10 Most Brutal Executions in History – Pain Level: MAX
In May 1610, Francois Ravaillac was sentenced to be drawn and quartered for assassinating King Henry IV. To carry out the sentence, executioners used horses. First, he was subjected to brutal torture in an attempt to extract the names of possible accomplices. His flesh was torn with red-hot pincers, particularly on his limbs and chest, while his open wounds were doused with molten lead, boiling oil, and burning sulfur.
When the time came for the execution, he was brought to Place de Grève in Paris, where an enormous crowd had gathered. His arms and legs were tied to four horses, which were then driven forward. Initially, his body resisted, his joints dislocated, his muscles stretched and tore, but his ligaments held firm. Seeing that the horses alone could not complete the execution, the executioners took knives and severed the major tendons at his shoulders and thighs to weaken the resistance of his body.
Only then did the horses succeed in tearing him apart, ripping his limbs from his torso. It is difficult to even imagine the suffering Francois Ravaillac endured. However, we can attempt to estimate his pain using a pain scale. Although this scale is quite arbitrary and subjective, it allows us to roughly understand the agony he went through.
The classic pain scale has 10 levels. It is known that limb amputation corresponds to level seven. While the pain from a severe burn ranges from 7 to 10, level seven is marked as very severe. At this point, a person is unable to concentrate on anything other than their own suffering. Level 10 is the worst pain possible where a person loses the ability to move and may even die from pain-induced shock or heart attack.
Considering that the amputation of a single limb is rated at level seven, losing all four limbs simultaneously would have exponentially increased the suffering, especially since they were not simply amputated, but literally torn off. Therefore, this execution undoubtedly rates a 10 on the pain scale given all the brutal manipulations involved.
Based on this, it can be assumed that Francois Ravaillac died long before the execution was fully completed, likely even before his body was completely torn apart. The human body is simply not capable of enduring such an unimaginable level of pain. Despite its cruelty, Ravaillac’s execution was remarkably inventive. After all, the combination of red-hot pincers, molten lead, and drawing and quartering was not a common method of execution.
However, the executioners of Prince Igor of Kiev displayed no less and perhaps even greater ingenuity, and they needed only two trees to do it. In 945, Prince Igor of Kiev set out for the land of the Drevlians to collect tribute. Having gathered the agreed amount, he dismissed most of his retinue and returned with a small detachment, seeking additional payment.
This provoked outrage among the Drevlians who, after consulting their leader, Prince Mal, decided to put an end to Igor’s demands. They ambushed the prince and his warriors, killing his men and taking Igor captive. According to later Byzantine sources, the Drevlians subjected Igor to a brutal execution. His legs were tied to the tops of two bent trees that were held down.
Then the ropes holding the trees were cut and the prince was set free. As this method of execution was called by the Slavic tribes, the trees snapped back into position and Igor’s body was torn apart. We know that even after a rapid amputation of half the torso, a person can not only survive but also remain conscious for some time.
This very fact makes this death particularly terrifying. It was unlikely that Igor’s body was completely torn apart, but the process itself was extremely painful: complete helplessness, snapping tendons, dislocated joints, and rupturing tissues. It is hard to even imagine the suffering he experienced at that moment.
However, Prince Igor of Kiev’s wife, Princess Olga of Kiev, did not leave her husband’s death unavenged and took full revenge on the Drevlians for their crime. After Igor was killed, the Drevlians had the audacity to propose that Olga marry their ruler, Prince Mal. They sent 20 envoys on a boat to negotiate this union. However, the princess did not show them a warm welcome.
Instead, she ordered her people to drag the boat to a pre-dug deep pit and throw the envoys inside. Then, at her command, the pit was filled in, burying them alive. Before they were buried, Olga asked the envoys if they liked their fates.
They replied, “This death is worse than what had befallen Prince Igor.”
Indeed, execution by live burial is one of the most agonizing deaths. A person suffers not only physically but also mentally. Even if they are not bound, the weight of the soil gradually robs them of their ability to move. The earth seeps into every crevice, pressing from all sides, preventing breathing in or out. A burning sensation builds in their chest.
