In medieval times , instead of letting the criminals sit in jail , people used different torture devices to punish them. Here is a list with ten torture methods in medieval times.
1. Brazen Bull
The brazen bull, bronze bull, or Sicilian bull, was a torture and execution device designed in ancient Greece. Its inventor, metal worker Perillos of Athens, proposed it to Phalaris, the tyrant of Akragas, Sicily, as a new means of executing criminals. The bull was made entirely of bronze, hollow, with a door in one side. The condemned were locked in the bull, and a fire was set under it, heating the metal until it became yellow-hot and causing the person inside to roast to death.
2. Rat Torture
Rats may be used to torture a victim by encouraging them to attack and eat him alive. This is supposedly a traditional form of Chinese punishment.
The “Rats Dungeon” or “Dungeon of the Rats” was a feature of the Tower of London alleged by Roman Catholic writers from the Elizabethan era. “A cell above high-water mark and totally dark” would draw in rats from the River Thames as the tide flowed in. Prisoners would have their “alarm excited” and in some instances have “flesh … torn from the arms and legs”.
During the Dutch Revolt, Diederik Sonoy, an ally of William the Silent, is documented to have used a method where a pottery bowl filled with rats was placed open side down on the naked body of a prisoner. When hot charcoal was piled on the bowl, the rats would attempt to escape by “gnawing into the very bowels of the victim”.
Rat torture appears in the famous case study of a patient of Sigmund Freud. The Rat Man obsessed that his father and lady friend would be subjected to this torture
3. Head Crusher
“Head Crusher” is the first single from Megadeth’s twelfth studio album, titled Endgame, which was released on September 15, 2009. The single was released on July 7, 2009. According to Roadrunner Records official website, a download of “Head Crusher” was available for 24-hours on July 7 (the availability of download ended the morning of July 8). The track was previously available for listening by calling Dave Mustaine’s number, through the TheLiveLine.com, a service he launched that enables musicians to connect to their audience over the phone. The song was played live for the first time at the “Canadian Carnage Tour” on June 24, 2009. On December 3, 2009, it was announced on the official Megadeth homepage that “Head Crusher” had been nominated for “Best Metal Performance” for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards, the band’s first nomination in 13 years, since “Trust”.
4. The Rack
The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one, or both, ends, having at one end a fixed bar to which the legs were fastened, and at the other a movable bar to which the hands were tied. The victim’s ankles are fastened to one roller, and the wrists are chained to the other.
As the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet attached to the top roller are used to very gradually stepwise increase the tension on the chains, inducing excruciating pain. By means of pulleys and levers this roller could be rotated on its own axis, thus straining the ropes until the sufferer’s joints were dislocated and eventually separated. Additionally, if muscle fibers are stretched excessively, they lose their ability to contract, rendering them ineffective.
One gruesome aspect of being stretched too far on the rack is the loud popping noises made by snapping cartilage, ligaments, or bones. One powerful method for putting pressure upon prisoners was to force them to watch someone else being subjected to the rack. Confining the prisoner on the rack enabled further tortures to be simultaneously applied, typically including burning the flanks with hot torches or candles or using pincers made with specially roughened grips to tear out the nails of the fingers and toes.
5. Judas Cradle
The Judas Cradle, also known as the Judas chair, is a torture device attributed by legend to the Spanish Inquisition. Though in popular culture it is still occasionally claimed that the Judas Cradle was a medieval torture instrument, thus far it has proved impossible to locate the device in the historical record of the Middle Ages.[unsupported attribution] In Italian it is the culla di Giuda; in German the Judaswiege; and in French the la veille – “the wake” or “nightwatch” (as when the muscles contracted the victim could not fall asleep).
The Judas Chair is a pyramid-shaped seat. The victim would presumably be placed on top of it, with the point inserted into their anus, vagina or scrotum, then very slowly lowered by ropes. Supposedly the intended effect was to stretch the orifice over a long period of time, or to slowly impale.
Some have imagined another use for this device based on the idea that the raising or lowering of the victim could change the pressure. The pyramid shaped seat is able to stretch the anus or the vagina, but the point of the pyramid may have been used to cause pain by pressing against the inside of the orifice. This contrasts to the notion of stretching, in that the actual torture is caused not by the stretching of the vagina or anus, but by the different effects achieved by positioning the victim against the pyramid’s point. Additionally, stretching of the anus or vagina could result in rips and tears causing pain and even death.
6. Knee Splitter
The knee splitter was a form of torture used mainly during the inquisition. It was created from two spiked wood blocks, placed in front of, and behind the knee. The blocks were connected with two large screws. When turned, the blocks would close towards each other, destroying the knee underneath them. This method was used to render the knees useless. The number of spikes on the blocks would range from three to twenty, depending on the captive.
7. Torture By Saw
The Saw was widely used throughout the Middle Ages, mainly because the tools required were found in most houses and no complex devices were required. It was a cheap way to torture and kill a victim who was often accused of: witchery, adultery, murder, blasphemy or even theft.
The victim was tied to an inverted position. This had several “benefits”: first, it assured sufficient blood diverted to the brain, second, it slowed down the loss of blood and third, it humiliated the victim.
Depending on the victim and torturer, this torture could last several hours. When a confession was required, the victim was frequently forced to watch someone else be subject to this method. If he didn’t confess, he’d be slowly cut in half.
8. The breaking wheel
The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death. It was used during the Middle Ages and was still in use into the 19th century.
9. Impalement
Impalement is the traumatic penetration of an organism by an elongated foreign object such as a stake, pole, or spear, and this usually implies complete perforation of the central mass of the impaled body. While the term may be used in reference to an unintentional accident, it is more frequently used in reference to the deliberate act as a method of torture and execution.
10. The Breast Ripper
Used as a way to punish women, the breast ripper was a painful and cruel way to mutilate a woman’s breasts.
This instrument was mostly reserved for women accused of conducting a miscarriage or those accused of adultery.
The claws were used either hot or cold on the victim’s exposed breasts. If the victim wasn’t killed she would be scarred for life as her breasts were literally torn apart.
