Technical description

Artistic description

Sexual Torture

The desire to curb human lust and assert power over the most intimate was the reason for the creation of a number of the most sophisticated and intricate devices of torture. So there were anti-masturbation rings and a chastity belt.

The oldest copy of a female chastity belt was found in Austria by the famous archaeologist Anton Pachinger and dates back to the 16th century. These devices were widely popular among the knights who went on a campaign and were too concerned about the fidelity of their spouses. They chained their wives, and took the key with them. I must say that although such iron fetters made it possible to relieve themselves, hygiene was made almost impossible. Over time, models of belts improved and jewelers began to create locks. The keys were made in a single copy, and it was no longer possible to open them with master keys. In addition, the lock was arranged in such a cunning way that it “pinched off” a piece from the object with which they tried to open it and, returning from distant lands, the husband could see how many times his missus tried to free herself from the captivity of fidelity.

A century later, in Victorian England, a male chastity belt and rings were invented, originally intended for young boys who indulge in masturbation. In those days, it was generally accepted that masturbation leads to blindness, insanity, sudden death, and other terrible consequences. However, depriving a man, especially a young one, of sex or masturbation is a real torture of his precious genitals, his nature. The structures were made of metal and were often equipped with spikes or simply tightly squeezed the penis, causing pain when aroused, and making an erection impossible.

But among the "intimate" types of torture, there were more terrible ones. For example, pears and wooden phalluses. Their use was often accompanied by the interrogation or punishment of heretics and witches. Both weapons were aimed at tearing the most sensitive organs. The use of a pear was considered a more severe punishment, since before the introduction it was usually heated and injected into the mouth, anus or vagina. When tightening the screw, the segments of the pear opened to the maximum value. The victim writhed in convulsions and from prolonged interrogation could die altogether from large blood loss and pain shock.

Interesting fact:

The forerunners of chastity belts are considered to be leather belts, which in ancient Rome tied up slaves to prevent their pregnancy. Later, the purpose and appearance changed and already in medieval Europe they invented an iron structure designed to maintain chastity.

Artistic description

One of the main factors driving a person is the instinct of procreation, and the pleasures that accompany it. The people who first realized this simple truth began to use it to manipulate other people. To do this, they have developed many sophisticated devices.

The husband of a young beautiful girl, leaving for distant lands, secured himself from treason. He asked the blacksmith to make original underwear for her from durable iron. For several months she cannot walk and sit normally, the "chastity belt" rubs her thighs and perineum, and limits not only the sexual instinct, but also the access of water to the unwashed body.

Young men from religious families often suffer from pain at night, from pressure on the genitals of a protective cap made of metal rings or plates.

The second type of device serves to imitate the actions of a sexual nature, and their aggravation to truly monstrous forms.

A woman suspected of witchcraft is tightly bound, completely stripped, and stretched on a torture table in an obscene position. Executors take wooden products of an oblong, and not always anatomical shape, and imitate sexual penetration. They do it so rudely that the unfortunate woman experiences terrible pain and burning. Gradually, the tormentors bring her to bleeding, and confession of all the sins of this world.

A separate example of cruelty and inhumanity is a mechanical "pear". It is introduced into natural cavities, both for men and women, which in itself causes terrible torment. Then the executioner turns the screw, and the "petals" open, tearing the soft tissues inside the person. After such torture, mercy will be the quick killing of the victim, since she will no longer be able to walk or adequately perceive reality.

"One death for such people is not enough: we must add mechanics"

"Blood Countess"

Humanity was born, conflicts appeared. But since At first, everyone was equal, everything was limited to massacre, sometimes with a fatal outcome. In particular, whoever is stronger is right.

Time passed, civilizations appeared, people ceased to be equal. Now physical strength alone was not enough, your finances and position in society decided your rightness. With the development of tech. it was no longer difficult to make progress in extracting what was desired from the accused - the poor fellows themselves were already glad of death, their deliverance.

Below are the monuments of human cruelty and sophistication of the mind. Unfortunately, not much yet, but there will be that bi continius! Promise.

Oh yes, the description of savagery has been compromised ... But no, but not from Horrors! :)

I won't say where, in short :)

PEN FORT ET DURE

Pen fort et dure (peine fort et dure), or “death pressure”, first appeared in England in 1406, and although the use of this punishment gradually almost ceased, it was officially abolished only in 1772.