The lungs experience immense pressure. At first, the heart pounds frantically, but as oxygen levels in the blood drop, it begins to slow. Sounds become muffled. Consciousness dims. And with the realization of hopelessness, a person buried alive loses their final memories until the end comes. But even this was not enough for Olga.
She contacted the Drevlians again and requested that they send another delegation. Without hesitation, they dispatched a new group of envoys. This time they had a much warmer reception. They were even offered a chance to rest in a bathhouse after their long journey. However, the hospitality was deceptive. As soon as the envoys entered, the doors were locked and the building was set on fire.
Everyone inside perished in agony, suffocating on carbon monoxide and burning alive. It is hard to determine whose fate was worse: those who suffocated under the weight of the earth or those whose skin peeled away, whose eyes burned from the heat. However, one thing is certain: Prince Igor of Kiev was fully avenged.
The execution of Igor can be rated at an 8 to 9 level of pain. The body being torn apart by trees resulted in the immediate rupture of joints, tendons, and internal organs. Yet, the victim could remain conscious for several seconds, experiencing unbearable pain. Live burial can be classified at a 7 to 8 pain level as death did not come from injuries but from prolonged suffocation and the pressure of the earth accompanied by extreme panic and suffocating fear.
However, the most painful method was likely burning in a bathhouse. Since the victims perished in flames, suffering agonizing third-degree burns, asphyxiation, and heat shock, the pain level undoubtedly reached 9 to 10 on the pain scale. Each of these execution methods was not only a physical but also a psychological horror, turning death into a prolonged and unbearable process.
Despite its brutal nature, the execution of the Drevlian envoys was technically quite simple. A far more sophisticated punishment was inflicted upon the Hungarian rebel György Dózsa. The executioner’s goal was to instill maximum terror among his supporters, ensuring they would not even consider rebellion. Therefore, his execution was designed to be as public and horrific as possible.
First, the rebel leader was seated on a specially constructed iron throne, which had been preheated to a temperature that resembled a frying pan more than a throne. A red-hot crown was placed on Dózsa’s head, and a glowing scepter was forced into his hand.
However, the torment of György Dózsa alone was not enough for the executioners. They brought in nine of his supporters for an audience led by his younger brother Gergely. Dózsa pleaded for his brother to be spared, but the executioners ignored his pleas and cut Gergely into three pieces before his brother’s eyes.
Next, heated iron tongs were pulled from the fire and used to inflict unbearable pain on the condemned man, leaving severe wounds. The remaining eight rebels were then forced to commit a gruesome act by biting into his injuries. Four of them refused and were immediately executed as a warning to the others.
In the end, Dózsa died from agony, while those who obeyed were released. The searing iron throne, the burning hot crown, and the flesh-ripping tongs created suffering surpassing most known methods of torture. On the pain scale, this execution could be rated at a 9 to 10 as the victim endured continuous burning of tissues, muscle rupture, and mutilation with death occurring only after complete exhaustion of the body.
The next execution was particularly cruel because it was not carried out by human hands, but by the fangs of hundreds of starving and vicious snakes. History has seen many brutal methods of execution, but some stand out for their extreme cruelty and torment. One such method was the snake pit execution, a technique used in various parts of the world, but best known from the legend of Ragnar Lothbrok, the legendary Viking ruler who, according to sagas, met his end in this manner.
The victim was thrown into a deep pit filled with venomous snakes, usually vipers or cobras. Disturbed by the falling body, the snakes would lash out aggressively, sinking their fangs into the victim. The bites caused excruciating pain, swelling, and paralysis. And if enough venom was injected, death could take hours to occur.
Unlike swift executions like beheading, death by snake pit was slow and agonizing. The victim endured unbearable pain, fever, suffocation, and convulsions, while the awareness of impending death only deepened the suffering. One of the most famous alleged victims of this execution method was Ragnar Lothbrok, the legendary Scandinavian warrior and ancestor of Denmark’s ruling dynasty.
