9 Medieval Torture Devices and Methods That Date Back to the Ancient World

From the heretic's fork to being eaten alive by insects, these grisly old torture methods prove that humans have always been brutal.

By Steven Casale | Published Oct 23, 2015

Getting a confession is never easy, and putting someone to death leaves room for lots of creativity. The following grisly torture methods and executions of the ancient world were designed to humiliate and dehumanize victims in their final moments. Although many of these methods have become known as medieval torture devices, likely due to associations with the Spanish Inquisition, their origins reach back to antiquity. No matter their era, these horrific devices were used to maim and kill untold victims. Which do you think is the most brutal?

1. The Rack

Origin: Antiquity

• Photo Credit: Hulton Archive / Getty Images

The victim’s ankles would be strapped to one end of this device, and his wrists to another. A mechanism was then cranked during the interrogation process, stretching the victim’s limbs. Bones and ligaments made startling sounds as the victim’s joints were dislocated until he either confessed or was torn apart.

2. Judas Cradle

Origin: Ancient Rome

Widely used during the Middle Ages in order to obtain confessions, the Judas Cradle was feared throughout Europe. A victim was strapped into restraints and lowered upon a chair with a pyramid-shaped seat. With each insertion the point of the “chair” slowly tore at the anus or vagina, often inducing septic shock or death by impalement.

3. Brazen Bull

Origin: Ancient Greece

• Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The closest thing to hell on earth may very well be the Brazen Bull. Cast in bronze to look exactly like a bull, the structure was complete with a door on the bull’s abdomen through which a victim was forced. Once inside, the door was locked, and the statue was heated like a hot pot on the stove until the person cooked to death.

4. Heretic's Fork

Origin: Medieval Spain

Used to elicit confessions during the Spanish Inquisition, the heretic’s fork was even engraved with the Latin abiuro (“I recant”). Bi-pronged on both ends, the simple device was wedged painfully between the breastbone and the throat. The victim was unable to talk or fall asleep, and delirium usually led to a confession.

5. Choke Pear

Origin: Unknown (first mention in France)

• Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

This device, also called the pear of anguish, was reserved for women, homosexuals, and liars. Shaped like a ripe fruit, the Choke Pear was of intimate design—literally. Once inserted into the vagina, anus, or mouth, the device (which had four sharp metal “leaves”) was cranked open. The leaves expanded wider and wider, mutilating the victim.

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6. Rat Torture

Origin: Unknown (possibly Britain)

Although there were numerous approaches to rat torture, the most common was to start with a restrained victim. A rat was set atop his body and covered by a container. Heat was then applied and the rat would desperately start clawing for a way out—and the only way was through the body. The rat would dig and dig, slowly burrowing into the person until death.

7. Crucifixion

Origin: Various pre-Roman cultures

• Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Although today a symbol of the world’s largest religion (Christianity), crucifixion was once a brutal form of humiliating death. The victim was nailed to a cross or pole—often in public—and left to hang bleeding from his wounds until septis, starvation, or exposure finally set in. Death sometimes took over a week to arrive. Scarily enough, crucifixion is still used today (albeit infrequently) by ISIS, and in places like Burma and Saudi Arabia.

8. Scaphism

Origin: Ancient Persia

Death by being eaten alive—literally. The victim was placed in a hollow tree trunk or boat and force-fed a mixture of milk and honey until he developed diarrhea. After that, he was unclothed and covered in more milk and honey. He was then left to sit in his own waste as insects came to feast on him. Death usually came from dehydration, septic shock, or gangrene.

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9. Saw Torture

Origin: Various part of the the ancient world

• Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Everyone from the Persians to the Imperial Chinese practiced some form of death by sawing. Often the victim was hung upside down (thereby increasing blood flow to the head) and a large saw was placed between his legs. The executioners would slowly cut the person’s body in half, drawing out the process in order to make death as painful as possible.

