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Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture Historical Events

Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture

By litgoddess | El Segundo
They call them horrific torture devices, but I can think of several people who would deserve a few hours on at least one.

Pens out, please.
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Modified: 2009-10-27 12:29:24.0
  • 1
    The Judas Cradle
    The Judas Cradle Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The Judas Cradle, a medieval torture where the victim would be placed on top of a pyramid-like seat. The victim's feet were tied to each other in a way that moving one leg would force the other to move as well - increasing pain.

    The triangular-shaped end of the Judas cradle was inserted in the victim's anus or vagina. This torture could last anywhere from a few hours to complete days.

    While loss of blood really wasn't a risk, victims died of infection, since the device was never cleaned. Bacteria, blood, pus, discharge...

    Well, you get the point.
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  • 2
    Flaying
    Flaying Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    Flaying is a very old torture method that was used thousands of years ago in the Middle East, Africa and even America. During the Middle Ages, it was frequently used to torture and execute criminals, captured soldiers and witches.

    In one version of the Flaying Torture, the victim's arms were tied to a pole above his head while his feet were tied below. His body was now completely exposed and the torturer, with the help of a small knife, peeled off the victim's skin slowly.

    In most cases, the torturer peeled off his facial skin first, slowly working his way down to the victim's feet. Most victims died before the torturer even reached their waist.

    In another version, the victim was submerged into boiling water and was taken out after a few minutes. He was slowly flayed.

    "Hey, Bobby Flay, what's on todays menu?"

    "We're having a spicy bit of humanus epidermus. Would you like white meat or dark?"

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  • 3
    The Pear of Anguish
    The Pear of Anguish Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The Pear of Anguish was used during the Middle Ages as a way to torture women who conducted a miscarriage, liars, blasphemers and homosexuals.

    A pear-shaped instrument was inserted into one of the victim's orifices: the vagina for women, the anus for homosexuals and the mouth for liars and blasphemers.

    The instrument consisted of four leaves that slowly separated from each other as the torturer turned the screw at the top. It was the torturer's decision to simply tear the skin or expand the "pear" to its maximum and mutilate the victim.

    The Pear of Anguish was usually very adorned to differentiate between the anal, vaginal and oral pears. They also varied in size accordingly.

    Constipation: SOLVED
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  • For Your
    Information

  • 4
    The Spanish Donkey
    The Spanish Donkey Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The Spanish Donkey gave victims an unimaginably horrible ride.

    Victims are put astride, naked, the apparatus, which is actually a vertical wood board with a sharp V-shape wedge on top. Varying weights are then attached to their feet.

    Eventually, the victim's own weight and the extra baggage cause the wedge to slice through their bodies, splitting them in half.

    If you ask me, this one is kind of half-assed.
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  • 5
    The Crocodile Tube
    The Crocodile Tube Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The victim was fixed inside a tube just big enough for the victim's entrance. The tube, having crocodile teeth-like spikes, was slowly compressed leaving the victim totally immobilized. The torturer could only see his face and feet.

    With the help of carbon and fire underneath the tube, the torturer gradually heated the tube until he extracted a confession or killed the victim.

    With the face and feet exposed, the torturer was able to inflict painful wounds on the victim. Facial mutilation and toe ripping were preferred choices.

    Other methods included forcing the victim to crouch inside the ring, thereby compressing the lungs and causing the intestines to burst.

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  • 6
    The Heretics Fork
    The Heretics Fork Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The heretics fork was used in the Middles Ages mainly during the Spanish Inquisition.

    The instrument consists of two forks set against each other that penetrated the flesh under the chin in one end and the upper chest in the other.

    The Heretics Fork made speech and neck movement almost impossible and was used after a confession to avoid hearing the victim any further.

    "That'll teach you to not finish all your food!"
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  • 7
    Impaling
    Impaling Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The most common way of impalement was through the anus - but variations existed. Vlad, the er, Impaler, impaled people from the chest, legs, arms and; surprisingly, from the skull.

    In rare cases, the stick would go perfectly from the anus to the mouth - in other cases the stick would stay stuck with a bone - it would go out through the chest or, more commonly, through the neck.

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  • 8
    The Breast Ripper
    The Breast Ripper Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    Used as a way to punish women, the breast ripper was a painful and cruel way to mutilate a woman's breasts.

    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.

    A common variant of the breast ripper is often referred to as "The Spider" which is a similar instrument attached to a wall. The victim's breasts were fixed to the claws and the woman was pulled by the torturer away from the wall; successfully removing both breasts.