According to Icelandic sagas, Ragnar waged wars across Europe, conquering lands in France, Britain, and Scandinavia. However, his ambitions led to a conflict with the Anglo-Saxon king of Northumbria, Aella II. According to legend, Ragnar was captured after an unsuccessful raid on England and handed over to Aella. Instead of simply executing the Viking, the king chose a particularly brutal death meant to serve as a warning to all northern warriors.
Although the story of Ragnar Lothbrok’s snake pit execution lacks 100% historical verification, this method of execution was indeed used in various countries. Similar practices existed among ancient Indians, Chinese, and even some African tribes. In Europe, snakes were sometimes used in torture as well. Prisoners were placed in chests with snakes or forced to endure controlled bites.
The snake pit execution was not just a method of killing, but a true psychological and physical nightmare. The prolonged agony, the fear of snakes, and the sense of hopelessness made this one of history’s most terrifying forms of public execution. The multiple bites, severe intoxication, lung swelling, and asphyxiation caused unbearable suffering, while the psychological horror only intensified the agony. And so, this execution can be rated at an 8 to 9 level of pain.
But not all of history’s worst cases of suffering were caused by human actions. Sometimes nature itself became the executioner. The best example of this is the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death. The bubonic plague brought one of history’s deadliest pandemics in the 14th century, claiming the lives of 50 million people—a terrifying number in itself.
However, the true horror of the disease lay not just in its fatality, but in the individual suffering it inflicted on each victim. The initial symptoms could be mistaken for a common cold: fever, chills, weakness, dizziness, and headaches. But soon, the lymph nodes began to swell and became extremely painful. At this stage, the bacteria rapidly multiplied, spreading through the bloodstream to infect the entire body.
The disease quickly attacked vital organs, leading to further complications such as pulmonary and septicemic plague. As the swollen lymph nodes grew, they restricted movements, making even the slightest motion unbearably painful. The digestive system ceased to function properly, and internal bleeding led to profuse bloody diarrhea and vomiting.
At this stage, even sleep brought no relief. Insomnia, hallucinations, and bouts of delirium only increased panic and despair. By the time most of these symptoms appeared, the patient’s body had already turned into something resembling the surface of the moon. Swollen buboes burst open on the skin, leaving behind massive bleeding ulcers.
Circulatory disorders led to a lack of blood in the extremities, especially in the fingers, causing necrosis. In this state, a person unable to get out of bed and lying in a pool of their own bodily fluids, blood, and pus is literally rotting alive. This picture becomes even more horrifying when you consider the scale of the pandemic and how screams of pain and the cries of the sick and their families could be heard from the windows of neighboring houses.
It is unlikely that those gravely ill with the plague could respond to anything other than their own pain and suffering. Delirium caused by an inflamed and sleep-deprived brain never released them from this personal hell for even a second. Death from bubonic plague can be rated at an 8 to 9 level of pain on the pain scale. The gradual decomposition of the body, necrosis, bursting buboes, and internal bleeding caused unbearable suffering.
And the combination of physical and psychological torment made the agony even longer and more brutal. Despite the excruciating pain and the fact that the plague was considered incurable at the time, it still pales in comparison to a death that more closely resembles biblical depictions of divine punishment—a death caused by radiation sickness.
The horrors of such a fate are best known thanks to the Chernobyl disaster and the case of a Japanese nuclear plant worker, Hisashi Ouchi. His case is particularly notable as he received the highest recorded dose of radiation in the history of nuclear energy and his illness was observed under constant and thorough supervision of medical professionals and scientists.
The incident occurred during uranium processing in a nuclear reactor. Three plant workers, including Hisashi, poured 40 liters of liquid containing around 18 kg of uranium into a settling tank, exceeding the critical mass for liquid uranium-235. As a result, a bright blue light filled the room. A chain reaction had begun and gamma rays along with neutron particles scattered in all directions, penetrating the workers’ bodies.
Almost immediately, they felt pain, nausea, and difficulty breathing. Fortunately, there was no explosion, but the gamma radiation exposure severely affected the three workers who were in the immediate area. Yokawa received a dose of three sieverts, Shinohara 10 sieverts, and Hisashi a staggering 17 sieverts. For reference, a lethal dose is considered to be 3 to 5 sieverts.
