Search results
May 17, 2024 · In this article, we will explore a collection of the most heinous medieval torture devices ever invented, starting with one whose inventor was probably sorry he came up with it. The Brazen Bull. Thumbscrews. The Rack. The Wheel. The Stake. The Pillory. The Iron Maiden. The Scavenger's Daughter. The Breast Ripper. The Pear of Anguish. 10.
- Ed Grabianowski
- 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.
- The Brazen Bull
- The Iron APEGA
- The Rack
- The Scavenger’s Daughter
- The Thumbscrew
- The Pear of Anguish
- The Iron Maiden
The brazen bull is an ancient mythical torture device supposedly used by Phalaris, a tyrant who ruled a part of Sicily in the 6th century BCE. It consisted of a life-size bronze bull that was hollow on the inside and had a door on the outside. The torturer would place a victim inside and light a fire under the bull. The fire would roast the victim ...
One of the more fantastical tales of a torture device is the Iron Apega, also known as the Apega of Nabis. The ancient Greek historian Polybius wrote that the Spartan king Nabis, who ruled from 207 to 192 BCE, built a sort of torture robot that resembled his wife, Apega. Polybius wrote that whenever Nabis was trying to collect taxes from someone wh...
The rack was a torture device used at the Tower of London, a royal palace that also served as a prison. Starting in the 15th century, the yeoman warders who worked at the tower used the rack to pull on ropes tied to a victim’s wrists and ankles. This stretched the body and dislocated the victim’s joints. Yeoman warders used the rack on people suspe...
During the 16th and 17th centuries, yeoman warders at the Tower of London also used the scavenger’s daughteras a torture device. The scavenger’s daughter was a metal frame that compressed the victim’s body in on itself. Compression from the scavenger’s daughter was so intense it could apparently cause the victim to start bleedingfrom the nose, mout...
Torturers used the thumbscrew, another pain-inflicting devicefrom Europe’s early modern period (c.1450 to 1750), to crush a person’s fingers or thumbs. Similarly to the rack, torturers employed the thumbscrew as a means of punishment and an attempt to elicit a confession. The thumbscrew was also known as a “thumbikin,” with many spelling variations...
The pear of anguish is a device that early modern Europeans labeled as a medieval torture device. Supposedly, a torturer would insert the device into a person’s mouth, vagina or anus in order to widen the orifice, causing extreme pain. However, scholars have questionedwhether these devices originated in the Middle Ages, a period that ended around 1...
Another device with a sketchy provenance is the iron maiden, a mythical instrument of torture that 19th-century Europeans falsely attributed to medieval Europeans. That’s because there’s no evidenceof an iron maiden—an upright iron casket with spikes on the inside—existing before the 1800s. The myth that iron maidens existed during the Middle Ages ...
- Becky Little
- 3 min
Sep 30, 2011 · The 8 Most Painful Torture Devices Of The Middle Ages. By All That's Interesting | Edited By John Kuroski. Published September 30, 2011. Updated February 1, 2024. From the dreaded rack to the head crusher, take a look at the most grueling and painful torture devices of the Middle Ages.
- All That's Interesting
- Richard Bevan
- The rack. This mechanically simple torture device, first introduced in the Tower of London in 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 breaking wheel. 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.
- Rat torture. 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 boot. 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.
Sep 27, 2023 · In the medieval era, torture devices were employed for several purposes. They were primarily used as a means of extracting confessions or information, often employed during trials or inquisitions. The threat of such extreme pain and suffering was seen as a potent tool for forcing individuals to divulge secrets or admit to alleged crimes.
Explore the dark history of medieval torture devices. From the infamous iron maiden to the gruesome breaking wheel, uncover the sinister methods used to extract confessions and inflict punishment in the Middle Ages.
