During the middle ages, there were numerous
ways of extracting confessions or information from victims through the
use of torture devices. Most of them were made to inflict physical pain
but there was one device that inflicted
both physical and psychological pain at the same time. That device was
known as the Torture Chair.
There were many variants of the chair,
but all of them had one distinguishing feature. Spikes covered the
entire seat, from the arm rests, the back and the leg rests. It was not
uncommon for these devices to be covered with anything from 500 to 1500
individual spikes.
The victims movement was severely restricted by
having their wrists tied to the chair or in some variants, metal bars
pushed the arms down on to the arm rests, causing the spikes to
penetrate the victims flesh further. There were some variations where
there were holes beneath the chairs set, where burning coal was used to
cause severe burns while the victim remained conscious. Other versions
included weights that were applied to the victims thighs or feet and
there was even a special version of the chair where spikes were included
in the head rest, so that the torturer could push the victims head
against them.
The strength of this hideous device lies primarily in
the psychological fear that it induced. A common practise, to extract
confessions was to force the victim to watch as someone else was
tortured with the chair.
The time it took to die varied from a few
hours to more than a day. None of the spikes penetrated vital organs and
all wounds were closed by the spikes, which delayed blood loss greatly.
Photo by Karl Fabricius
www.environmentalgraffiti.com
Welcome to the first in a series of short articles about Medieval Torture devices and their use.
Introduction
One of the darker sides to the Middle Ages was the frequent use of torture to punish criminals and extract confessions. Hundreds
of devices were used and I am going to be creating a series of short
articles that detail these horrific devices. Thousands died in the most
unimaginable ways, yet torture wasn't as frequent as most of us are lead
to believe. During the period known as the inquisition, only 1 to 2
percent of heretics or criminals were subject to longer periods of
torture, the rest were kept under lock and key or punished in other
ways.
In most medieval towns there would be a council that would
determine a person's guilt. It was only in the severest of cases such as
murder or treason, that torture would be used. The majority of cases
resulted in the offender being incarcerated or banished from the town.
In bigger cities, such as London the law was more rigorously adhered to.
Many castles had some form of torture chamber, be it in the dungeon or
the tallest tower. In this first article, I will be talking about a
particularly unpleasant device called The Judas Cradle
The Judas Cradle
The Judas Cradle was one of the nastier torture devices used, where the
victim would be placed on top of a pyramid shaped seat. While atop this
device, the victim's feet were tied in such a way that if they were to
move one leg, the other leg would move as well increasing the amount of
pain endured. The triangular shaped end of the cradle was inserted into
the victims anus or vagina. This form of torture could last anywhere
from a few hours to complete days.
The time it took to die from
their injuries varied from individual to individual. It wasn't unknown
for the torturers to add weight to the victims legs, increasing the pain
and hurrying the person's death. The device was very rarely, if ever
washed so if the victim didn't die quickly enough or the torture was
interrupted in some way, then they would die from infection.
Occasionally the victim would be rocked or made to fall repeatedly on to
the device in order to gain vital information. If they refused to talk,
weight was added to their legs until they either confessed or died from
their injuries. It has to be said, this is one of the most eye watering
torture devices that I have ever seen.
Photo courtesy of Kate Skegg http://www.flickr.com/photos/mindtalk/2930843549/