Of the three, only Yokawa survived. Unfortunately, Shinohara and Hisashi Ouchi succumbed to radiation poisoning after months of suffering. The most horrifying fate befell Hisashi Ouchi, whose story we will now explore. Immediately after exposure and decontamination, Hisashi Ouchi was taken to the hospital where tests revealed that radiation had already critically affected his body.
His white blood cell count was dangerously low and his chromosomes were destroyed. Given the patient’s critical condition and the special requirements for his care, he was placed in a sterile isolation room at the University of Tokyo Hospital. In an attempt to save him, doctors performed a unique stem cell transplant using his sister as the donor.
Within just a few days, the symptoms of acute radiation sickness worsened. His skin began to peel and fall off, and his breathing became severely impaired. This was further exacerbated by the fact that his body could no longer produce new cells, meaning his wounds did not heal and his pain never ceased.
Around the 10th day of his torment, Hisashi Ouchi stated, “I can no longer bear it. I am not a lab rat,” hoping they would let him die.
However, the doctors, whether driven by the desire to save him or out of scientific curiosity, refused his request and placed him into an induced coma. Eight days later, the stem cell transplant showed signs of success. Ouchi’s white blood cell count returned to normal. However, the relief was short-lived. On the 25th day, the transplanted cells were affected by radiation and began to die off. Two days later, his gastrointestinal organs necrotized, causing his intestines to literally rot and bleed.
Because radiation had completely destroyed his body’s cellular structure, all his tissues lost their integrity. The most horrifying symptom was constant uncontrollable bleeding from every part of his body. His blood vessels could no longer contain his blood, which seeped out even through his eyes. To reduce fluid loss, doctors had to wrap him in gauze.
Additionally, his skin began to peel off in layers. The situation became so severe that doctors had to perform daily skin grafts. But even the new skin would not adhere due to the constant bleeding and his muscles literally detached from his bones. Around day 59, fate seemed to offer Hisashi a gift: his heart stopped.
However, the doctors refused to accept this outcome and successfully resuscitated him. Over the next 49 minutes, his heart stopped twice more and each time they brought him back. The triple cardiac arrest left lasting damage. Lack of oxygen and blood circulation caused severe complications in his kidneys and heart, requiring him to be fully connected to life support.
On day 83, Hisashi Ouchi’s suffering finally ended and he passed away. It is difficult to judge the morality of the actions of Ouchi’s doctors who tried to save him for so long. Regardless, the fact that the patient himself asked for his suffering to end speaks volumes about his agony. Death from acute radiation syndrome is rated at a 10 on the pain scale.
The destruction of cells at a molecular level, slow necrosis of organs, unrelenting hemorrhaging, and the complete inability for wounds to heal made his agony one of the most excruciating and prolonged forms of suffering ever recorded in medical history.
The breaking wheel is an ancient type of torture and execution which was invented in ancient Rome. And one of its first uses is attributed to the cruel Roman Emperor Commodus. Back then, this execution would look like this. However, in the Middle Ages in Europe, execution already looked different. For example, in the Holy Roman Empire, executions were a mass spectacle and were used primarily for men convicted of aggravated murder—that is, committed during another crime or against a family member.
The documents of the Holy Roman Empire even preserved a description of the execution. First, the criminal is placed belly down, hands and feet tied to a board, and in this manner, a horse drags him to the place of execution. Then, the body is struck twice on each arm: one blow above the elbow, the other below.
Then, the same is done to each leg above and below the knee. The last ninth blow is struck in the middle of the spine so that it breaks. The broken body is then inserted into a wheel that is between the spokes and then the wheel is driven onto a pole which is then fixed vertically with the other end in the ground.
Then the criminal was left to die afloat on the wheel and let rot. But there was another method of this execution originating from Europe. A wheel was placed on a tripod and then rotated while the convict was tortured. The difference between this method and the others was that those watching from all sides could get a good view without the executioner having to go around the wheel.