In Newgate prison, the prison yard was called the “press yard”, in addition, the room in which prisoners were most often subjected to this torture was called the “press room”.

Although we have already talked about crushing torture, it usually did not lead to the death of the interrogated. In contrast, "death pressure" was originally an instrument of painful execution. Death with him came only after long torments, when the respiratory muscles of the convict, with difficulty lifting a heavy load, got tired and he died from slow suffocation.

The procedure was as simple as it was cruel, as can be judged from the very text of the court verdict: “After the trial, return the prisoner to the place from which he was delivered and place him in a dark room, where he should be laid on his back. clothes except for a loincloth. Then put on him as much heavy weight as he can bear, and even more. Feed him only stale bread and drink only water, and let him not drink water on the day that he eats, and do not eat on that day. day when he drinks water, and so on until he dies." Later, some changes were made to this procedure, although this execution did not become more humane from such innovations:

This punishment was used at first in order to force the suspect to admit his guilt. To understand why this was done, one must remember that in those days, the trial began only when the accused pleaded guilty or not guilty of the crime he was accused of. In addition, the fact that the property of a convicted criminal went into the treasury of the state often forced him to pretend to be dumb in order to preserve his property for his children. Most of these "taciturn" prisoners were forced to speak by applying pen-fort-et-dur to them, however, there is evidence that some of them died under torture, but did not open their mouths, thus depriving the Crown of its legitimate prey:

In 1740, one Matthew Ryan was tried for robbery. When he was arrested, he pretended to be crazy, tore off all his clothes and scattered them around the cell. The jailers could not get him to dress; in court, he appeared in what his mother gave birth to. There he pretended to be deaf and dumb, not wanting to plead guilty. Then the judge ordered the jury to examine him and say whether he was crazy and deaf and dumb by the will of "God" or "by his own design." The jury's verdict was - "on their own intent." The judge once again tried to talk the prisoner, but he did not react in any way to the words addressed to him. The law required the use of pen-fort-et-dur, but the judge, taking pity on the stubborn one, postponed the torture for the future, hoping that after sitting in the cell and thinking carefully, he would come to his senses. When he again appeared before the court, the same thing happened again, and the court finally pronounced a terrible verdict: apply “death pressure”. The sentence was carried out two days later in the Kilkenny marketplace. When loads were piled on his chest, he begged to be hanged, but it was not in the power of the sheriff to change anything.

(“Terrific Register”, Edinburgh, 1825).

Animal rape of women

<Название этой статьи поначалу кажется абсурдом. Разве возможны сексуальные забавы животных с людьми. Ну, конечно, многие слышали о скотоложцах, которые развлекаются с животными, но это?

Is it possible for an animal to take a woman by force? Unfortunately, this turned out to be not only possible, but was also adopted by the monsters, who were not satisfied with all the tortures that mankind had invented during its existence. It seemed necessary to them to trample on the human "I" of the captive and in this way. In addition, many were amused by the very spectacle of this "process". The meaning of this brutal torture was to humiliate the unfortunate woman to the utmost, exposing her to something that, it would seem, could not exist. It was necessary to turn a person into an animal, turning him into some kind of unwitting sexual partner. Well, without these explanations, everyone can imagine how the unfortunate felt when a wild beast invaded the place that belonged only to their loved one. Alas, this existed both as torture, and as a sophisticated mockery, and as a sadistic execution. …

This is how the well-known researcher Daniel P. Mannix describes what happened in the Roman amphitheater in his book “Going to die…”

Sexual intercourse between women and animals was often shown under the bleachers, just as they are shown today in the Place Pigalle in Paris. Such spectacles were shown from time to time in the arena.

The problem was finding animals that did what they were supposed to do. A donkey or even a big dog that would voluntarily copulate with a woman in front of a screaming crowd was hard to find, and of course the help of the woman was required. If a woman wanted to copulate herself, then this did little to entertain the crowd.

The bestiary (a trainer who taught animals in the amphitheater) stubbornly tried to teach animals to rape women. To do this, women were usually covered with animal skins or placed in wooden models of cows or lionesses. During the performance of a play called “The Minotaur,” Nero ordered that the actor who played the role of Pasiphae be placed in a wooden cow, and the actor who portrayed the bull should copulate with him. However, these devices proved ineffective when working with real animals, and this project had to be abandoned.

