People have always committed crimes against each other. Stealing, killing, betrayal, and probably there is no more effective way to combat human vices than torture. Nowadays, it is less popular because of the development of humanity. Still, if we look at our history, we will notice that the path to this humanity was very bloody and filled with sophisticated tortures that left people crippled at best and killed at worst.
One example of the worst of these tortures is probably the Judas Cradle. The Spanish Inquisition invented this torture device to punish heretics who did not embrace official church beliefs or committed serious crimes against the church and its representatives. This torture device was invented by the lawyer Epolito Marceli.
“The instrument itself was a wooden structure on four legs in the shape of a pyramid over which a bound prisoner was suspended. Usually the Judith cradle was used during interrogations. With each wrong answer or refusal to answer, the suspect was lowered and lower. As a result of which the person was literally strung with the crotch area on the pyramid’s tip under the force of his own weight, which caused severe pain and damage to both the upper tissues and internal organs.”
If he accused was particularly uncooperative, a weight was tied to his legs which caused additional pressure and allowed him to inflict even greater suffering and damage to the person. The interrogation itself was conducted during the day and at night the person was left in a hanging state to bleed and repent of his sins.
Due to the effectiveness of interrogation with this instrument and the repentance of criminals, the instrument was nicknamed the cradle of Judas in honor of the most famous religious traitor. Death from this torture more often came not so much from injuries as from blood poisoning caused by the fact that the tip of the pyramid was never washed.
And in case a person survived, they left with not only permanent physical injuries, but also psychological ones. The psychological impact of the torture is often even more effective and intimidating than the physical one. For example, water boarding. Waterboarding is probably one of the mildest tortures on our list. Even according to the Spanish Inquisition where it was widely used, this torture was considered medium severity.
However, it turned out to be so effective that it is used by the special forces of some countries even in the modern world. The essence of the torture consisted of the victim being tied to a bench or suspended above the floor by his limbs. After securing and immobilizing the person, water was poured on his face in a constant stream so that he could not breathe at a normal pace but at the same time could not die of asphyxiation.
Although the person did not feel any pain in the process and was not injured, in reality, the feeling of constantly pouring water on the face, which flows into the nose and mouth and prevents breathing, caused the victim to constantly feel as if he was on the verge of death, which consequently put the person in extreme panic.
In such a state, a person was ready to confess to anything and deny any views that prompted the torture. This method of torture may look like something ancient, but water boarding was openly used even by the CIA and the US police up until the 1940s. In the USSR, for example, it was used by the police until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
And even in modern Russia, it is fairly popular to extract confessions from people about crimes they did not commit. It is known that this torture has changed its form numerous times. For example, in the USSR in Russia, a gas mask with a tube was something put on the victim, the end of which was dipped into a basin or bucket of water, so that the person simply filled the gas mask with water in an attempt to breathe.
The Chinese people had their own method that literally drove people crazy. It consisted of the guilty person being put on a chair and tied up and above him on a special structure, a bucket or vat with water with a hole was put through which the water slowly dripped on the victim’s head.
Just imagine the feeling of water slowly dripping on your head. There’s nothing you can do about it. It literally drove people crazy. Also, there was even worse version of water boarding in the Middle Ages. For this, a funnel was inserted into the victim’s throat to prevent him from closing his mouth. And then water was directly poured in until the belly of the condemned person swelled up and the water started to come out again.
Sometimes such torture resulted in the death of the victim. To diversify the experience, sometimes boiling water could be poured down the victim’s throat, causing severe burns to the mouth and esophagus. But in the modern world, special forces try not to leave traces of torture on the victims and prefer to break people’s psyches.
And one of the most brutal psychological tortures is probably the white room. The white room is a relatively modern type of torture that focuses primarily on the psychological effects on a person. This torture involves the victim being locked in a completely white room, often with padded and soundproof walls. To achieve the effect of complete sensory deprivation, that is isolation of the person from any external stimuli, the room may also be kept constantly lit.
In such conditions, it is impossible even to track the time of day, let alone sleep. In addition to all of the above, the prisoner is forbidden to speak. And if there is a need to go to the toilet, the person must slip a white sheet of paper under the door. In this case, he can go to the toilets accompanied by a guard who, by the way, wears specially designed shoes that do not make noise when walking.
