Some methods were fatal, but they were generally a last resort. As demonstrated by the rack, a torture device could be used to inflict either physical or psychological pain on its victim and make him/her confess. Therefore, Medieval torture devices were seldom designed to actually kill their victims. One of the main goals of torture was to extract a confession. Medieval Torture Wanted to Extract Confessions This was to induce psychological fear in the observer, and could result in a confession without actually needing to use the device on the person himself. Another way of using the rack was to make a victim watch another being tortured on it. If the rack was utilized to its fullest potential, a person’s limbs could even be torn off. Apart from causing excruciating pain, being stretched on the rack could also dislocate limbs. The rack was designed in such a way that if a person refused to confess, the stretching of his/her limbs could be increased. Like many other torture devices, the rack was used mainly to extract confessions from victims. Torture rack in the fortress of San Leo, Italy. By turning the handle, the victim’s limbs would be pulled by the ropes.Īncient Origins - Body Snatchers and Tortured Spirits: The Dark History of the South Bridge Vaults of Edinburgh Ropes were used to fasten the victim’s arms to the roller on one end of the device, and the legs on the other. The rack was a simple contraption, consisting of a rectangular frame raised from the ground, and a pair of rollers with handles, one at each end of the frame. One of the devices operating on this principle was the rack, which is infamously associated with the Inquisition. Indeed, the twisting of limbs was a characteristically Christian torture method, as the shedding of blood was apparently discouraged by the Church. The English word ‘torture’ has its roots in the Latin ‘torquere’, which means ‘to twist’. This may be partially due to the assortment of devices the medieval torturer had at his disposal, some of which have survived to this day, and are now displayed in museums.ġ6th century depiction of Medieval torture. Although torture had already been used by various societies since ancient times, Medieval Europe is particularly infamous for it. One of the most notorious features of the Middle Ages was the use of torture. The Medieval period is often called (rightly or wrongly) one of the most brutal eras in European history.
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