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Torture

Torture Devices

Iron Maiden—Primarily used in Germany, most famous in Nuremberg; A container shaped like a woman with closing doors with adjustable spikes on them; designed to slowly pierce all areas of the body without killing the person.

 Saw—Used for homosexuals of both sexes; Victim hung upside-down allowing longer oxygen flow to the brain; cut by a saw from the crotch downward until dead.

 Branks (Scauld’s Bridles)—Normally placed in victim’s mouth; primarily used on women who spoke out in church or the presence of a man.

—Victim was stripped and suspended over a jagged or pointed pyramid; victim was raised and lowered causing penetration of the anus, vagina or scrotum.

Chastity Belt—Used to ensure fidelity; At times worn by women as a protection against rape.

Confession (Interrogation) Chair—Iron chair with wooden or iron spikes on it which could be heated; used to elicit confessions.  Spikes completely covering the chair merely made it as uncomfortable as an elementary school chair. The kicker is that usually a fire was placed underneath to heat up the metal to reach a horrible scalding point.

Guillotine—Large blade used for painless execution; named after Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, a French physician.

Stocks—

Thumbscrew/Toescrew—

Breast Ripper--Cold or red hot, the four claws ripped the breasts of countless women condemned for heresy, adultery and 'libidinous acts' such as self-abortion, white magic and other crimes.

Executioner’s Mask—

Water Torture--the body was bent in a way to stretch the stomach so that an abnormal amount of water could be consumed. The nose was plugged, so that the victim had to drink all the water so they could breath again. Once all the water was swallowed, the victim was then slanted headfirst towards the ground, so that the heavy stomach would rest on the lungs and heart, causing unbelievable pain. Then, if the victim still wasn't talking, they just beat on the stomach until it ruptured. 

Pear--Inserted into either the vagina, or anus (depending on your gender, obviously) in it's collapsed form, it was then 'overclocked' if you will, spreading the wings into a very uncomfortable position. It was usually fatal (I'd die too, quite honestly). The spikes on the end serve mainly to shred the muscles as the wings expanded.

Hanging Cage--Usually after other methods of extreme physical torture were administered, the victims would be placed in these cages (usually naked), and left to be feasted on by birds and bugs, and/or die of thirst.

Cradle—

Boots--The victim's legs were placed between two planks of wood and bound together with cords. Between the cords the torturers placed wedges with which they would violently hammer downwards. Each time a wedge was hammered, an acute portion of the shinbone was shattered. The tormentors could hammer at least a dozen wedges up and down the legs. When the Boots were removed, the bone fragments fell to pieces and the skin of the lower legs merely served as loose sacks for them. 

Quartering--The horses were whipped simultaneously so that each limb would erupt from the joints at the same time.

Head Crusher--The victim’s chin is placed on the lower bar, and the cap forced down by the screw. All comments seems superfluous. First the teeth are crushed into their sockets and smash the surrounding bone, then the eyes are forced out of their sockets, and finally the brain squirts through the fragmented skull.

Another version is a screw on the front of the helmet that screws inward towards the forehead, and one on the back of the head screwing inwards as well. Quite convincing.

Cat’s Paw--Also known as 'The Spanish Tickler', this thing is torture. Used simply to slowly tear and shred the flesh all the way to bone if the torturer deemed necessary.  About as large as four fingers of a man’s hand, these devices, were usually attached to a short handle, but were only used on the face, back, abdomen, breasts, buttocks, legs, ribs and neck. Oh yah, and crotch.

Burning at the Stake—Self explanatory

Heretic’s Fork—A double-sided fork which is placed between the neck and chest of the victim.

Impalement--Believe it or not, once the lengthy spike entered the victim's asshole and exited their mouth or throat, the victim might live for more than a day in this state.

Garotte--Typically, when a person was burned at the stake, they were first mercifully dispatched with the garotte. Either the executioner would use a rope, or he would use an instrument like the one pictured here.

At first, the garotte was simply hanging by another name. However, during Medieval times, "executioners began to refine the use of rope until it became as feared and as vile as any punishment of that dark era. European executioners first used the garotte to end the suffering of men broken on the wheel, but by the turn of the 18^th century the seed of an idea involving slow strangulation was planted in the minds of Europe's law-makers."

At first, garottes were nothing more than an upright post with a hole bored through. The victim would stand or sit on a seat in front of the post, and a rope was looped around his or her neck. The ends of the cores were fed through the hole in the post. The executioner would pull on both ends of the cord, slowly strangling the victim.

The modified design we see here drove a spike into the back of the victim's neck, parting the vertebrae as it strangled. Sometimes a knife was used instead of the spike.

Ladder Rack--The victim was stretched out on the device until his shoulders dislocated. It was also common for the victim to be burned on the armpits and the flanks with a torch composed of seven wax tapers"

Mastectomy--Some tortures were devised with women specifically in mind. Mastectomy was one of them. Although both men and women could have the skin torn off them with red- or white-hot pincers, mastectomy was a distinctly feminine device. One torture manual recommended particular attention be paid to female breasts as they are "extremely sensitive, on account of the refinement of the veins."

Mastectomy first became popular in 1599 Bavaria. The most famous case is that of Anna Pappenheimer. After already being tortured with the strappado, a public demonstration was in order. Anna was stripped, her flesh torn off with red-hot pincers, and her breasts cut off. As if this was not enough,