    Please excuse me for a moment - the "girls" and I need some quality time.
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  • 9
    The Iron Maiden
    The Iron Maiden Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The Iron Maiden, otherwise known as the Virgin of Nuremberg, was a device used from the XVI century to torture criminals.

    It stands 7 feet tall and can accommodate a large man. The victim was tied inside the Maiden and one of the two doors was shut, penetrating the victim's flesh with the strategically-placed spikes that didn't penetrate any vital organs.

    When completely closed, the screams from the victim could not be heard outside, nor could the victim see any light or hear anything.

    Additionally, the spikes blocked the wounds so it took many hours - or even days - for death to occur.
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  • 10
    The Brazen Bull
    The Brazen Bull Top 10 Types of Medieval Torture History & Humanities
    The brazen bull is hard-boiled device first invented in Ancient Greece.

    When a victim is placed inside the brazen bull, he or she is slowly burned to death. This device gradually became more sophisticated until the Greeks invented a complex system of tubes in order to make the victim's screams sound like an infuriated ox.

    Even though this torture was not used as frequently during the Middle Ages as it was used earlier by the Greek and Romans, it was still used in Central Europe. This torture is similar to being boiled alive.

    Some bulls were equipped with a removable back end, thereby making is possible to remove the entree through the Angus anus. And that ain't bullshit, either.
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79 Comments


by guigui at September 02, 2010 08:58
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by luoye at September 01, 2010 19:57
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  by anonymous at August 30, 2010 05:31
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  by anonymous at August 30, 2010 03:01
I saw a documentary about prison torture in the medieval ages up to the late 1800's and one of the torture devices to silence prisoners was a device that was chained around your mouth, http://acaiberryenergy.net" rel="nofollow"> acaiberryenergy.net

  by anonymous at August 29, 2010 17:38
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  by anonymous at August 27, 2010 23:02
I'm doing a research project on Medieval Torture and Execution Devices for my 9th grade History test and I was wondering if anyone knew if having bamboo splinters shoved under your nails was a Medieval torture device http://healthproductadvice.com/fibretrim-reviews/" rel="nofollow"> healthproductadvice.com/fibretrim-reviews/

  by anonymous at August 23, 2010 20:46
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by sadist practitioner at June 26, 2010 08:03
i wanna try it! :_)

by E.H at June 24, 2010 12:27
Haha i'm reading this and i hurt all over my body just from reading it. ouch

  by anonymous at May 10, 2010 07:07
cool

  by anonymous at May 10, 2010 07:07
re

by person at May 03, 2010 11:08
hahaahhahha

  by anonymous at April 22, 2010 03:38
Re the brazen bull, two facts are of note: (a) it was invented by Phalaris; and (b) to amuse the king, Phalaris was the bull's first victim!

  by anonymous at April 22, 2010 03:37
Misinformation is a problem. The "crocodile tube" (actually, crocodile SHEARS) was a small tubelike device used to tear off the penis. There's no such thing as a body-sized tube to hold someone so he could be subjected to this or that.

by benni hinn at April 15, 2010 19:30
i think we should bring these back so the churches can have ready made source nof atrocities to inflict on everyone who dis agrees with jesus,allah, buddha moe howard and the toothless snake handlers of the ozarks

by GodofSelf at April 14, 2010 04:48
You will notice that most of these horrible things were invented and used by Christians. Wonderful religion you guys have there.......

  by anonymous at March 25, 2010 10:33
all hell naw..

by medi at March 09, 2010 01:45
i hope all those fuckers and torturers who came up with these ideas are still burning in hell right now. inhumane basterds

by chris at March 09, 2010 01:44
i fear for my ancestors

by Twilight4Life at March 05, 2010 16:58
Jesus! i'm glad we are more civilized.

  by anonymous at February 24, 2010 11:27
this is awsome i wish i was born in these times

by Crystal at February 15, 2010 14:05
how am i suppose to write about medieval torture in school when almost all of them deal with boobs, anus's, and vagina's

by max at February 21, 2010 18:54
true

by Chelsea at February 10, 2010 14:19
Who in the name of hell comes up with the shit?! That is absolutely horrible and disgusting!! Especially for women!

by jOE at February 03, 2010 09:52
I LOVE ALL OF THESE I WISH THEY WERE DONE TO ME!

  by anonymous at February 21, 2010 18:55
sick freak

by joby at January 31, 2010 14:47
This is quite sad but at the same time very interesting.