Carpophorus, who had gained experience under the stands from early childhood, understood very well what was the matter. Animals primarily navigate by smell rather than sight. The young bestiary closely watched all the females in Everin and, when they went into estrus, soaked their soft tissues with blood.

These tissues he counted and set aside. Then he found a woman under the bleachers who agreed to help him. Using completely tame animals that did not pay attention to the noise and pandemonium around them, he encouraged them to copulate with a woman wrapped in prepared fabrics. As with his work with cannibals, he created a habitual behavior in animals and never gave them the opportunity to make contact with females of his own species. As the animals gained confidence, they became aggressive. If the woman, following the instructions of Carpophorus, defended herself, the cheetah plunged its claws into her shoulders, grabbed her by the neck with his teeth, shook her and forced her to submit. Carpophorus used several women in order to train the animals well. A woman raped by a horse, a bull or a giraffe usually did not survive the ordeal, but he could always get the broken old prostitutes from the provinces who did not fully understand what their work was until it was too late.

Carpophorus made a sensation with his new tricks. No one imagined lions, leopards, wild boars and zebras raping women. The Romans were very fond of performances on mythological subjects. Zeus, the king of the gods, often raped young girls by taking on the appearance of various animals, so such scenes could be presented in the arena. Carpophorus staged the scene of a young girl being raped by a bull, representing Europe. The audience applauded wildly.

Apuleius left us a vivid description of one of these scenes.

The poisoner, who sent five people to the next world in order to take possession of their fortune, was to be torn to pieces in the arena by wild animals. But first, in order to increase the torment and shame, she had to be raped by a donkey. In the arena, a bed was set up, trimmed with tortoiseshell combs, with a mattress of feathers, covered with a Chinese bedspread. The woman was stretched out on the bed and tied to her. The donkey was trained to kneel on the bed, otherwise it wouldn't work. When the copulation was over, wild animals were released into the arena, and they quickly put an end to the suffering of the unfortunate woman.

The bestiaries of the old school despised Carpophorus. They claimed that by putting on dirty spectacles, he humiliated their noble profession. True, they forgot that in their youth the old bestiaries condemned them for teaching predators to devour defenseless men and women. In fact, both sides were worthy of each other. The spectacles became more and more degraded. What was once a display of real courage and art, albeit brutal, gradually became only an excuse for brutal and sexually perverted spectacles.

Chimpanzees were drunk and then incited to rape girls tied to poles. When these human-sized monkeys were discovered in Africa, the Romans mistook them for real satyrs, creatures from mythology. Other monkeys also visited the arena, also as tall as a man - titiruses - with round reddish muzzles and mustaches. Their images can be seen on vases. They were, apparently, orangutans, which were brought from Indonesia. As far as I know, the Romans never exhibited gorillas in circuses, although these largest monkeys in the world were known to the Phoenicians, who gave them the name, meaning "hairy savages."

One rich noble lady, having promised Carpophorus a fantastic sum of money, asked him to bring one of his trained donkeys to her house at night. Carpophorus naturally complied with her request. The lady carefully prepared for the arrival of the donkey. Four eunuchs spread a feather bed covered with Tyrian purple cloth embroidered with gold on the floor, and placed soft pillows at the head of the bed. The lady ordered Carpophorus to bring the donkey to bed, and then rubbed it with balm with her own hands. When the preparations were over, Carpophorus was asked to leave the room and come back the next day. A similar story is described in detail in the book of Apuleius "The Golden Ass".

The lady demanded the donkey's services so often that Carpophorus began to fear that she would exhaust herself and die, but after a few weeks he was already worried only that the lady would exhaust the strength of a valuable animal. However, he made huge money from it.

This barbaric procedure was also used in other countries, as a variant of the brutal torture that often preceded execution. So, in particular, this is what Xu Yingqiu (XIV century - China) writes about the beautiful and cruel Gaoxin, the favorite of Prince Qu. "Diyu and Chaoping (the prince's concubines) were taken to the city square, stripped naked, put on their knees and in this position tied to stakes driven into the ground. Then they began to happen to them with rams, goats and even males, to the considerable pleasure of Gaoxin. Then the concubines were cut in half."

Our contemporaries did not forget about such torture either. So, there is a mention of the release of dogs on bound women, trained to rape the fair sex and the Pinochet secret police and special services of some other Latin American dictatorships.

