were regularly carried out. The naked prisoner was seated on a chair in such a position that at the slightest movement, spikes pierced his skin. Executioners often intensified the agony of the victim by lighting a fire under the seat. The iron chair quickly heated up, causing severe burns. During interrogation, the victim's limbs could be pierced using forceps or other instruments of torture. Such chairs had different shapes and sizes, but they were all equipped with spikes and means of immobilizing the victim.

rack-bed

This is one of the most common instruments of torture found in historical accounts. The rack was used throughout Europe. Usually this tool was a large table with or without legs, on which the convict was forced to lie down, and his legs and arms were fixed with wooden blocks. Thus immobilized, the victim was "stretched", causing him unbearable pain, often until the muscles were torn. The rotating drum for tensioning the chains was not used in all versions of the rack, but only in the most ingenious “modernized” models. The executioner could cut into the victim's muscles to speed up the final rupture of the tissue. The victim's body stretched more than 30 cm before exploding. Sometimes the victim was tied tightly to the rack to make it easier to use other methods of torture, such as pincers for pinching nipples and other sensitive parts of the body, cauterization with a hot iron, etc.

This is by far the most common torture and was initially often used in legal proceedings because it was considered easy option torture. The defendant's hands were tied behind his back, and the other end of the rope was thrown over the winch ring. The victim was either left in this position or the rope was pulled strongly and continuously. Often, additional weights were tied to the victim's notes, and the body was torn with tongs, such as a "witch spider", to make the torture less gentle. The judges thought that witches knew many ways of witchcraft, which allowed them to calmly endure torture, so it was not always possible to obtain a confession. We can refer to a series of trials in Munich at the beginning of the 17th century involving eleven people. Six of them were constantly tortured with an iron boot, one of the women had her chest dismembered, the next five were wheeled, and one was impaled. They, in turn, reported on another twenty-one people, who were immediately interrogated in Tetenwang. Among the new accused was one very respectable family. The father died in prison, the mother, after being tried on the rack eleven times, confessed to everything she was accused of. The daughter, Agnes, twenty-one years old, stoically endured the ordeal on the rack with additional weight, but did not admit her guilt, and only said that she forgave her executioners and accusers. It was only after several days of continuous ordeal in the torture chamber that she was told of her mother's full confession. After attempting suicide, she confessed to all the terrible crimes, including cohabiting with the Devil from the age of eight, devouring the hearts of thirty people, participating in the Sabbath, causing a storm and denying the Lord. Mother and daughter were sentenced to be burned at the stake.

The use of the term "stork" is attributed to the Roman Court of the Holy Inquisition in the period from the second half of the 16th century. until about 1650. The same name was given to this instrument of torture by L.A. Muratori in his book “Italian Chronicles” (1749). The origin of the even stranger name "The Janitor's Daughter" is unknown, but it is given by analogy with the name of an identical device in the Tower of London. Whatever the origin of the name, this weapon is a magnificent example of the vast variety of coercive systems that were used during the Inquisition.

The victim's position was carefully thought out. Within a few minutes, this body position led to severe muscle spasms in the abdomen and anus. Then the spasm began to spread to the chest, neck, arms and legs, becoming more and more painful, especially at the site of the initial occurrence of the spasm. After some time, the one attached to the “Stork” passed from a simple experience of torment to a state of complete madness. Often, while the victim was tormented in this terrible position, he was additionally tortured with a hot iron and other means. The iron bonds cut into the victim's flesh and caused gangrene and sometimes death.

The "chair of the inquisition", known as the "witch's chair", was highly valued as a good remedy against silent women accused of witchcraft. This common instrument was especially widely used by the Austrian Inquisition. The chairs were of various sizes and shapes, all equipped with spikes, with handcuffs, blocks for restraining the victim and, most often, with iron seats that could be heated if necessary. We found evidence of the use of this weapon for slow killing. In 1693, in the Austrian city of Gutenberg, Judge Wolf von Lampertisch led the trial of Maria Vukinetz, 57 years old, on charges of witchcraft. She was placed on the witch's chair for eleven days and nights, while the executioners burned her legs with a red-hot iron (insleplaster). Maria Vukinetz died under torture, going crazy from pain, but not confessing to the crime.

According to the inventor, Ippolito Marsili, the introduction of the Vigil marked a turning point in the history of torture. The modern system of obtaining a confession does not involve the infliction of bodily harm. There are no broken vertebrae, twisted ankles, or shattered joints; the only substance that suffers is the victim's nerves. The idea of ​​the torture was to keep the victim awake for as long as possible, a kind of insomnia torture. But "Vigil", which was not initially considered as brutal torture, took various, sometimes extremely cruel, forms.

The victim was raised to the top of the pyramid and then gradually lowered. The top of the pyramid was supposed to penetrate the area of ​​the anus, testicles or coccyx, and if a woman was tortured, then the vagina. The pain was so severe that the accused often lost consciousness. If this happened, the procedure was delayed until the victim woke up. In Germany, “vigil torture” was called “cradle guarding.”

This torture is very similar to the “vigil torture.” The difference is that the main element of the device is a pointed wedge-shaped corner made of metal or hardwood. The interrogated person was suspended over acute angle, so that this angle rests against the crotch. A variation of the use of the “donkey” is to tie a weight to the legs of the interrogated person, tied and fixed at a sharp angle.