This method of torture may seem very mild and not cruel to some people. But in fact, it may well lead to irreparable psychological injuries due to the fact that the brain in an attempt to occupy itself with something can create intrusive thoughts and a person with a weak psyche may even cause injury to himself. This kind of torture can go on for a very long time.
“One of the most famous victims of the white room, Iranian journalist Ibrahim Nabavei, said in an interview that the worst thing about this method of torture is that afterward you will never be free.”
“Another victim, Amir Abbas Fakraar, said that after 8 months of life in the White Room, he forgot even the faces of his mother and father.”
And after his release, he was never able to return to a normal life. No wonder because even with short periods of isolation at home, a person’s social skills can degrade or feel stressed going outside as some of us may have experienced during the lockdown related to the co pandemic. With prolonged and complete sensory deprivation, a person may lose communication skills altogether and never return to their previous lifestyle.
Such torture often leads to phobias in the surviving victims. However, brutal physical torture still remains in the modern world and is used in some countries. For example, torture such as the German chair. Compared to the German chair, the previous tortures can be called perhaps very humane.
Although this torture was invented in medieval Europe, its greatest spread and popularity was during the Syrian war. This method of torture is very similar to the well-known rack. It is based on stretching the victim’s muscles, ligaments, and joints. However, the main difference is that the pressure is not evenly distributed between the person’s limbs due to their stretching, but is directed at the spine.
The essence of the process is as follows. A person’s hands and legs are tied. And then the victim is placed on the chair so that his spine or abdomen is on the seat. The process of torture itself begins when the executioner starts to turn the chair so that the entire weight of the victim is focused on a small part of the spine or abdomen.
Such torture could last several hours a day and result in serious injuries. “Mr. Shahinan told the Daily Mail that he was stripped naked and placed on a chair on his stomach. In this position, he was tortured for 2 to 12 hours a day for 4 days. According to him, the torture was so horrific that at one point he started begging to be killed.”
But the German chair, despite its traumatic nature, is far inferior to rat torture, which in 100% of cases resulted in the slow and agonizing death of the victims. Rat torture was very popular in ancient China, but it became famous largely due to the 16th century Dutch revolutionary leader Dioderic Sonoi. It is probably one of the simplest and crulest tortures in history.
It requires only a steel cage, rope, embers, and a few rats. To begin, the victim was placed on a table, after which the hands and feet were securely bound, and the cage was placed on the person’s stomach. The cage had a very simple design. It had no bottom, and at the top, there was a special hole through which the rats were inserted, and then a mesh with embers was placed inside.
Because of the high temperature, the rats began to panic. And since they could not bite through the cage bars, the easiest way to get out was through the human body. The animals began to gnaw their way to freedom through the flesh and endrails of a still living human. It’s not hard to imagine how agonizing such torture was. And the torture by rats is very much in contrast to our next entry, which at first glance sounds frivolous and not at all scary.
But in fact, tickling is quite an effective method of torture. Tickling may sound like a joke, but it has been used as a full-fledged form of torture in many countries. For example, in ancient China, tickling was used to torture both common prisoners and nobles. This method was very convenient, especially in relation to the nobility because it did not leave scars and did not lead to physical injuries, but at the same time allowed to obtain from the victim all the necessary information because some cannot bear a couple of seconds of tickling while the torture could last for several hours or even a whole day. Even the ancient Romans used tickling. They invented their own special process for this torture. The victim was tied up and his feet were dipped in salt water, after which the person was placed on a bench or sat on a chair with straightened legs and a goat was brought in to lick the salt water off his feet.
Over time, the tickle would stop feeling like a tickle and the goat’s tongue would become more like a razor. The man would literally start to feel pain. Perhaps this kind of torture does not look serious, but according to some information, it was used even in Nazi Germany. Those guys were good at inhumane abuse. Have you ever heard stories about inmbed human remains in the walls of fortresses or old manor houses? Scientists have long wondered how the human body got there until they came to the awful conclusion that such finds are echoes of the ancient execution by a merement. It originated in the days of Rome and was applied to servants of the goddess Vesta who had broken the vow of celibacy. It was important to a mere woman in the city limits which was forbidden by the laws of Rome at that time. However, a way to bypass this restriction was invented.