by litgoddess at January 06, 2010 18:09
were you trying to include a picture???

by Kathy at December 21, 2009 16:12
These are some brutal torture types. Torture is an absolutely ridiculous practice that only humans do. Shame on us!

by WitchArachne at March 04, 2010 19:45
Only because we're the only animals that make objects out of other objects. Cats play with their food all the time. They hunt when they're not hungry. They ENJOY the hunt, they LIKE to kill. It's in their nature. And orcas do they same thing. I've seen plenty of documentaries where one flips a seal into the air with its flukes and another jumps out of the water and rams it so its bones shatter. I reckon if a cat or an orca could make an Iron Maiden they would use it. Incidentally, though records of the existance of the Pear of Anguish exist, there's no record of it actually being used until 'modern' times and even then it was oral. Use in the anus or vagina is so far only theoretical.

by ME at December 14, 2009 09:54
EWWWWWWWWW

  by anonymous at December 10, 2009 07:30
i think i wud want the breast ripper done to lisa

  by anonymous at December 10, 2009 07:30
this is pyscho dawwgg

  by anonymous at December 08, 2009 12:16
More attention should be paid to some commonly inflicted foot tortures, such as the crank-operated, spike-filled iron "foot sandwich" crushing press; the application of fire to the greased soles of the immobilized feet; tearing out the toenails; or exploring under the toenails with oiled skewers. It makes great sense that such creativity would be applied to tortures for the feet, as one wishes the torture to be maximally agonizing WITHOUT endangering life, viz., by staying as far as possible from the brain and vital organs--both of which are accomplished by paying attention to the foot.

  by anonymous at December 08, 2009 12:14
You misunderstood and mislabeled the "crocodile tube." The tube is a penis-extirpation device, typically applied red-hot to an erect member. You have shown a spiked collar of heavy iron, commonly worn by a prisoner to exacerbate his jailhouse experience but not an interrogative torture technique per se.

by kristen1985 at December 08, 2009 10:19
AHHHHH!!!! are you kidding!! what kind of people would ever do this!

  by anonymous at December 08, 2009 09:35
the Breast Ripper? who would even come up with such a name?

by Disgusted&NotAmused at December 03, 2009 12:16
This is just another reminder of how horrible human beings can be to each other. Really, we've failed as a species on so many levels, and this is just one of them.

  by anonymous at December 03, 2009 01:05
great list

by Tortuga at November 16, 2009 16:08
Spanish Donkey = old school Sybian

by anon at November 13, 2009 04:05
WOW how good is that its horrible but osem ever so gruesm!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by daniel radcliffe at November 13, 2009 04:04
absoulotley horribley good it looked awfully painfull i cant bieleve they did that

by Joanne at November 12, 2009 13:26
oh my goodness...this list is insane. INSANE!! i kind of feel like throwing up...

  by anonymous at October 05, 2009 16:58
ive been thru worse than these....lol

by Ann at October 01, 2009 22:15
Umm, I wanna try Breast ripper.......lol Wanna know what it feel like.

  by anonymous at October 21, 2009 12:14
ill help u out on that..

by litgoddess at October 05, 2009 17:03
ummm, well it feels like sharp metal hooks digging into your skin, and then tearing your breasts off. Go ask someone - I'm sure they'll be happy to demonstrate on you.

by zara at September 20, 2009 23:54
THE SCARIEST ONE IS THE CROCODILE TUBE OUCH THAT WOULD REALLY REALLY REALLY+1000 HURT OUCCCCHHH

by zara mcguinn at September 20, 2009 23:51
this would be very scary if it happened now i wouldnt even want to be born

by litgoddess at September 20, 2009 23:54
well, if you and I HAD been born, we most likely would have been drowned at birth, for being girls. see? silver lining in every rain cloud.

by litgoddess at September 14, 2009 16:32
now, now, boys and girls, let's remind ourselves that this was in the aptly named "Dark Ages" and none of these items have been endorsed by the late Billy Mays. Feel better?

by RankingRocks at December 03, 2009 12:17
Although I'm not sure that infomercials aren't just the modern form of flaying. #JustSayin'

by steven at September 14, 2009 16:25
they should bring back the iron maiden for criminals!