A simplified form of the “Spanish Donkey” can be considered a stretched rigid rope or a metal cable called a “Mare”, more often this type of weapon is used on women. The rope stretched between the legs is lifted as high as possible and the genitals are rubbed until they bleed. The rope type of torture is quite effective as it is applied to the most sensitive parts of the body.

brazier

In the past, there was no Amnesty International association, no one intervened in the affairs of justice and did not protect those who fell into its clutches. The executioners were free to choose any, from their point of view, suitable means for obtaining confessions. They often also used a brazier. The victim was tied to bars and then "roasted" until genuine repentance and confession were obtained, which led to the discovery of more criminals. And the cycle continued.

In order to best carry out the procedure of this torture, the accused was placed on one of the types of racks or on a special big table with a rising middle part. After the victim's arms and legs were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner began work in one of several ways. One of these methods involved forcing the victim, using a funnel, to swallow a large number of water, then they hit the swollen and arched belly. Another form involved placing a cloth tube down the victim's throat through which water was slowly poured, causing the victim to swell and suffocate. If this was not enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then inserted again, and the process was repeated. Sometimes torture was used cold water. In this case, the accused lay naked on a table under a stream of ice water for hours. It is interesting to note that this type of torture was considered light, and confessions obtained in this way were accepted by the court as voluntary and given by the defendant without the use of torture.

The idea of ​​mechanizing torture was born in Germany and nothing can be done about the fact that the Maid of Nuremberg has such origins. She got her name because of her resemblance to a Bavarian girl, and also because her prototype was created and first used in the dungeon of the secret court in Nuremberg. The accused was placed in a sarcophagus, where the body of the unfortunate man was pierced with sharp spikes, located so that none of the vital organs were affected, and the agony lasted for quite a long time. The first case of legal proceedings using the "Maiden" dates back to 1515. It was described in detail by Gustav Freytag in his book "bilder aus der deutschen vergangenheit". Punishment befell the perpetrator of the forgery, who suffered inside the sarcophagus for three days.

Wheeling

A person sentenced to be wheeled was broken with an iron crowbar or wheel, all the large bones of his body were then tied to a large wheel, and the wheel was placed on a pole. The condemned person found himself face up, looking at the sky, and died this way from shock and dehydration, often for quite a long time. The suffering of the dying man was aggravated by the birds pecking at him. Sometimes, instead of a wheel, they simply used a wooden frame or a cross made of logs.

Vertically mounted wheels were also used for wheeling.

Wheeling is a very popular system of both torture and execution. It was used only when accused of witchcraft. Typically the procedure was divided into two phases, both of which were quite painful. The first consisted of breaking most of the bones and joints with the help of a small wheel called a crushing wheel, equipped on the outside with many spikes. The second was designed in case of execution. It was assumed that the victim, broken and mutilated in this way, would literally, like a rope, slide between the spokes of a wheel onto a long pole, where he would remain to await death. A popular version of this execution combined wheeling and burning at the stake - in this case, death occurred quickly. The procedure was described in the materials of one of the trials in Tyrol. In 1614, a tramp named Wolfgang Zellweiser from Gastein, found guilty of intercourse with the devil and sending a storm, was sentenced by the court of Leinz to both be thrown on the wheel and burned at the stake.

Limb press or “Knee crusher”

A variety of devices for crushing and breaking joints, both knee and elbow. Numerous steel teeth, penetrating inside the body, inflicted terrible puncture wounds, causing the victim to bleed.

The “Spanish boot” was a kind of manifestation of “engineering genius”, since the judicial authorities during the Middle Ages took care that the best masters They created more and more advanced devices that made it possible to weaken the prisoner’s will and to achieve a confession faster and easier. The metal “Spanish Boot,” equipped with a system of screws, gradually compressed the victim’s lower leg until the bones were broken.

The Iron Shoe is a close relative of the Spanish Boot. In this case, the executioner “worked” not with the lower leg, but with the foot of the interrogated person. Using the device too hard usually resulted in broken tarsus, metatarsus, and toe bones.

This medieval device, it should be noted, was highly valued, especially in northern Germany. Its function was quite simple: the victim's chin was placed on a wooden or iron support, and the cap of the device was screwed onto the victim's head. First, the teeth and jaws were crushed, then, as the pressure increased, brain tissue began to flow out of the skull. Over time, this instrument lost its significance as a murder weapon and became widespread as an instrument of torture. Despite the fact that both the cover of the device and the lower support are lined with a soft material that does not leave any marks on the victim, the device brings the prisoner into a state of “readiness to cooperate” after just a few turns of the screw.

The pillory has been a widespread method of punishment at all times and under any social system. The convicted person was placed in the pillory for a certain time, from several hours to several days. Bad weather during the punishment period aggravated the situation of the victim and increased the torment, which was probably considered as “divine retribution.” The pillory, on the one hand, could be considered a relatively mild method of punishment, in which the guilty were simply exposed in a public place to public ridicule. On the other hand, those chained to the pillory were completely defenseless before the “court of the people”: anyone could insult them with a word or action, spit at them or throw a stone - silent treatment, the cause of which could be popular indignation or personal enmity, sometimes led to injury or even the death of the convicted person.