Sometimes a criminal’s ankles and wrists could be broken beforehand before being placed on the wheel in order to twist them and thus tie the person to the wheel, causing more suffering. Perhaps the most famous and cruel instance of the use of this execution occurred on October 1st, 1786 in the county of Tecklenburg. Hinrich Dole was to be executed by means of the wheel for the aggravated murder of a Jew.
The first blow of the wheel would crush his chest. It was thought that it would kill the criminal instantly. However, this blow did not kill the criminal and even the townspeople who were familiar with public executions were shocked by such a cruel punishment because Dole was alive throughout the whole process.
After the executioner secured Dole to the wheel, he hoisted him onto a pole. The town doctor climbed the ladder and verified that Dole was indeed alive. He died 6 hours later in terrible agony. The wheel was one of the most cruel and inhumane forms of execution and torture in history. It was intended not only to punish criminals, but also to demonstrate power and terrorize the population.
If you’ve boiled meat, you’ve probably seen what happens to it when put in boiling water. We’re very lucky in the 21st century to only witness this while cooking because 400 years ago, city dwellers often watched live people being boiled in giant cauldrons in England. But do not think of this as a way to be eaten. It was simply a way of execution in 16th-century England.
Just imagine what it is like to be sentenced to this execution. You are brought to a giant vat full of boiling water and then you hear that you were sentenced to death by boiling alive. You have no choice to escape or appeal your sentence. All that remains is to accept your fate of being subjected to one of the most terrible deaths.
This execution was used in Kiev, Russia, Germany, France, Egypt, and Japan. Most often, it was inflicted on counterfeiters or traders. But as we have already said, this execution was especially popular in England thanks to the monarch Henry VIII. This monarch gained a reputation as a rather cruel king. He severed ties with the Roman Catholic Church, proclaiming himself head of the Church of England, which gave him the right to freely interpret God’s laws and subject people to the most horrific torture.
Henry was obsessed with the dream of a successor son, a dream that never came true and which deeply unsettled him. As a result, he even had members of his family executed like Anne Boleyn, his second wife. The king had her and her brother beheaded for alleged treason, although the real reason was that she could not bear him a son.
Henry had little pity for his courtiers, and he treated people outside his circle even harsher. During his reign, the Tower of London became a torture chamber. Executions and torture became commonplace with more than 70,000 people subjected to them, and one of the king’s decrees imposed the boiling alive punishment for poisoners.
One of the most famous and also the first manifestations of this execution in England was the case of Richard Roose, the cook of Bishop John Fisher. Richard was accused of attempting to poison the bishop. Proof of the crime was the death of two of Fisher’s guests. After his arrest, Roose pleaded guilty, but only for wanting to have some fun and put laxatives in the food, not for trying to kill anyone.
No one believed the cook, and he was sentenced to be boiled alive. Roose was not simply thrown into the cauldron and left to die. The executioners wanted to stretch out his execution as long as possible. So, Richard was lowered into the cauldron and brought back up again. The torture was so terrible that even the spectators used to such shows fainted from Roose’s screams.
Are you familiar with the concept of a human cannonball? Maybe you associate it with a circus with people in colorful clothes who after the shot land safely on the stretched net or a mattress. Actually, the idea to put a man in a cannon originally occurred to the Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century as a method of punishment for rebels in South Mozambique and Brazil.
This method of execution is most strongly associated with the British colonizers in India as they most often used it during the Indian rebellion of 1857 against deserters or rebels. The execution consisted of tying the condemned person to the muzzle of a cannon and then shooting him. Usually blank cartridges or grapeshot were used for such execution, but sometimes the gun was loaded with a classic cannonball.
Though this execution was no less cruel than being pricked up or boiled alive, it often gave the condemned a quick death without any unnecessary agony; one might say that it served rather as an example to those around them. For such executions were always intended for an audience consisting of both military and civilian men.
This execution had the same effect on the audience as the ones already mentioned. When the shot was fired, the insides of the condemned were literally thrown several hundred meters away, leaving only their hands in place, which were sometimes even blown off the cannon together with the rope. There were also cases when the execution affected not only the convict, but also the executioners and the audience.
