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The medieval torture device that inspired the name of the famous English heavy metal band was brutal. It was essentially a sarcophagus with spikes inside. You can imagine what would happen when the door closed and someone was inside.
The pear of anguish was usually placed in one of the body's orifices and expanded, inflicting damage and pain on the person being tortured.
The clue is in the name. The thumbscrew was a torture instrument used to crush thumbs, in a very slow and painful way.
This terrifying chair was popular in medieval times. If sitting on sharp spikes was not enough to make someone confess, surely lighting a fire underneath the chair would!
This English torture method was popular during the reign of Henry VIII. The victims would be forced to crouch with their hands, hands, and feet locked into the device. As the metal frame was tightened it would compress them into a horrible position, potentially crushing them to death.
Also known as the Spanish horse, this torture device became popular during the Inquisition. Victims would sit on it (most of the times naked) and let gravity do its job inflicting pain.
Placed between the chest and the neck, this torture device caused pure agony if the victims even slightly moved their jaws or necks.
Also known as a witch's bridle, gossip's bridle, brank's bridle, or just branks, these came in many shapes and forms. The one used depended on the offense committed.
If a woman was found to be gossiping, she would be forced to wear one and be paraded around in public for further humiliation.
This Chinese instrument of torture was a finger crusher. The device had sticks strung together, which were then placed around the victim's fingers and pulled.
It does exactly what it says on the tin. Now, imagine your teeth breaking, then your jaw, and perhaps your eyes popping out, before your skull was completely crushed.
Similar to the boot torture mentioned previously, this iron cast would be used to squeeze a victim's leg. Sometimes spikes would even be placed on the inside.
What is essentially a pyramid on top of four wooden legs is as painful as it looks. Ropes would be tied to the victim and the person would be pulled down as the pyramid pierced them.
While the typical three-hole stocks are indeed the most popular ones, there were versions where just the legs, arms, head, or a combination of these would be trapped.
With this device, wedges were hammered between boards and created pressure on the legs and ankles, causing intense pain.
Rats have been used as a part of torture on many occasions throughout history. One of these torture methods consisted of placing a metal box with rats over the victim. The rodents would then proceed to rip chunks of flesh out of the person!
Sources: (List25) (Medievality)
See also: The brutal ways Jesus' disciples died
This torture method, used in the 19th-century New York State penal system, had prisoners held in stocks with clamps around their ankles, wrists, and neck. Then water was poured over their heads from a barrel.
This torture went down in Christian history for being used by the Romans against Saint Blaise. It consisted of having one's skin raked off with hot wool combers' irons.
This popular medieval torture device was essentially a wooden bed with four ropes, where legs and arms would be tied. The ropes would be pulled until the victims confessed... or not.
These chairs were traditionally used to punish "disorderly women." The torture survived from medieval times to the 18th-century witch hunt in Europe and the Americas.
Stocks not only were popular in medieval times, but remained a torture tool for many centuries after. It essentially consisted of a wooden board with three holes, for the head and arms, respectively. Victims would be left out to be humiliated, and many times died in public.
Victims would have their tongues cut out, and then would be placed inside a bronze bull with their hands tied and a fire lit underneath. The sound of the victim's screams from inside the hollow metal statue would sound like a bull's bellowing cries.
Many people were burned at the stake, but this roasting method was a bit slower, and surely extremely painful.
Used throughout the Spanish Inquisition, this torture consisted of hanging the victim with their hands tied behind their backs. Sometimes, weights would be added to the ankles to make it worse. That, and dropping them slightly and stopping suddenly, letting gravity do its job, likely dislocating their shoulders even more.
This was basically a hollow iron coffin. Victims would be placed inside and left to die.
This device is also known as the breaking wheel. Limbs would be broken and strapped on a spiked wheel. Sometimes the victim would be left outside at the mercy of the elements, or the torture would be sped up with a fire underneath. It was named after St. Catherine of Alexandria, after it was used to torture her.
Torture is a barbaric tool that has been used for millennia. In fact, it is still in practice to this day, albeit now more sophisticated methods are used (like music torture). Either way, torturing someone is about inflicting physical and psychological pain, usually in order to obtain a confession.
Have you ever wondered what torture methods and devices were used at other times in history? Look no further! In this gallery, we've compiled some of the most popular torture methods from the Dark Ages and beyond. Click on to discover more.
Hideous torture tactics that would make anyone confess
Painful ways to make people talk!
LIFESTYLE History
Torture is a barbaric tool that has been used for millennia. In fact, it is still in practice to this day, albeit now more sophisticated methods are used (like music torture). Either way, torturing someone is about inflicting physical and psychological pain, usually in order to obtain a confession.
Have you ever wondered what torture methods and devices were used at other times in history? Look no further! In this gallery, we've compiled some of the most popular torture methods from the Dark Ages and beyond. Click on to discover more.