This instrument was created as a pillory in the shape of a chair, and was sarcastically named "The Throne". The victim was placed upside down, and her legs were strengthened with wooden blocks. This type of torture was popular among judges who wanted to follow the letter of the law. In fact, the laws governing torture only allowed the Throne to be used once during interrogation. But most judges circumvented this rule by simply calling the next session a continuation of the same first one. Using "Tron" allowed it to be declared as one session, even if it lasted 10 days. Since the use of the Tron did not leave permanent marks on the victim's body, it was very suitable for long-term use. It should be noted that at the same time as this torture, prisoners were also tortured with water and a hot iron.

It could be wooden or iron, for one or two women. It was an instrument of mild torture, with rather psychological and symbolic meaning. There is no documented evidence that the use of this device resulted in physical injury. It was applied mainly to those guilty of slander or insult to personality; the victim’s arms and neck were secured in small holes, so that the punished woman found herself in a prayer position. One can imagine the victim's suffering from poor circulation and pain in the elbows when the device was worn for a long period of time, sometimes for several days.

A brutal instrument used to restrain a criminal in a cross-like position. It is credible that the Cross was invented in Austria in the 16th and 17th centuries. This follows from the book “Justice in Old Times” from the collection of the Museum of Justice in Rottenburg ob der Tauber (Germany). A very similar model, which was located in the tower of a castle in Salzburg (Austria), is mentioned in one of the most detailed descriptions.

The suicide bomber was seated on a chair with his hands tied behind his back, and an iron collar rigidly fixed the position of his head. During the execution process, the executioner tightened the screw, and the iron wedge slowly entered the skull of the condemned man, leading to his death.

Neck trap - ring with nails on inside and with a device resembling a trap on the outside. Any prisoner who tried to hide in the crowd could be easily stopped using this device. After being caught by the neck, he could no longer free himself, and he was forced to follow the overseer without fear that he would resist.

This instrument really resembled a double-sided steel fork with four sharp spikes piercing the body under the chin and in the sternum area. It was tightly fastened with a leather belt to the criminal's neck. This type of fork was used in trials for heresy and witchcraft. Penetrating deeply into the flesh, it caused pain with any attempt to move the head and allowed the victim to speak only in an unintelligible, barely audible voice. Sometimes the Latin inscription “I renounce” could be read on the fork.

The instrument was used to stop the victim's shrill screams, which bothered the inquisitors and interfered with their conversation with each other. The iron tube inside the ring was pushed tightly into the victim's throat, and the collar was locked with a bolt at the back of the head. The hole allowed air to pass through, but if desired, it could be plugged with a finger and cause suffocation. This device was often used in relation to those sentenced to be burned at the stake, especially in the large public ceremony called Auto-da-Fé, when heretics were burned by the dozen. The iron gag made it possible to avoid a situation where convicts drown out spiritual music with their screams. Giordano Bruno, guilty of being too progressive, was burned in Rome in the Campo dei Fiori in 1600 with an iron gag in his mouth. The gag was equipped with two spikes, one of which, piercing the tongue, came out under the chin, and the second crushed the roof of the mouth.

There is nothing to say about her, except that she caused death even worse than death at the stake. The weapon was operated by two men who sawed the condemned man suspended upside down with his legs tied to two supports. The very position itself, which caused blood flow to the brain, forced the victim to experience unheard-of torment for a long time. This instrument was used as punishment for various crimes, but was especially readily used against homosexuals and witches. It seems to us that this remedy was widely used by French judges in relation to witches who became pregnant by the “devil of nightmares” or even by Satan himself.

Women who had sinned through abortion or adultery had a chance to become acquainted with this subject. Having heated its sharp teeth white-hot, the executioner tore the victim's chest into pieces. In some areas of France and Germany, until the 19th century, this instrument was called the “Tarantula” or “Spanish Spider”.

This device was inserted into the mouth, anus or vagina, and when the screw was tightened, the segments of the “pear” opened as much as possible. As a result of this torture internal organs were seriously damaged, often resulting in death. Opened sharp ends segments stuck into the wall of the rectum, pharynx or cervix. This torture was intended for homosexuals, blasphemers and women who had abortions or sinned with the Devil.

Cells

Even if the space between the bars was sufficient to push the victim into it, there was no chance for it to get out, since the cage was hung very high. Often the size of the hole at the bottom of the cage was such that the victim could easily fall out of it and break. The anticipation of such an end aggravated the suffering. Sometimes the sinner in this cage, suspended from a long pole, was lowered under water. In the heat, the sinner could be hung in it in the sun for as many days as he could endure without a drop of water to drink. There are known cases when prisoners, deprived of food and drink, died in such cells from hunger and their dried remains terrified their fellow sufferers.

In the modern world there is no place for torture; they are no longer used by the justice system in order to punish someone or to obtain a confession of an offense. Now only a torture museum can illustrate how the Inquisition tortured.

Today is the most terrible torture - electric chair, and what happened before... it’s scary to imagine

The torture was so cruel that not everyone has the willpower to look at the dummies that are provided by the Torture Museum so that everyone can see the face of justice in the Middle Ages.

It is difficult to determine the most terrible torture, since each of them was quite painful and cruel, but it is still possible to identify the 20 most terrifying.