“Wild people!” - another reader will say. However, I note that representatives of the once highly developed civilizations did not disdain bestiality either: for example, frescoes were found at the excavations of Sodom and Gomorrah, which can be safely called the “Animal Kama Sutra”. during excavations of settlements of other ancient peoples. And what is characteristic: this kind of sexual perversions - unlike the same necrophilia, pedophilia, etc., etc. - has its own “philosophy”, rooted in centuries. Briefly, I will say that it is based on the desire of the ancients to "approach" their totemic ancestors, well, let alone how they "approached" the same "untouchable" cows, horses themselves.The consequences of such intercourses were always sad (see Sodom and Gomorrah), but the phenomenon nevertheless so it remained untouched.

Few people know that in the USSR the first gang of sadistic zoophiles was liquidated back in the mid-70s. The maniacs, who took a fancy to an abandoned dacha near Moscow as a “film studio”, stole not only adult women, but also children, forced them to engage in unnatural acts with dogs, and all this was recorded on film. The technology used was simple: exact **** was applied to the bodies of the victims, after which they lowered a dog, distraught “with passion”, onto them.

In this case, which later became a criminal one, it is worth noting two important facts. Firstly, none of the victims left the "film studio" alive - after the "filming" of all of them, a gang of five people brutally killed them. Secondly, the “zoophiles” themselves were engaged in these abominations, as they say. “for the love of art”: it seemed very unlikely to sell such shootings anywhere in those years. But they got burned on their own greed: the very first contact with a foreign tourist in Moscow, to whom they tried to “sell a movie”, led to the disclosure of the gang. The shocked foreign tourist was not afraid to contact the Soviet police;

This was followed by a closed trial, all five participants were quickly shot. The case itself was buried in the archives and was later voiced only at advanced training courses for the leadership of law enforcement agencies. Moreover, the main emphasis was not on “zoophilic motives”, but on “the penetration of Western agents into the USSR”: at the underground “film studio”, investigators found home-made swastikas and other fascist symbols, linking their presence with the “hand of the West”.

Although the group was quite “local”, and according to some fragments of the investigation materials, it can be understood that 25-year-old Anatoly K. and 30-year-old Boris V., who headed it, were more likely mentally handicapped killers than Western “mercenaries”.

So, if we discard the possibility of using this by various perverts and maniacs, there remains a huge scope for doing this kind of torture of various secret services in various countries. I don't think this torture is a thing of the past. She is too attractive, alkalizing the soul of the executioners, forbidden sweetness.

Torture of the genitals

There is no doubt that the most sensitive places of the human body are the genitals, their rich innervation is due to the need to produce an orgasm, which enhances the procreation reflex. All this was provided by nature even in animals. In humans, all these reflexes were reinforced by a feeling of love. Isn't it strange that those parts of the body that were supposed to give joy from intimacy with a loved one, in someone's perverted brain, began to be used for savage torture.

Most likely, the first step on this terrible path was the invention of this kind of torture for men. We can be convinced of this by the drawings of Ancient Egypt and Assyria, where we see incisions on the penis, squeezing the scrotum, cauterization with a torch. However, the sources of those times did not convey to us such torture of women. Therefore, we begin the story with the torture of men. The simplest and most effective method was a simple beating. It is widespread throughout the world and in our time.

So in ancient Greece, the introduction of a thorny branch into the urethra of interrogated people is described. Speaking about the emperor Domitian, Suetonius in "The Life of 12 Caesars" writes - "to many tortures that existed hitherto, he added one more - he burned people's shameful members with fire." His predecessor Tiberius was no better, whose fierce suspicion became legendary - "intentionally having drunk people with pure wine, then they suddenly bandaged their members and they were exhausted from urinary retention and cutting bandaging."

We have already talked about the breast press, which was used to torture the unfortunate captives. For men, a similar device was made, with which the testicles were slowly crushed. Few people could endure this torture. In one of the inquisitors' manuals, it was said that "with the help of the press in the genital area, you can force a man to confess to any crime." There was a more sophisticated device, nicknamed the "goat", it was a log hewn with a wedge with a perpendicular stand attached to it. The accused was seated astride this projectile, pulled to a vertical stand, so that he leaned on the sloping seat with his groin. The latter was made like a vise, its halves were moved apart, so that the intimate parts of the interrogated person fell there, and then began to slowly move. I was talking about the "Witch Chair", the executioners invented a special version of it for men when they were seated on the seat, where the spikes were fixed in such a way that they pierced the scrotum and penis. Often during interrogation, the executioner simply pressed on the intimate organs of the tortured, stringing them on spikes, trying to achieve a confession.