Featured Illustration: Hulton Archive / Getty Images; Additional illustrations: Hulton Archive / Getty Images; Wikimedia Commons; Wikimedia Commons; Wikimedia Commons; Wikimedia Commons

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1. Swimming Test

As part of the infamous “swimming test,” accused witches were dragged to the nearest body of water, stripped to their undergarments, bound and then tossed in to to see if they would sink or float. Since witches were believed to have spurned the sacrament of baptism, it was thought that the water would reject their body and prevent them from submerging. According to this logic, an innocent person would sink like a stone, but a witch would simply bob on the surface. The victim typically had a rope tied around their waist so they could be pulled from the water if they sank, but it wasn’t unusual for accidental drowning deaths to occur.

Witch swimming derived from the “trial by water,” an ancient practice where suspected criminals and sorcerers were thrown into rushing rivers to allow a higher power to decide their fate. This custom was banned in many European counties in the Middle Ages, only to reemerge in the 17th century as a witch experiment, and it persisted in some locales well into the 18th century. For example, in 1710, the swimming test was used as evidence against a Hungarian woman named Dorko Boda, who was later beaten and burned at the stake as a witch.

2. Prayer Test

Medieval wisdom held that witches were incapable of speaking scripture aloud, so accused sorcerers were made to recite selections from the Bible—usually the Lord’s Prayer—without making mistakes or omissions. While it may have simply been a sign that the suspected witch was illiterate or nervous, any errors were viewed as proof that the speaker was in league with the devil. This twisted test of public speaking ability was commonly used as hard evidence in witch trials. In 1712, it was applied in the case Jane Wenham, an accused witch who supposedly struggled to speak the words “forgive us our trespasses” and “lead us not into temptation” during her interrogation. Still, even a successful prayer test didn’t guarantee an acquittal. During the Salem Witch Trials, the accused sorcerer George Burroughs flawlessly recited the prayer from the gallows just before his execution. The performance was dismissed as a devil’s trick, and the hanging proceeded as planned.

3. Touch Test

The touch test worked on the idea that victims of sorcery would have a special reaction to physical contact with their evildoer. In cases where a possessed person fell into spells or fits, the suspected witch would be brought into the room and asked to a lay a hand on them. A non-reaction signaled innocence, but if the victim came out of their fit, it was seen as proof that the suspect had placed them under a spell.

Touch tests played a famous part in the 1662 trial of Rose Cullender and Amy Denny, two elderly English women charged with bewitching a pair of young girls. The children had been suffering from fits that left their fists clenched so tightly that even a strong man could not pry their fingers apart, but early tests showed they easily opened whenever Cullender or Denny touched them. To ensure the reaction was genuine, judges had the children blindfolded and touched by other members of the court. The girls unclenched their fists anyway, which suggested they were faking, but even this was not enough to prove the women’s innocence. Cullender and Denny were both later hanged as witches.

4. Witch Cakes

A bizarre form of counter-magic, the witch cake was a supernatural dessert used to identify suspected evildoers. In cases of mysterious illness or possession, witch-hunters would take a sample of the victim’s urine, mix it with rye-meal and ashes and bake it into a cake. This stomach-turning concoction was then fed to a dog—the “familiars,” or animal helpers, of witches—in the hope that the beast would fall under its spell and reveal the name of the guilty sorcerer. During the hysteria that preceded the Salem Witch Trials, the slave Tituba famously helped prepare a witch cake to identify the person responsible for bewitching young Betty Parris and others. The brew failed to work, and Tituba’s supposed knowledge of spells and folk remedies was later used as evidence against her when she was accused of being a witch.

5. Witch’s Marks

Witch-hunters often had their suspects stripped and publically examined for signs of an unsightly blemish that witches were said to receive upon making their pact with Satan. This “Devil’s Mark” could supposedly change shape and color, and was believed to be numb and insensitive to pain. Prosecutors might also search for the “witches’ teat,” an extra nipple allegedly used to suckle the witch’s helper animals. In both cases, it was easy for even the most minor physical imperfections to be labeled as the work of the devil himself. Moles, scars, birthmarks, sores, supernumerary nipples and tattoos could all qualify, so examiners rarely came up empty-handed. In the midst of witch hunts, desperate villagers would sometimes even burn or cut off any offending marks on their bodies, only to have their wounds labeled as proof of a covenant with the devil.