Video about the most terrible tortures

"Spicy Pear"

Let's start with torture, which can rightfully be included in the top twenty of the most inhumane abuses of people. The torture of the Inquisition included this method of punishing sinful people. In the Middle Ages, resorting to this cruel form of torture, the church punished sinners who were exposed in love for the same sex, for example, a woman with a woman or a man with a man. Such a relationship was considered blasphemy and desecration of the church of God, so these people faced terrible punishment.

A tool for terrible torture - “Sharp pear”

Instruments of torture of this type were pear-shaped. Accused female blasphemers had a “pear” placed in their vaginas, and male sinners had a “pear” placed in their anus or mouth. After the weapon was inserted into the victim's body, the executioner began the second stage of torture, which consisted of making the person suffer terribly after gradually, when unscrewing the screw, the sharp leaves of the pear opened inside the flesh. Opening up, the pear tore the internal organs of a woman or man into pieces. The fatal outcome occurred because the victim lost a large amount of blood, or from the deformation of internal organs caused by the opening of the deadly killer pear.

Ancient tortures of the world include punishing the guilty with the help of rats

This is one of the most cruel tortures, which was invented in China, and was especially popular among the Inquisition in the 16th century. The victim experienced terrible torment. The main instrument of torture was rats. The person was placed on the table large sizes, in the area of ​​the womb they placed a fairly heavy cage filled with rats, which had to be hungry. Of course, this is far from the end: then the bottom of the cage was removed, after which the rats ended up on the victim’s belly, at the same time hot coals were laid out on the top of the cage, the rats got scared from the heat and, trying to escape from the cage, gnawed the person’s belly, so way of escaping. in terrible pain.

Torture with metal

cat claw

The sinner was gradually and slowly torn out in pieces of skin, flesh and ribs with an iron hook, running along his back.

Gloomy rack

This instrument of torture is known in several forms: horizontal and vertical. If the vertical version was used on the victim, then the sinner was caught under the ceiling, while the joints were twisted, and weight was constantly added to the legs, stretching the body as much as possible. The use of a horizontal version of the rack ensured the rupture of the muscles and joints of the convict.

It is a kind of crushing machine for killing the convict. The principle of operation of the cranial press was to gradually compress the victim’s skull; this press crushed the teeth, jaw, and cranial bones of a person until the sinner’s brain fell out of his ears.

The name of the weapon itself is quite insidious, but it’s not only the name that excites. This inquisitorial instrument did not break or tear anything on the victim’s body. With the help of a rope, the sinner was lifted and seated on a “cradle”, the top of which was in the shape of a triangle and quite sharp. They sat on this top in such a way that the sharp edge fit well into the anus or vagina of the victim. The sinners lost consciousness from pain, they were brought back to consciousness and continued to be tortured.

The shape of this weapon resembles a female figure - it is a sarcophagus, the inside of which is empty, but not without spikes and many blades, the location of which is provided in such a way that they do not touch the vital parts of the body of the accused, while cutting other parts. The sinner died in agony for several days.

Thus, sinners, thieves and other people who were accused of one or another evil act against the church, the king and so on, suffered a fate. The convicts experienced the most terrible torment, being in the hands of a cruel executioner.

It’s good that today it’s only history and instruments of torture are not used.

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on Earth. Some of its Chinese varieties can grow a full 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) Sprouts of living bamboo are sharpened with a knife to form sharp “spears”;
2) The victim is suspended horizontally, with his back or stomach, over a bed of young pointed bamboo;
3) Bamboo quickly grows high, pierces the skin of the martyr and grows through him abdominal cavity, a person dies for a very long time and painfully.
2. Iron Maiden

Like torture with bamboo, the “iron maiden” is considered by many researchers to be a terrible legend. Perhaps these metal sarcophagi with sharp spikes inside only frightened the people under investigation, after which they confessed to anything. The "Iron Maiden" was invented at the end of the 18th century, i.e. already at the end of the Catholic Inquisition.
How it works?
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 quite short and do not pierce the victim, but only cause pain. The investigator, as a rule, receives a confession in a matter of minutes, which the arrested person only has to sign;
3) If the prisoner shows fortitude and continues to remain silent, long nails, knives and rapiers are pushed through special holes in the sarcophagus. The pain becomes simply unbearable;
4) The victim never admits to what he did, then she was locked in a sarcophagus for long time, where she died from loss of blood;
5) Some models of the “iron maiden” were provided with spikes at eye level in order to quickly poke them out.
3. Skafism
The name of this torture comes from the Greek “scaphium”, which means “trough”. Scaphism 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 who were partial to human flesh and blood.
How it works?
1) The prisoner is placed in a shallow trough and wrapped in chains.
2) He is force-fed large quantities of milk and honey, which causes the victim to have profuse diarrhea, which attracts insects.
3) The prisoner, having shit himself and smeared with honey, is allowed to float in a trough in a swamp, where there are many hungry creatures.
4) The insects immediately begin their meal, with the living flesh of the martyr as the main dish.
4. The Terrible Pear


“The pear is lying there - you can’t eat it,” it is said about the medieval European weapon for “educating” blasphemers, liars, women who gave birth out of wedlock, and gay men. Depending on the crime, the torturer thrust the pear into the sinner's mouth, anus or vagina.
How it works?
1) A tool consisting of pointed pear-shaped leaf-shaped segments is inserted into the client’s correct hole bodies;
2) The executioner little by little 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 completely opened, the offender receives internal injuries incompatible with life and dies in terrible agony, if he has not already fallen into unconsciousness.
5. Copper Bull