Just like women, men crushed and cauterized their nipples, hung loads from them. I will not talk about such devices as the "crocodile" and the toothed crusher, specially invented by the executioners of the Inquisition to torture men.

In Stalin's dungeons, torture "to put pressure on the balls" was popular. The man was stripped below the waist, the guards pressed his arms and legs to the floor, spreading them apart, and the investigator with the toe of his boot (or an elegant shoe) pressed on the scrotum, increasing pressure until the person confessed to everything. Ex-Minister of State Security A. Abakumov, giving evidence, said "no one could stand this, it was only necessary not to go too far, otherwise it would be difficult to bring to trial later." Women did not shy away from such activities. The most terrible executioner in the Leningrad NKVD in the 1937-40s was a certain "Sonka the Golden Leg". This pretty 19-year-old girl managed to get the right testimony from anyone. She ordered the prisoner to be crucified naked on the table, tied to his legs and began to press her foot on the genitals. But she did not spare women, girls, if she came across any, regardless of age, she deprived her virginity with a thick iron pin. Interrogating one 18-year-old student of the conservatory, very beautiful, she tied her naked to the waist to a chair, put her breasts on the table board, she herself stood on the table and pressed her sharp heel on her chest, turned one of the nipples into a mess.

The German Gestapo liked to inject acid through a catheter into the bladder of the accused, causing severe pain. In our time, this method has been adopted by the Italian mafia and Arab terrorists.

It was popular and has remained to this day hanging the interrogated by the intimate organs or jerking the rope attached to them. As one of the witnesses against South Africa, heard by the International Tribunal in 1980, described: "... once Major Haas and Lieutenant Stevens tied a copper wire to my genitals, they tied the other end to the doorknob. Stevens lit a blowtorch and held it to my face , I moved away, the wire was taut and I lost consciousness. They poured water over me and everything was repeated several times. Haaz was saying something to me, but I was screaming in pain so much that I didn’t hear anything. "

Now let's move on to the fair sex. The cruelty of the executioners could not be softened not by the age of the accused, nor by female beauty. I have already told in other sections about how interrogators "made happy" women over the past centuries. It talks about a breast press, a breast ripper, a Spanish spider, a Spanish donkey, a Jewish chair, a terrible vaginal pear; about torture, specially invented to inflict pain on the female breast

Knowing perfectly well the most tender places of a woman - her breasts and crotch, the executioners invented more and more new ways to inflict as much suffering on their victim. So there was torture with the phallus or "member of Satan". It was rough, often deliberately studded with sharp edges, spikes or petals, making it look like a bump. The name "member of Satan" came from the medieval superstition of priests that the devil's penis is scaly and causes severe pain during an act of love. So the executioners with force drove this object into the interrogated woman's vagina, roughly jerked it back and forth, twisted it, this brutal instrument, especially if it was dotted with scales that did not allow it to be easily pulled back, tore the walls of the unfortunate vagina to shreds.

The sexual organs of the accused were cauterized with fire, doused with boiling water, as it was said in "exposure to heat and cold." At all times, they liked to burn the nipples of those being interrogated with red-hot iron or fire. Terrible pain forced most people to confess. In the Sudebnik of 1456 it was said, "flog a woman without work, her boobs need to be baked red-hot, then she will tell everything." Like men, women were beaten in the groin, and in Latin American countries, the favorite method of the police is kicking a woman in the lower abdomen.

Such a blow causes bruising of the bladder and involuntary urination. The girl instantly turns from a proud beauty into a frightened, trembling with shame, captive.

In conclusion, we can say that no matter what method the executioners come up with, its essence remains the same, with terrible pain to force them to admit everything they need. One can not even think about the objectivity of such an interrogation.

Like I said, to be continued...

Mood: Sneaky bloody

Music: Cannibal Corps

With the development of civilization, human life has gained value regardless of social status and wealth. It is all the more terrible to read about the black pages of history, when the law did not just deprive a person of life, but turned the execution into a spectacle for the amusement of ordinary people. In other cases, the execution could be of a ritual or instructive nature. Unfortunately, there are similar episodes in modern history. We have compiled a list of the most brutal executions ever practiced by humans.