A woman was left in a confined space with a small supply of food and water which formerly could not be considered a burial anymore. In addition, religion forbade the spilling of their blood and hence this was the only way to carry out the death penalty. People were intombed not only in the walls but also in specially assembled wooden boxes and coffins.
Even scaism was considered a kind of emirment. Like many other tortures and executions, this type of torture received its greatest expansion in the middle ages. It was mainly used by the Christian church to punish monks who broke their vows or question the scriptures of the church. Echoes of these times are often found in castles, fortresses, and ancient temples.
People were placed in specially created chambers to be intombed in the walls of buildings or in dungeons, leaving them a small supply of food and water and then blocking the only way to freedom with bricks or masonry. This made the cell of the condemned invisible, subjecting the prisoner to a slow, painful death in complete solitude and darkness.
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 counterfeits 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, proclamating 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 Bolin, 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 quarters, and he treated people outside his circle even more harsher. During his reign, the Tower of London became a torture chamber. Executions and torture became common place 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 Fiser. Richard was accused of attempting to poison the bishop. Proof of the crime was the death of two of Fischer’s guests. After his arrest, Bruce 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. Ruse 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 Russ’s screams.
The gallows were a fairly common form of punishment in the Middle Ages. It was often used as a light punishment for crimes like theft. It involved leaving a person hanging in plain sight for a bit and then letting them go. It was also used as the death penalty for murderers, traitors to the crown or pirates.
The execution devices had wide varieties. The simplest ones were wooden post buried in the ground and a bar fastened perpendicularly on which the condemned was suspended by the hands and feet with the help of ropes. More complicated constructions included an iron or wood cage for the offender. Also, instead of cages, there could be steel plates used to gird the prisoners or iron suits which were like a human body and its separate trousers and sleeves for the limbs.
The gallows was convenient as a method of torture because it allowed for the punishment of the guilty or obtainment of a confession from the suspect without needing an executioner. For the same reason, it was often used as a method of capital punishment because it was quite a demonstrative and bloodless way to carry out the execution of a criminal or traitor.
Sometimes additional measures were applied to prisoners in the form of burning parts of the body with red-hot rods or stoning. Those convicted of minor crimes could be held from a few hours to a couple of days. On the other hand, those convicted of serious crimes were left in these cages until they died of hunger or thirst.
The bodies of the executed could even hang for several years. History knows the case when the body of a murderer hung in a cage for 20 years. The last recorded case of this execution happened in Afghanistan in 1921 and was even captured by National Geographic magazine. In May 1610, Francois Rayak 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 accompllices. His flesh was torn with red-hot pincers, particularly on his limbs and chest, while his open wounds were dowsed with molten lead, boiling oil, and burning sulfur.
When the time came for the execution, he was brought to Plast Griff 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 Rea 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 7. While the pain from a severe burn ranges from 7 to 10, level 7 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 Raak 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, Raak’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 Drevans, who after consulting their leader, Prince Maul, 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 Drevian 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 unavvenged and took full revenge on the Drevians for their crime. After Igor was killed, the Drevlians had the audacity to propose that Olga marry their ruler, Prince Maul. 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 that this death was 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 bath house 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 to9 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 eight 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 bath house. Since the victims perished in flames, suffering agonizing thirdderee 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 Drevian envoys was technically quite simple. A far more sophisticated punishment was inflicted upon the Hungarian rebel Gor Duja.
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 DOA’s head, and a glowing scepter was forced into his hand. However, the torment of Jorg Duja alone was not enough for the executioners. They brought in nine of his supporters for an audience led by his younger brother Gurggali. Doja pleaded for his brother to be spared, but the executioners ignored his pleas and cut Gurgguli 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, Garuja 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 Lothrock, 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 Lofbrock, 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 North Umbrea, Alab II. According to legend, Ragnar was captured after an unsuccessful raid on England and handed over to Ayah. 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 Lothrock’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 chest 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 esphyxiation caused unbearable suffering, while the psychological horror only intensified the agony.
And so, this execution can be rated at an 8 to9 level of pain. 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 Komodus. And 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 a float 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 Techllinburg. Hinrich Stall 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 town’s people 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.
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 together originally occurred to the Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century as a method of punishment for rebels and son, Mosmbique, 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 not less cruel than being pricricked 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 by 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 a cannon together with the rope. There were also cases when the execution affected not only the.
