Medieval Torture

Torture is defined as in law, infliction of severe bodily pain either as punishment, or to force a person to confess to a crime, or to give evidence in a judicial proceeding. In the middle of ancient people torture has been used as a means of suffering and to punish captured enemies. It involves using instruments to force evidence from unwilling witnesses.

In ancient Athens, slaves were always examined by torture, and for this reason their evidence was actually considered more valuable than a freemen. A free Athenian could not be examined by this method but torture may have been used rarely in executing criminals. Under the Roman Republic only slaves could be legally tortured and as a general rule they could not be tortured to begin the responsibility of their master. A lot of methods were used to torture people. And I am going to introduce all the methods possible.

In medieval times punishment was often as cruel as the crimes. The people, who tortured sinners, used such a method called breaking with the wheel, the head crusher, or even the guillotine. The sinners would sometimes get hung. The rope that went around the sinners’ neck was called the noose. They hung sinners in gallows. They also used a hanging cage. They also made sinners sit in spiked chairs. The Iron Maiden was an example of one of these. Pressing was one of the tortures they used. Breaking with the wheel was another torture. Finger pillories and thumb cuffs were used. Although the whip left marks, it wasn’t as brutal. People often got whipped 15 to 20 times. They removed body parts quite a lot. The guillotine was used to remove heads. The headsman’s sword did the same thing as the guillotine. They also used a saw to remove arms, legs, and so many other body parts. The rack was used to stretch people out. It was the most popular instrument. They beat people to death and burnt people at the stake. They also used the head crusher.

Now I will tell you how these methods were used. They hung people by putting their head through a rope, then taking the floor out from under them. In the hanging cage, they locked someone in a cage and just either let them die of hunger, or rot. The spiked chairs were just chairs full of spikes that you were locked in until you speak up.