The design of this death unit was developed by the ancient Greeks, or, to be more precise, by the coppersmith Perillus, who sold his terrible bull to the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris, who simply loved to torture and kill people in unusual ways.
A living person was pushed inside the copper statue through a special door.
So
Phalaris first tested the unit on its creator, the greedy Perilla. Subsequently, Phalaris himself was roasted in a bull.
How it works?
1) The victim is closed in a hollow copper statue of a bull;
2) A fire is lit under the bull’s belly;
3) The victim is fried alive, like a ham in a frying pan;
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 amulets were made from the bones of the executed, which were sold at bazaars and were in great demand..
6. Torture by rats


Torture by rats was very popular in ancient China. However, we will look at the rat punishment technique developed by 16th century Dutch Revolution leader Diedrick Sonoy.
How it works?
1) The stripped naked martyr is placed 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 using a special valve;
3) Hot coals are placed on top of the cages to stir up the rats;
4) Trying to escape the heat of hot coals, rats gnaw their way through the flesh of the victim.
7. Cradle of Judas

The Judas Cradle was one of the most torturous torture machines in the arsenal of the Suprema - the Spanish Inquisition. Victims usually died from infection, as a result of the fact that the pointed 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 or tear ligaments.
How it works?
1) The victim, whose hands and feet are tied, is seated on the top of a pointed pyramid;
2) The top of the pyramid is thrust into the anus or vagina;
3) Using ropes, the victim is gradually lowered lower and lower;
4) The 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.
8. Trampling by elephants

For several centuries, this execution was practiced in India and Indochina. An elephant is very easy to train and teaching it to trample a guilty victim with its huge feet is a matter of just a few 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 “head test,” animals crush the victims’ arms and legs in order to amuse the audience.
9. Rack

Probably the most famous and unrivaled death machine of its kind called the “rack”. It was first tested around 300 AD. on the Christian martyr Vincent of Zaragoza.
Anyone who survived the rack could no longer use their muscles and became a helpless vegetable.
How it works?
1. This instrument of torture is a special bed with rollers at both ends, around which ropes are wound to hold the victim’s wrists and ankles. As the rollers rotated, the ropes pulled in opposite directions, stretching the body;
2. Ligaments in the victim’s arms and legs are stretched and torn, bones pop out of their 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's hands were tied behind his back and lifted by a rope tied to his hands. Sometimes a log or other weights were attached to his bound legs. At the same time, the arms of the person raised on the rack were turned back and often came out of their joints, so that the convict had to hang on his outstretched 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 the rack was beaten on the back with a whip and “put to the fire,” that is, burning brooms were passed over the body.
5. In some cases, the executioner broke the ribs of a man hanging on a rack with red-hot pincers.
10. Paraffin in the bladder
A savage form of torture, the exact use of which has not been established.
How it works?
1. Candle paraffin was rolled by hand into a thin sausage, which was inserted through the urethra;
2. Paraffin slipped into bladder, where the deposition of solid salts and other nasty things began on it.
3. Soon the victim began to have kidney problems and died from acute renal failure. On average, death occurred within 3-4 days.
11. Shiri (camel cap)
A monstrous fate awaited those whom the Ruanzhuans (a union of nomadic Turkic-speaking peoples) took into slavery. They destroyed the slave's memory with a terrible torture - putting a shiri on the victim's head. Usually this fate befell young men captured in battle.
How it works?
1. First, the slaves' heads were shaved bald, and every hair was carefully scraped out at the root.
2. The executors slaughtered the camel and skinned its carcass, first of all, separating its heaviest, dense nuchal part.
3. Having divided the neck into pieces, they immediately pulled it in pairs over the shaved heads of the prisoners. These pieces stuck to the heads of the slaves like a plaster. This meant putting on the shiri.
4. After putting on the shiri, the neck of the doomed person was chained 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 screams, and they were thrown there into the open field, with tied hands and feet, 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 torment caused by drying, shrinking rawhide camel skin on the head. Inexorably shrinking under the rays of the scorching sun, the width squeezed, squeezed shaved head 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 curled and went back into the scalp, causing even greater suffering. Within a day the man lost his mind. Only on the fifth day did the Ruanzhuans come to check whether any of the prisoners had survived. If at least one of the tortured people was found alive, it was considered that the goal had been achieved. .
7. Anyone who underwent 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 skin of one camel was enough for five or six widths.
12. Implantation of metals
A very strange means of torture and execution was used in the Middle Ages.
How it works?
1. A deep incision was made on a person’s legs, where a piece of metal (iron, lead, etc.) was placed, after which the wound was stitched up.
2. Over time, the metal oxidized, poisoning the body and causing terrible pain.
3. Most often, the poor people tore the skin in the place where the metal was sewn up and died from blood loss.
13. Dividing a person into two parts
This terrible execution originated in Thailand. The most hardened criminals were subjected to it - mostly murderers.
How it works?
1. The accused is placed in a robe woven from vines and stabbed with sharp objects;
2. After this, his body is quickly cut into two parts, the upper half is immediately placed on a red-hot copper grate; This operation stops the bleeding and prolongs the life of most people.
A small addition: This torture is described in the book of the Marquis de Sade “Justine, or the successes of vice.” This is a small excerpt from a large piece of text where de Sade allegedly describes the torture of the peoples of the world. But why supposedly? According to many critics, the Marquis was very fond of lying. He had an extraordinary imagination and a couple of delusions, so this torture, like some others, could have been a figment of his imagination. But this field should not refer to Donatien Alphonse as Baron Munchausen. This torture, in my opinion, if it did not exist before, is quite realistic. If, of course, the person is pumped up with painkillers (opiates, alcohol, etc.) before this, so that he does not die before his body touches the bars.
14. Inflating with air through the anus
A terrible torture in which a person is pumped with air through the anus.
There is evidence that in Rus' even Peter the Great himself sinned with this.
Most often, thieves were executed this way.
How it works?
1. The victim was tied hand and foot.
2. Then they took cotton and stuffed it into the poor man’s ears, nose and mouth.
3. Bellows were inserted into his anus, with the help of which a huge amount of air was pumped into the person, as a result of which he became like a balloon.
3. After that, I plugged his anus with a piece of cotton.
4. Then they opened two veins above his eyebrows, from which all the blood flowed out under enormous pressure.
5. Sometimes a bound person was placed naked on the roof of the palace and shot with arrows until he died.
6. Until 1970, this method was often used in Jordanian prisons.
15. Polledro
Neapolitan executioners lovingly called this torture “polledro” - “foal” (polledro) and were proud that it was first used in their hometown. Although history has not preserved the name of its inventor, they said that he was an expert in horse breeding and came up with an unusual device to tame his horses.
Only a few decades later, lovers of making fun of people turned the horse breeder’s device into a real torture machine for people.
The machine was a wooden frame, similar to a ladder, the crossbars of which had very sharp angles, so that when a person was placed on them with his back, they would cut into the body from the back of the head to the heels. The staircase ended in a huge wooden spoon, into which they put their heads, like a cap.
How it works?
1. Holes were drilled on both sides of the frame and in the “cap”, and ropes were threaded into each of them. The first of them was tightened on the forehead of the tortured, the last tied the big toes. As a rule, there were thirteen ropes, but for those who were especially stubborn, the number was increased.
2. Special devices the ropes were pulled tighter and tighter - it seemed to the victims that, having crushed the muscles, they were digging into the bones.
16. Dead Man's Bed (modern China)