Executions of the Ancient World

Skafism

The word "skafism" is derived from the ancient Greek word "trough", "boat", and the method itself went down in history thanks to Plutarch, who described the execution of the Greek ruler Mithridates at the behest of Artaxerxes, the king of the ancient Persians.

First, a person was stripped naked and tied inside two dugout boats in such a way that the head, arms and legs remained outside, which were thickly smeared with honey. The victim was then forcibly fed a mixture of milk and honey to induce diarrhea. After that, the boat was lowered into stagnant water - a pond or lake. Lured by the smell of honey and sewage, the insects clung to the human body, slowly devoured the flesh and laid their larvae in the formed gangrenous ulcers. The victim remained alive for up to two weeks. Death came from three factors: infection, exhaustion and dehydration.

Execution by impalement was invented in Assyria (modern Iraq). In this way, residents of rebellious cities and women who had an abortion were punished - then this procedure was considered infanticide.

The execution was carried out in two ways. In one version, the convict was pierced in the chest with a stake, in the other, the tip of the stake passed through the body through the anus. Tormented people were often depicted in bas-reliefs as an edification. Later, this execution began to be used by the peoples of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, as well as by the Slavic peoples and some European ones.

Execution by elephants

This method was used mainly in India and Sri Lanka. Indian elephants lend themselves well to training, which was used by the rulers of Southeast Asia.

There were many ways to kill a person with an elephant. For example, armor with sharp spears was put on the tusks, with which the elephant pierced the criminal and then, still alive, tore it apart. But most often, elephants were trained to press down the convict with their foot and alternately tear off the limbs with their trunk. In India, a guilty person was often simply thrown at the feet of an angry animal. For reference, an Indian elephant weighs about 5 tons.

Tradition to the beasts

Behind the beautiful phrase "Damnatio ad bestias" lies the painful death of thousands of ancient Romans, especially among the early Christians. Although, of course, this method was invented long before the Romans. Usually lions were used for execution, less popular were bears, panthers, leopards and buffaloes.

There were two types of punishment. Often a person sentenced to death was tied to a post in the middle of a gladiatorial arena and wild animals were lowered onto it. There were also variations: they threw it to a cage to a hungry animal or tied it to its back. In another case, the unfortunate was forced to fight against the beast. From the weapons they had a simple spear, and from the "armor" - a tunic. In both cases, many spectators gathered for the execution.

death on the cross

The crucifixion was invented by the Phoenicians, an ancient people of seafarers who lived in the Mediterranean. Later, this method was adopted by the Carthaginians, and then by the Romans. The Israelites and Romans considered death on the cross to be the most shameful, because this was how hardened criminals, slaves and traitors were executed.

Before crucifixion, a person was undressed, leaving only a loincloth. He was beaten with leather whips or freshly cut rods, after which he was forced to carry a cross weighing about 50 kilograms to the place of crucifixion. Having dug a cross into the ground near the road outside the city or on a hill, a person was lifted with ropes and nailed to a horizontal bar. Sometimes the convict's legs were crushed with an iron rod beforehand. Death came from exhaustion, dehydration or pain shock.

After the prohibition of Christianity in feudal Japan in the 17th century. crucifixion was used against visiting missionaries and Japanese Christians. The scene of execution on the cross is present in Martin Scorsese's drama Silence, which tells about this period.

Bamboo execution

The ancient Chinese were champions of sophisticated torture and execution. One of the most exotic methods of killing is the stretching of the culprit over the growing shoots of young bamboo. The sprouts made their way through the human body for several days, causing incredible suffering to the executed.

ling chi

"Ling-chi" is translated into Russian as "bites of the sea pike." There was another name - "death by a thousand cuts." This method was used during the reign of the Qing Dynasty, and high-ranking officials convicted of corruption were executed in this way. Every year, 15-20 people were recruited.

The essence of "ling-chi" is the gradual cutting off of small parts from the body. For example, after cutting off one phalanx of the finger, the executioner cauterized the wound and then proceeded to the next one. How many pieces to cut off from the body, the court determined. The most popular verdict was cutting into 24 parts, and the most notorious criminals were sentenced to 3,000 cuts. In such cases, the victim was given opium to drink: so she did not lose consciousness, but the pain made its way even through the veil of drug intoxication.