by supermanzx at September 12, 2009 05:07
It is good that these kinds of things are no longer used, at least in much of the planet

by litgoddess at September 12, 2009 19:12
what are you talking about? I've got at least half of these in my closet, right behind my collection of whips. :)

  by anonymous at September 17, 2009 13:19
yh i no u used them on me ;D

by Toilah at October 15, 2009 02:31
it isnt amusing jking about these, just imagine urself in the Iron Maiden

by PZycHoTIc RaT at October 15, 2009 12:47
No fuck the tortures aren't funny. The methods AND WHERE they were applied are funny xD

by litgoddess at October 15, 2009 09:30
every corner of the globe has something shameful in their history. we can joke about it because we're laughing at ourselves as well. please lighten up? :)

by KZT at September 10, 2009 12:12
These things are horrifying. I guess the users/torturers/priests would claim that "they were just following orders", or that the "ends justify the means". How fortunate that whatever god they claim gave these orders can't go on trial for crimes against humanity. Thank goodness the modern church isn't like that anymore- the switch to pedophilia must have saved a fortune on cleaning.

by litgoddess at September 10, 2009 22:11
ah how I love generalizations - my favorite fallacy.

by Virgin of Nuremberg at September 11, 2009 18:35
Delicious retort litgoddess

  by anonymous at September 10, 2009 08:09
And people wonder why intelligent species (they must exist) have not visited our planet.. Also, this illustrates the "problem of evil" as the best refutation of the existence of any deity.

  by anonymous at September 10, 2009 09:58
Actually, without a deity, the problem of evil becomes a moot argument. If you are to posit actual evil, then that means you assume there is good. If there is good and evil is the opposite of good then you are assuming there is some law giver defining the distinction between good and evil. That law giver must be outside of human-kind or else ethics governing what we consider good and evil would be subjective and these methods of torture could classify as someone's good relatively. So your question must incorporate a deity in order to make any sense. I think the proper question considering the problem of evil is 'why would a deity allow these things to happen'? If there is no deity, then it really doesn't matter.

by reply to anonymus at 9/10/09 8:58PM at September 11, 2009 01:22
Good and evil are actually human made categories that are subject to constant change and the line between them is on the constant shift. The shift can go both ways, and the source of the change is the subjective human mind, a mind that alters, grows, evolves. A few hundred of years ago it was normal for a man to bed a girl of 10 years, it wasn't considered evil because average human lifespan was around 35 years, so people had to get a head start on procreation. Today we live much longer, so there isn't a necessity to get married and have kids at the age of 12. Evil and good are nothing but constructs of our society. Not governed by outside of human kind at all. Nemorensis

by litgoddess at September 11, 2009 08:24
and let's not forget common sense. If the human mind decides it makes sense to go back to bedding 10 yr old virgins, it's not a case of science and survival. It's a choice of right and wrong. It doesn't take too much thought to weigh options and decide if more harm than good can come out of something.

by Keeper at September 10, 2009 09:38
The problem of evil in no way refutes the existence of deity. If anything it proves it.

  by anonymous at September 10, 2009 08:03
There is a good exibition these days if you go to Mexico City, it`s in Centro Historico, in front of the Museo Nacional de Arte. You can see most of these instruments.

  by anonymous at September 10, 2009 06:38
Holy crap - What the hell is wrong with humanity?

by PhantomV48 at September 10, 2009 02:38
The Brazen Bull or, add a bit of water, and it becomes The Braisin' Bull!

by litgoddess at September 10, 2009 22:12
haha LOVE IT! Imagine what that reduction would taste like.

by Virgin of Nuremberg at September 11, 2009 18:37
Chicken, of course.

by Mia at September 09, 2009 07:51
Ugly tools!! :/

by vadveat at September 05, 2009 16:01
even thinking about these methods gives me chills, btw awesome site to make lists you can find everything you can imagine here.

by hot_pan at September 03, 2009 15:20
This is totally cool.. Love this site and these lists.. weeeeeeeeeeeee

  by anonymous at August 28, 2009 17:13
I'm having Brazen Bull for dinner tonight. Yum.

by anonymous at August 25, 2009 23:20
Happy not be born in that era....those are the worst ways to face death!!

by dark horse at December 21, 2009 16:09
I never even thought of vagina torture as a thing. These medieval tortures are BRUTAL

by seriously? at April 14, 2010 03:28
You do realize there are absolutely no records of any of these devices being used? All of these "complex" torture devices were just created after the middle ages. The reason? Idiots like you guys want to believe that society is improving and it makes you feel better as a person that you wouldn't use these things. Now fuck off.
 

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