Macabre Magazine :: bloodlessness.com

Torture methods and devices in Medieval times… How sick were these fools

“Fear is the basis of the whole - fear of the mysterious, fear of defeat, fear of death. Fear is the
parent of cruelty, and therefore it is no wonder if cruelty and religion have gone hand-in-hand.” - Bertrand Russell

There are quite a few very very sick looking contraptions used to torture humans hundreds on years back in medieval europe… here is a list and a small run down of a few.

The name of this torture contraption / device or whatever we wanna call it… sick ass shit! Was built in Nuremberg. It had a ladies face carved on its front door. maybe to make it look pretty? Most of us know this as the Iron Maiden.

It was fitted with spikes on the inside that pierced different parts of the body but never transfixed vital organs in order to keep the victim alive, hanging upright, and still suffering untill they finally got thier wish and died.

The device would be opened both from the front and from the back side without the victim being able to get out. The container was so thick that no shriek could be heard from outside unless the doors were opened.

When the “virgin” doors were shut back, the spikes penetrated the same parts of the body and into the same wounds as before, inflicting a long and cruel agony.

The “saw” or ball saw as we can call it in modern times

The Garrotte

This device has a Spanish name because the official instrument of capital punishment and remained in use until 1975, yes guys… 1975. As a side note, the last man executed in this way was later found to be innocent of the charges against him.

This instrument has very ancient origins. It was originally made of a pole driven in the ground and a rope to tie up round the victim’s neck.

This sort of torture was used all over the world. The Spanish version was used for execution. It had an iron collar that had an iron on its rear which penetrated the cervical vertebrae in a way that the convict died both for asphyxiation and because the spinal cord was crushed. Its kinda odd when death by hanging begins to look like a good option.

You are gonna love this one… the rectal pear… the name is enough to scare someone straight!

The name comes from its shape. This thing had a mechanism by which it was progressively expanded to the maximum aperture of the two or three elements it was made of.

This instrument was forced into the mouth or rectum of male victims and into the vagina of female victims. The oral, rectal, or vaginal pear was inflicted on people guilty of sodomy, on women guilty of adultery, people guilty of incest or sexual union with Satan, and it was also inflicted on heretical preachers and blasphemers.

Guilty of a “sexual union with Satan? hmm?

Inquisitional Chair or spiked

Covered with spikes on the back, arms, seat, on the leg-rests, and on the foot-rests. So pretty much spikes all over this crazy thing.

To make the spikes piercing the body even more effective and torturous, they also used a screw system.

The bars, either made of iron or wood, fastened the victim around the waist, around the wrists, and around the chest or bust.

The seat was often made of iron that could be heated. These implements were used in Germany up until the 19th century, in Italy and in Spain up until the end of the 1700s, in France and in other central European countries, according to certain sources, up until the end of 1800.

The “cats” paw or the “tickler”

This instrument looks very much like a cat’s paw with very long and sharp claws. It was brutally used to rip the victim’s flesh to shreds. Because of the dimension of the claws, muscles and bones were no obstacle in this barbaric practice. It was, of course, inflicted on victims tied up hand and foot.

The torture mask or “mask of infamy”

The mask of infamy brings about two different inflictions: a spiritual one and a physical one. The victims were both staked out to public ridicule and at the same time they were physically tortured.

The masks sometimes may have had inner devices, such as a ball, which were forced into the victim’s nose or into the mouth, thus preventing him or her from wailing and shrieking.

The mask with long ears represented a silly ass person, while the one with a snout or with a pig face symbolizes the animal being considered dirty.

The medieval “fork” torture method

This “fork” was made of two little forks, one set against the other and of which the points rammed into the flesh under the chin and over the chest.

A little collar supported the instrument to prevent any movement of the victim. The forks did not penetrate into vital points, so you did not die for quite some time, it was meant to prolong the torture and the suffering.

The victim’s hands were tied behind his back, he suffered that way up ’till he finally died.