Sometimes, as a sign of special mercy, the ruler could order the executioner to first kill the condemned with one blow and torture the corpse already. This method of execution was practiced for 900 years and was banned in 1905.

Executions of the Middle Ages

blood eagle

Historians question the existence of the Blood Eagle execution, but it is mentioned in Scandinavian folklore. This method was used by the inhabitants of the Scandinavian countries in the early Middle Ages.

The harsh Vikings killed their enemies as painfully and symbolically as possible. The man's hands were tied and laid on his stomach on a stump. The skin on the back was carefully cut with a sharp blade, then the ribs were pryed with an ax, breaking them out in a shape resembling eagle wings. After that, the lungs were removed from the still living victim and hung on the ribs.

This execution is shown twice in the Vikings series with Travis Fimmel (in episode 7 of season 2 and episode 18 of season 4), although the audience noted the contradictions between the serial execution and the one described in the Elder Edda folklore.

"Bloody Eagle" in the series "Vikings"

Tearing by trees

Such an execution was widespread in many regions of the world, including in Russia in the pre-Christian period. The victim was tied by the legs to two inclined trees, which were then abruptly released. One of the legends says that Prince Igor was killed by the Drevlyans in 945 - because he wanted to collect tribute from them twice.

Quartering

The method was used as in medieval Europe. Each limb was tied to horses - the animals tore the sentenced into 4 parts. In Russia, they also practiced quartering, but this word meant a completely different execution - the executioner alternately chopped off his legs with an ax, then his hands, and then his head.

wheeling

Wheeling as a form of the death penalty was widely used in France and Germany during the Middle Ages. In Russia, this type of execution is also known at a later time - from the 17th to the 19th centuries. The essence of the punishment was that at first the guilty person was tied to the wheel, facing the sky, fixing his arms and legs on the knitting needles. After that, his limbs were broken and in this form they were left to die in the sun.

Flaying

Flaying, or skinning, was invented in Assyria, then passed to Persia and spread throughout the ancient world. In the Middle Ages, the Inquisition improved this type of execution - with the help of a device called the "Spanish tickler", a person's skin was torn into small pieces, which were not difficult to tear off.

Welded alive

This execution was also invented in antiquity and received a second wind in the Middle Ages. So they executed mostly counterfeiters. A person convicted of counterfeiting money was thrown into a cauldron of boiling water, tar or oil. This variety was quite humane - the offender quickly died from pain shock. More sophisticated executioners put the condemned man in a cauldron of cold water, which was heated gradually, or slowly lowered him into boiling water, starting with his feet. The welded muscles of the legs were moving away from the bones, and the man was still alive.
This execution is also practiced by the extremists of the East. According to Saddam Hussein's former bodyguard, he witnessed an acid execution: first, the victim's legs were lowered into a pool filled with caustic substance, and then they were thrown entirely. And in 2016, ISIS militants dissolved 25 people in a cauldron of acid.

cement boots

This method is well known to many of our gangster movie readers. Indeed, they killed their enemies and traitors with such a cruel method during the mafia wars in Chicago. The victim was tied to a chair, then a basin filled with liquid cement was placed under his feet. And when it froze, the person was taken to the nearest reservoir and thrown off the boat. Cement boots instantly dragged him to the bottom to feed the fish.

Flights of death

In 1976, General Jorge Videla came to power in Argentina. He led the country for only 5 years, but remained in history as one of the most terrible dictators of our time. Among other atrocities of Videla are the so-called "death flights".

A person who opposed the tyrant's regime was drugged with barbiturates and unconsciously carried on board the plane, then thrown down - certainly into the water.

We also invite you to read about the most mysterious deaths in history.
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Long history has shown that the most cruel creatures in the world are people. A vivid confirmation of this is the various methods of torture, with the help of which they found out truthful information from a person or forced him to make the necessary confession. It is hard to imagine what kind of torment the poor fellow had to endure, to whom the most terrible tortures were applied. Such methods of inquiry were especially popular during the Middle Ages, when the inquisitors tortured the victims, proving that they were in the service of the devil or engaged in witchcraft. But in subsequent times, various tortures were often used, especially during interrogations of military prisoners or spies.

The most terrible torture

Particularly sophisticated torture was invented by the servants of the holy department of investigations of sinfulness, called the Inquisition. People who survived this kind of interrogation often died or remained disabled for life.