The Chinese Communist Party uses the “dead man’s bed” torture mainly on those prisoners who try to protest against illegal imprisonment through a hunger strike. In most cases, these are prisoners of conscience, imprisoned for their beliefs.
How it works?
1. The arms and legs of a stripped prisoner are tied to the corners of the bed, which instead of a mattress wooden plank with a hole cut out. A bucket for excrement is placed under the hole. Often, a person’s body is tied tightly to the bed with ropes so that he cannot move at all. A person remains in this position continuously for several days to weeks.
2. In some prisons, such as Shenyang City No. 2 Prison and Jilin City Prison, police also place a hard object under the victim's back to intensify the suffering.
3. It also happens that the bed is placed vertically and the person hangs for 3-4 days, stretched out by his limbs.
4. Added to this torment is force feeding, which is carried out using a tube inserted through the nose into the esophagus, into which liquid food is poured.
5. This procedure is performed mainly by prisoners on the orders of the guards, and not by medical workers. They do this very rudely and unprofessionally, often causing serious damage to a person’s internal organs.
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.
17. Yoke (Modern China)

One of the medieval tortures used in modern Chinese prisons is the wearing of a wooden collar. It is placed on a prisoner, causing him to be unable to walk or stand normally.
The clamp is a board from 50 to 80 cm in length, from 30 to 50 cm in width and 10 – 15 cm in thickness. In the middle of the clamp there are two holes for the legs.
The victim, who is wearing a collar, has difficulty moving, must crawl into bed and usually must sit or lie down, as the upright position causes pain and leads to 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 puts pressure 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 unable to turn around, and in winter time a short blanket does not cover your legs.
More worst form This torture is called “crawling with a wooden clamp.” 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, his fingers, toenails and knees are bleeding profusely, while his back is covered in wounds from the blows.
18. Impalement

A terrible, savage execution that came from the East.
The essence of this execution was that a person was laid on his stomach, one sat on him to prevent him from moving, the other held him by the neck. A stake was inserted into the person's anus, 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.
19. Spanish water torture

In order to best carry out the procedure of this torture, the accused was placed on one of the types of racks or on a special large table with a rising middle part. After the victim's arms and legs were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner began work in one of several ways. One of these methods involved forcing the victim to swallow a large amount of water using a funnel, then hitting the distended and arched abdomen. Another form involved placing a cloth tube down the victim's throat through which water was slowly poured, causing the victim to swell and suffocate. If this was not enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then inserted again and the process repeated. Sometimes cold water torture was used. In this case, the accused lay naked on a table under a stream of ice water for hours. It is interesting to note that this type of torture was considered light, and the court accepted confessions obtained in this way as voluntary and given by the defendant without the use of torture. Most often, these tortures were used by the Spanish Inquisition in order to extract confessions from heretics and witches.
20. Chinese water torture
They sat a man in a very cold room, tied him so that he could not move his head, and in complete darkness cold water was very slowly dripped onto his forehead. After a few days the person froze or went crazy.
21. 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 placed in stocks attached to the legs of the chair. When he found himself in such a completely helpless position, a brazier was placed under his feet; with hot coals, so that the legs began to slowly fry, 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 often used, which was a metal throne to which the victim was tied and a fire was lit under the seat, roasting the buttocks. The famous poisoner La Voisin was tortured on such a chair during the famous Poisoning Case in France.
22. GRIDIRON (Grid for torture by fire)