6. Pricking and Scratching Tests

If witch-hunters struggled to find obvious evidence of “witch’s marks” on a suspect’s body, they might resort to the ghastly practice of “pricking” as a means of sussing it out. Witch-hunting books and instructional pamphlets noted that the marks were insensitive to pain and couldn’t bleed, so examiners used specially designed needles to repeatedly stab and prick at the accused person’s flesh until they discovered a spot that produced the desired results. In England and Scotland, the torture was eventually performed by well-paid professional “prickers,” many of whom were actually con men who used dulled needlepoints to identify fake witch’s marks.

Along with pricking, the unfortunate suspect might also be subjected to “scratching” by their supposed victims. This test was based on the notion that possessed people found relief by scratching the person responsible with their fingernails until they drew blood. If their symptoms improved after clawing at the accused’s skin, it was seen as partial evidence of guilt.

7. Incantations

Also known as “charging,” this test involved forcing the accused witch to verbally order the devil to let the possessed victim come out of their fit or trance. Other people would also utter the words to act as a “control,” and judges would then gauge whether the statements had any effect on the victim’s condition. Charges were famously used in the 16th century witch trial of Alice Samuel and her husband and daughter, who were accused of bewitching five girls from the wealthy Throckmorton family. During the proceedings, judges forced the Samuels to demand that the devil release the girls from their spell by stating, “As I am a witch…so I charge the devil to let Mistress Throckmorton come out of her fit at this present.” When the possessed girls immediately recovered, the Samuels were found guilty and hanged as witches.

https://www.scotsman.com/regions/9-brutal-torture-methods-and-cruel-punishments-scotlands-witches-endured-107109

https://www.scotsman.com/regions/9-brutal-torture-methods-and-cruel-punishments-scotlands-witches-endured-107109

A REVIEW OF "TORTURE THROUGH THE AGES"

