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What were medieval torture devices?
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May 17, 2024 · There were many grounds for torture during the Middle Ages — religious fervor and criminal punishment come to mind — but why would a person take the time to invent a device designed to maim? In his 1975 book "A History of Torture in England," L.A. Parry attempted to explain this bizarre phenomenon:
- Ed Grabianowski
- The Rack
- The Breaking Wheel
- Rat Torture
- The Boot
- Flaying
- Thumbscrew
- Dunking
- Coffin Torture
This mechanically simple torture device, first introduced in the Tower of Londonin 1420 by the Duke of Exeter, was popular due to its capability to inflict excruciating pain with the aim of extorting confessions – often false – from prisoners. The victim was tied to a wooden structure, either a wooden board or a ladder, as a system of cranks were t...
A torture device that appeared to be used more as a gruesome punishment with the aim to kill, rather than to extract confessions or information. The wheel was little more than the kind attached to wagons, only with teeth or cogs embedded on its surface to which the terrified victim was placed and tied with their limbs resting between the cogs. Usin...
This sadistic form of torture is the kind that signifies the worst excesses of the human imagination and what it can be capable of in the name of punishment. The victim was bound to a table on their back as a rat was placed on the chest. A bucket or container made of metal or iron was placed over the rat, trapping it. A fire was then started on top...
The principle of crushing bones and limbs was a popular form of torture in medieval times, mainly because the devices used were simple to design and make. The boot, or ‘Spanish boot’ as it was sometimes called, was like a rack for the legs which would be placed in tightly fitted iron or wooden boots. Wooden wedges would then be inserted, and mallet...
A form of torture with religious connotations which goes back to Roman times, flaying was used for both punishment and a means to slowly and cruelly kill a victim. The Assyrians first used it around 883-859 BC where its vicious practice is depicted in ancient carvings showing a victim’s skin being stripped from the body using knives. It continued t...
Used in the late medieval period and early modern Europe, this simple device was considered one of the most effective torture tools. Mechanically more like a vice, its simple design consisted of two metal plates into which the victim’s thumb was placed and the vice tightened. Sometimes the device would have protruding studs on the interior making t...
Mainly associated with the torture of alleged ‘witches’, dunking was used more as a way of extracting a confession rather than killing. A victim was tied to a plank or bow and dunked headfirst into water, then pulled out on the point of drowning.‘Cucking’ – dunking in public places – was also carried out as a form of humiliation. A variety of versi...
Not to be confused with being buried alive or walled up, this very public torture consisted of a person being confined to a very small metal or wooden cage which was then strung up to a hangman’s gibbet or tree. The bird-like cage was tight fitting and shaped around the body like a suit. The effect of the metal close against the skin was painful. C...
- Richard Bevan
11 tortures from the Middle Ages that were reserved for women. Insulted, humiliated, beaten, chased away, tortured… Such is the fate of the “weaker sex” throughout history. If our current societies finally consider women as individuals in their own right, this was rarely the case in the past.
- The Breaking Wheel. Perhaps one of the most famous in line of medieval torture devices is the Breaking Wheel, sometimes called the Execution Wheel or the Wheel of Catherine.
- Impalement Sticks. Next in the line of medieval torture devices is a large wooden stick or pole used for impalement. Impalement was used on a large scale by the former emperor of Wallachia by the name of Vlad the Impaler.
- Cage for Rat Torture. One of the most sinister torture techniques emerged during the Dutch Revolt at the end of the middle ages. The device in use was a simple and bottomless cage, where rats would be placed.
- Dunking Stool. As you might know, people living in the medieval period were quite scared of witches; to the point where they thought they popped up everywhere in their own society.
Sep 30, 2011 · During the Middle Ages, medieval torture devices made life for anyone accused of a crime — regardless of whether they were guilty — especially agonizing. These torture devices came in different shapes and sizes and served different purposes.
- All That's Interesting
Torture was often practised, even on people who had committed trivial crimes. The DGS presents to you 13 instruments of suffering from the Middle Ages, which will reassure you that you were not born at that time.
Jun 16, 2023 · Some instruments of torture, like the rack, were real. Others were likely made up to help perpetuate the myth of the medieval 'Dark Ages.'