Torture of Saint Lawrence on the gridiron.
This type of torture is often mentioned in the lives of saints - real and fictitious, but there is no evidence that the gridiron “survived” until the Middle Ages and had even a small circulation in Europe. It is usually described as an ordinary metal grate, 6 feet long and two and a half feet wide, mounted 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 used very rarely. Firstly, it was quite easy to kill the person being interrogated, and secondly, there were a lot of simpler, but no less cruel tortures.
23. Pectoral

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

This seemingly harmless effect was a terrible torture. With prolonged tickling, a person's nerve conduction increased so much that even the lightest touch initially caused twitching, laughter, and then turned into terrible pain. If such torture was continued for quite a long time, then after a while spasms of the respiratory muscles occurred and, in the end, the tortured person died from suffocation.
At the most simple version torture: sensitive areas were tickled by the interrogated, either simply with their hands, or with hair brushes or brushes. Stiff bird feathers were popular. Usually they tickled under the armpits, heels, nipples, inguinal folds, genitals, and women also under the breasts.
In addition, torture was often carried out using animals that licked some tasty substance from the heels of the interrogated person. The goat was very often used, since its very hard tongue, adapted for eating grass, caused very strong irritation.
There was also a type of tickling torture using a beetle, most common in India. With it, a small bug was placed on the head of a man's penis or on a woman's nipple and covered with half a nut shell. After some time, the tickling caused by the movement of insect legs on a living body became so unbearable that the interrogated person confessed to anything
25. Crocodile


These tubular metal crocodile pliers were red-hot and used to tear the penis of the person being tortured. First, with a few caressing movements (often made by women), or with a tight bandage, a persistent, hard erection was achieved and then the torture began
26. Tooth crusher


These serrated iron tongs were used to slowly crush the testicles of the interrogated person.
Something similar was widely used in Stalinist and fascist prisons.
27. Creepy tradition.


Actually, this is not torture, but an African ritual, but, in my opinion, it is very cruel. Girls aged 3-6 years old simply had their external genitalia scraped out without anesthesia.
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 ritual is done “for the benefit” of women, so that they will never be tempted to cheat on their husbands
28. Bloody Eagle


One of the most ancient tortures, during which the victim was tied face down and his back was opened, his ribs were broken off at the spine and spread apart like wings. Scandinavian legends claim that during such an execution, the wounds of the victim were sprinkled with salt.
Many historians claim that this torture was used by pagans against Christians, others are sure that spouses caught in treason were punished in this way, and still others claim that the bloody eagle is just a terrible legend.

Instruments of torture of the Middle Ages

Rack: one of the most famous torture devices. The number of modifications: from vertical to horizontal, will impress any sadist. A simpler option is hanging on a rope thrown over a crossbar. A more complicated option is an ingenious design with rotating drums and a system of chains, capable of grinding bones, tearing tendons, twisting joints and turning a person into a rag in the most literal sense of the word in a few hours.

Horizontal Rack: the convict was placed on a table, his legs and arms were fixed with ropes wound onto bolsters. Then the rollers were twisted in different directions, stretching the victim lengthwise until the muscles were torn. Particularly strong individuals, whose muscles did not want to tear, were helped by the executioner, who cut the “problem” areas

.

The vertical rack is one of the most famous torture instruments. The number of modifications: from vertical to horizontal, will impress any sadist. A simpler option is hanging on a rope thrown over a crossbar. A more complicated option is an ingenious design with rotating drums and a system of chains, capable of grinding bones, tearing tendons, twisting joints and turning a person into a rag in the most literal sense of the word in a few hours.

The vigil, or Judas cradle, is another sure-fire way to deprive the victim of sleep. The constant thought that there is a sharpened log under you makes you stay awake as long as possible. It is interesting that initially the “vigil” was considered not as cruel torture, but as a slight tickle of the nerves. But the inventive Inquisition did not stop at such a banal and unreasonable use of the weapon. And the convicts began to be slowly impaled on the sharp top of the log, with a heavy weight tied to the victim’s arms and legs to be sure.

Pear. The goal of the “pear” is to get into any of the human “offending” holes. The pear was inserted into the mouth or nostril of heretical preachers, into the vagina of women accused of having intimate relations with the Devil and his servants, into the vagina of homosexuals - you know where. Then they turned the screw. The petals of the pear opened like a flower, completely unromantically tearing apart all the internal organs of the victim and causing her unbearable pain.

Iron or Nuremberg maiden. The heretic or “witch” was enclosed in a wooden or metal cabinet in the form of a female figure and the doors, studded from the inside with long, sharp spikes, were slowly closed. For the comfort of the executioners, the thick walls of the device muffled the screams of those being executed. The spikes were positioned in such a way that they did not touch vital organs, but stuck into the arms, legs, stomach, eyes, shoulders and buttocks. The cramped and confined space added to the suffering. The death was painful, and the judges had the opportunity to conduct a long and biased interrogation.