Thus, there is a case in history when according to the plan, all the cannons were to be loaded with blanks, but some were loaded with buckshot. The consequence of this was that the observers standing in front of the guns were seriously wounded. In addition to this, some soldiers were wounded by bone fragments.
The most striking way of execution was by the Turks. In Istanbul in 1596, the condemned was literally put into the cannon and shot. Also, there was a similar way of execution in Turkey: tying people to rockets and launching them into the sky. Execution by crushing is one of the oldest methods of execution. It is based on the use of various heavy objects to crush the victim’s entire body or individual limbs, resulting in a painful and often slow death.
There are several variants and methods of application of classical execution by crushing. The perpetrator is secured on a wheel or platform, and then a heavy object such as a large stone or roller is lifted over them, which is gradually lowered or dropped all at once, crushing the person. The criminal is secured on a special platform, and the executioners then use a vice to crush the convict’s limbs, causing fatal injuries.
The criminal is placed on the ground, and then large, heavy stones are placed on his body one by one until the victim dies. But there are also particularly sophisticated ways to crush a person. For example, in the south and southeast of Asia, a popular method of execution was when a bound man was laid on the ground and then an elephant stepped on him.
And this method was quite well established in that area because it was used for more than 4,000 years. To give an example from more recent history, we can remember the case of the Salem witch trials. And in spite of the fact that we associate the Salem witch trials with the burning of those accused of witchcraft at the stake, crushing was also used at the time.
And it was applied to an 81-year-old farmer named Giles Corey, who was also accused of witchcraft. And instead of pleading guilty or not guilty, as other members of his community had done, chose to remain silent in court. This led the court to impose a compulsory measure. Giant stones were placed on the accused in an attempt to get the farmer to confess guilt by crushing him.
Corey was crushed to death by the stones. The other 19 Salem witches were not burned at the stake either. They were simply hanged. After all, this was the method of execution used in Britain and its colonies for those convicted of witchcraft. But do not think that burning is a myth. This following execution existed and in Europe it was applied to witches and not limited to them.
Execution by burning has been widespread in various cultures and eras and its use has been associated with punishment for serious crimes, political reprisals, religious intolerance or even simple accusations of witchcraft or hearsay. In execution by burning, a person was bound and placed on a pyre which was then set on fire, subjecting the victim to the flames.
The process of burning could be slow and extremely painful. Often the executioners kept an eye on the flames, preventing them from getting too hot, deliberately prolonging the victim’s agony. One of the most famous examples of the use of execution by burning is the period of the age of witches in Europe.
Women accused of witchcraft, association with the devil, or committing various unexplained phenomena were considered witches and were subject to this method of execution. Though the majority of victims were women, men also suffered this fate. The process of accusing and executing witches was usually full of superstition, improper trials, and torture to coerce confessions.
Often the trial lasted only a couple of minutes during which time the accused was read the charges and immediately found guilty without being given a chance to defend themselves. But beyond witches, this execution was very closely intertwined with the Holy Inquisition and probably even became its symbol. The historian Hernando del Pulgar estimated that between 1478 and 1490, 2,000 people were burned at the stake.
And how many more people were burned alive during the entire period of the fight against heresy can only be guessed. Ancient Rome also used this type of execution. The Roman state regarded burning at the stake as a horrible punishment intended as a demonstration of power and intimidation. The Moscow kingdom also liked to execute people by burning, but they had their own interesting variation of this execution.
There it was more like being smoked alive rather than burned. For example, in 1701, it was applied to men who distributed leaflets defaming the honor of Peter the Great. For this, they were suspended on a scaffold and for 8 hours, they were smoked with a corrosive composition from which the condemned men lost all the hair on their bodies and their skin melted like wax.
However, it is not known for sure whether they were smoked to death because different sources speak about different things. According to some sources, the bodies eventually burned together with the scaffold. According to others, the convicts began to repent, as a result of which they were removed from the scaffold, interrogated, and sent to Siberia.