* by Christine Farina Richard Stockton State College of New Jersey The Tropicana Hotel in Atlantic City held a museum exhibit this summer titled “Torture through the Ages." The exhibit explored the often disagreeable, nearly unbelievable account of man’s inhumanity to man, featuring actual devices of torture used on people such as ourselves centuries ago. While an effective educational exploration, the exhibit’s unspoken message had an unsettling but compelling appeal: the off-centeredness of the human animal and its complex social failures. Upon entry to the exhibit, one is treated to a vast room lined on its perimeter with both texts and devices. The viewer can take hours to wind through the exhibit, reading and viewing, but as I observed that summer day, most of the patrons' invested time was in the pursuit of comprehension. The patrons, with their mouths agape, emitted frightened empathetic gasps for air, and a sublime aesthetic fascination was revealed on their faces as they stood transfixed before each device pondering the inherent cruelty. As I looked at their faces, I imagined the questions and comments that must have been racing through their minds: “Who thought of that?” “That’s got to be excruciating.” “How long did that torture last/with what frequency was it used?” “Could you die/live from that torture?” “What could they have done to deserve this punishment?” “What was wrong with these people?” The question of torture offends our modern sensibilities. Groups such as Amnesty International exist to protect people from such heinous acts. We, Westerners, look at torture as a frightening expression of sick mindedness, but see it as an artifact from a bygone and intellectually inferior age. We are incredulous to learn that torture still occurs worldwide. Some of the devices such as the neck-screw, a collar with a spike that is tightened into the victim’s throat until asphyxiation, were used as capital punishment appallingly close to the modern day; the neck-screw had its reign in Spain ended in 1976. And yet, that torture exists is a cruel and bizarre manifestation of the human condition. Torture is used as both a punitive and corrective measure, aiming primarily at the infliction of great pain. Severe pain marshaled, not in the pursuit of death, but as a means of “dangling” the victim near death without the relief that death would bestow. What is it that causes this abuse of humanity? Could it be a severe self-hatred, a fear of political impotence, or a need to control and subjugate a marginal population to the will of the powerful? Can an explanation of torture even be reduced to a single theme? The use of torture devices in Europe may be traced back as far as 1180 AD when knights returned from the First Crusade. The knights had both seen and experienced every torture represented in this exhibit. Some of the devices are simple. The use of chains to place the human body in uncomfortable and excruciating positions that led often to a slow and painful death was a common punishment for political prisoners. The “stocks,” a wooden yoke for the hands and/or the feet, was used primarily on whores or thieves. Placed in a social setting, such as the town square, the wrong-doer suffered from both the discomfort of the stock and humiliation at the hands of the public as the whole community could heap abuse upon the wrong-doer. The exhibit also displayed devices of a more fierce and formidable nature. Thumb screws consist of a screw for each fingernail that twist into the soft flesh underneath until the nail is entirely raised. The “iron boot” involves pouring hot lead over a human foot placed in a cast. Two variations of the “rack” were displayed. The pulling rack held victims horizontally and pulled their arms and legs out of their sockets extremely slowly. The hanging rack suspended victims in the air by their arms, which were tied 32 / JCJPC 9 (1), Fall 2001 behind their back and then pulled upwards. These punishments have a common design in that they refuse to offer death, though prolonged and repeated encounters with these tortures, as was often the case, usually led to death. Is this an unfortunate byproduct? What is the purpose of pushing a person to the brink of death and pulling back? Suspected witches had another host of devices to endure, most of them aimed at eliciting a confession. Continental Europe applied more brute force in these examinations, peaking during the Spanish Inquisition. In England, suspected witches were tried under civil law, making excessive tortures inapplicable, and ending with a hanging as opposed to Continental Europe’s more popular “burning at the stake.” For witches, and other victims of torture, conditions in the dungeons were also torturous. Most people, because they were poor and could not afford to pay for a more “expansive” cell of three by six feet, were forced into one-by-one-by-six feet cells. These upright coffins were dark, dank cells with raw sewage rising and falling around the prisoners' feet, inviting rats and their related diseases. Actions as inconsequential as scratching an itch were prohibited because the prisoners' arms were restrained in these cells. Witches were routinely lashed or poked with forks. Some torturers used devices with retractable prongs, so that when the pricking occurred, a witch would not scream in pain, thus proving her to be a witch. Other implements on display at the exhibit included: (1) the dunking machine, where victims were held under water until moments away from drowning, at which time they were pulled out into the air long enough to catch a few gasps of air before being dunked again; (2) immersion into boiling oil; (3) the “hook,” which was a device that hung the victim just inches from the ground; (4) the “wheel,” on which a naked woman was tied with her face out and rolled to her death; and (5) the Iron Maiden, a coffin shaped device filled with spikes that would pierce, but not kill, victims when the lid was closed. The lurid appeal of torture maintains its grip on the modern imagination. Wax museums and exhibits such as this one at The Tropicana continue to attract viewers. While many of these instruments of torture have been on display before, a few rarely seen pieces of human history were exhibited, making this show more comprehensive than others. The logical flow from each presentation supplied an accurate and compelling look into the odder, more vitriolic aspects of human nature. Evocative and thorough, The Tropicana exhibit of torture enjoyed overall success in meeting its goals to inform, entertain, and purvey a compelling enigma of the human condition. ENDNOTE * Direct correspondence to Professor Christine Farina, Richard Stockton State College of New Jersey, Communication Studies, P.O. Box 195, Pomona, NJ 08240.

 https://ghosthuntsusa.com/product/the-conjuring-house-ghost-hunt-harrisville-rhode-island-saturday-august-28th-2021/

 

The Blank Stare (Part 1 of 2)