A slingshot - an iron collar with long sharp spikes did not allow the convict to lie down either day or night. The constant wakefulness gave me nerves already on the third or fourth day. The victim went crazy and slowly died from exhaustion. The spikes could also be directed inward. Then the pain from the wounds, which quickly began to fester, was added to the torment of lack of sleep. The instrument was very popular in Russia, where it was used until the beginning of the 19th century.

The horse is the Russian equivalent of the cradle of Judas. The design was indeed a wooden horse with a sharp metal rib on its back. Sitting on it was also extremely uncomfortable, especially with logs tied to the legs.

The witch's chair, a chair generously studded with sharp spikes from the seat to the armrests, very quickly made a person talkative. Trying to keep the body suspended, the tortured sooner or later fell on the spikes, the pain forced him to tear himself away from the seat again, and this continued endlessly until the torture was interrupted or the interrogated lost consciousness.

Torture by water, or the Thin Jug. Latin expression: “A drop wears away a stone not by force, but by frequent falling” in in this case literally works. The prisoner's crown was shaved and tied to a post, under a jug from which large drops of ice water fell slowly onto his head, spaced out in the same place. At first, the person came into a state of anxiety, trying desperately to escape from the shackles, then slowly became numb, falling into unconsciousness. Each blow of the drop felt like a hammer blow, striking straight to the brain. Soon the distraught prisoner was ready to confess to any crime. It is known from history that in 1671 the troublemaker and robber Stepan Razin was tortured with a “thin jug” before being quartered.

Heretic's fork. The fork was tightly fastened with a leather belt to the criminal's neck. Four spikes: two digging into the chin, two into the chest, did not allow the victim to make any head movements, including lowering his head lower. In this position, a person could only speak in an unintelligible, barely audible voice. Sometimes you could read the Latin inscription on the fork: “I renounce.”

Stork, or prayer cross. Compared to others, this instrument of torture looks completely harmless. No sharp thorns tearing flesh. With the help of the “Stork”, heretics and apostates were simply shackled in an uncomfortable position of prayerful submission. However, just a couple of hours after being in this position, the victim began to experience severe muscle spasms in the abdominal area. Then the spasm covered the entire body and limbs, causing the poor fellow to fall into a state of complete madness.

Bamboo torture is a world-famous method of “heavy” execution in China. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants on Earth. Some of its Chinese varieties can grow a full meter high in a day. The victim is suspended horizontally, with his back or stomach, over a bed of young, pointed bamboo. The shoots pierce the martyr's skin and grow through the abdominal cavity, causing an extremely painful and lengthy death.

Iron gag - this device allowed the executioners to muffle the shrill screams of the victim during the auto-da-fé. The iron tube inside the ring was pushed tightly into the throat, and the collar was locked with a bolt at the back of the head. The hole allowed air to pass through, but if desired, it could be plugged with a finger and cause suffocation. Giordano Bruno was “lucky” to burn at the stake with such a gag in 1600. Only his gag, for greater efficiency, was also equipped with two spikes. One of them, piercing the tongue, came out under the chin, and the second crushed the palate.

Press for the head. The lower the press went, the worse it became for the object of execution. First, the jaw broke, and with further compression, the bones of the skull split, resulting in death.

Torture by sound. In Muscovy, under Ivan the Terrible, those tortured were placed under a large bell and they began to ring it. A more modern method, the “Music Box,” was used when it was undesirable for a person to injure himself. The convict was put in a room with bright lights and no windows, in which “music” was played. A continuous set of unpleasant and in no way melodically related sounds gradually drives you crazy.

Copper (phylarid) bull. The bull was invented by the Athenian coppersmith Perillus in order to please his tyrant ruler Philarides. The condemned man was placed in a hollow bronze sculpture of a bull and a fire was lit under him. When a person began to roast and scream wildly, it seemed as if a bull was roaring, and steam was coming out of his nostrils. This evaporated the water contained in the person. The experienced tyrant was shown this device, he was horrified and ordered the inventor to demonstrate its effect on himself, and to remove the bull himself from sight. Phalarid's instincts did not fail, after some time he was overthrown and thrown into a bull, not forgetting to call him Falaridov.

Tickle torture. This seemingly harmless effect was a terrible torture. With prolonged tickling, a person's nerve conduction increased so much that even the lightest touch initially caused twitching, laughter, and then turned into terrible pain. If such torture was continued for quite a long time, then after a while spasms of the respiratory muscles occurred and, in the end, the tortured person died from suffocation.

Water torture through a funnel is described in Charles de Coster's novel Till Eulenspiegel. Having laid the person at an angle so that the head was lower than the stomach, several liters of water, often hot, were poured into him through a funnel. The weight of a full stomach pressed on my lungs and heart. After this, if the accused did not confess to the crime, he was beaten on the stomach with sticks or trampled on the stomach with feet. During World War II, torture was used by the Japanese in prison camps.

Torture by rats. The naked patient was tightly tied to the tabletop, and a cage with hungry rats was placed on his stomach. The cage has no bottom. But on top there is a bowl of burning coals. The frightened rodents have no choice but to literally eat their way to survival through the organs of the unfortunate person. The mere thought that you would be devoured alive by hungry creatures quickly brought the most rebellious heretics to humility.