Unbearable pain had to be experienced by a person who got into a witch's chair. This instrument of torture forced anyone to confess to all the sins attributed to him. There were sharp spikes on the seat of the device, its back and armrests, which, piercing into the body, made a person suffer greatly. The unfortunate was tied to a chair, and he involuntarily sat on the spikes. He had to endure unbearable torments that forced him to confess to all the charges incriminated to him.

No less terrible was the torture called the rack. It has been used in different ways:

• a person was placed on a special device, his limbs were stretched in opposite directions and fixed on the frame;
• the poor fellow was hung up, and by the hands, and heavy loads were tied to the legs;
• the person was placed horizontally, stretched, sometimes even with the help of horses.

If the martyr did not confess to his crimes, he was stretched to such an extent that the limbs practically came off, causing incredible suffering.

Quite often in the Middle Ages they resorted to torture by fire. To make a person suffer for a long time and confess his sins, he was placed on a metal grill and tied. The device was suspended, and a fire was made under it. After such torment, the poor fellow confessed to all the charges against him.

The worst torture for women

It is known that during the time of the Inquisition, many women were exterminated, who were suspected of witchcraft. They were not only executed with unimaginably terrible methods, but also tortured with various terrible tools. Quite often, chest breakers were used. The tool resembled pincers with sharp teeth that heated and tore the mammary glands apart with them.

A pear was a no less terrible instrument of torture. This device was inserted into the mouth or intimate openings in a closed form and opened with a screw. Sharp teeth on such a device severely injured the internal organs. Such torture was also used during interrogations of men suspected of being gay. After her, people died quite often. Severe bleeding or illness resulted in a fatal outcome, since the instrument was not disinfected.

The real torture can be considered an ancient African rite applied to girls who have reached the age of three. Children without any anesthesia scraped out the external intimate organs. Childbearing functions after such a procedure were preserved, but women did not experience sexual attraction, which made them faithful wives. This ritual has been carried out for many centuries.

The most brutal torture for men

The torture invented for men is not inferior in its cruelty. Even the ancient Scythians resorted to castration. To do this, they even had special devices called sickles. Such torture was often subjected to men who were captured. Often the procedure was performed by women who fought alongside men.

No less terrible was the torture in which the male genital organ was torn with red-hot tongs. The unfortunate man had no choice but to confess all his sins or to tell the truth required of him. Such torture was also entrusted to especially cruel women.

Unbearable pain was delivered by torture with a reed dotted with small thorns. It was inserted into the male genital organ and rotated until the tortured person gave out the necessary information. The thorns practically tore the inner flesh of the male organ, causing unbearable suffering. After such torture, it was very difficult for a person to urinate. Such torture was used by American and African Indians.

Nazi torture

The Nazis were especially cruel during interrogations during the Second World War. The Gestapo's favorite method was pulling out nails. The victim's fingers were clamped with a special device, and the nails were torn off one by one until the person laid out the necessary information. Often, with the help of such torture, people were forced to confess to something they did not commit.

Very often, in specially equipped rooms in concentration camps, prisoners suspected of espionage were hung by the hands or tied to some object, after which they were brutally beaten with chains. Such blows caused multiple fractures and injuries, often incompatible with life.

Very often the Nazis used water torture. The victim was placed in a very cold room and fixed in a certain position. A container of ice water was placed over the poor man's head. Drops fell on the sufferer's head, which after a while even led to a loss of reason.

Modern terrible torture

Despite the fact that modern society is considered humane, torture has not lost its relevance. Experienced interrogators use the most brutal methods to extract the necessary information from the suspect. Electric torture is very common. Wires are brought to the human body and discharges are launched, increasing their power.

Water torture, often used in the Middle Ages, is still used today. A person's face is covered with some kind of cloth and liquid is poured into the mouth. If the poor fellow began to choke, the torment stopped for a while. Particularly stubborn suspects were then beaten on their belly, swollen from a large volume of water, which caused severe pain and caused damage to internal organs.

2. Hand saw
There is nothing to say about her, except that she caused death even worse than death at the stake.
The gun was operated by two men who were sawing the condemned man suspended upside down with his legs tied to two supports. The position itself, which causes blood flow to the brain, forced the victim to experience unheard of torment for a long time. This tool was used as a punishment for various
crimes, but it was especially used against homosexuals and witches. It seems to us that this remedy was widely used by French judges in relation to witches who became pregnant from the "devil of nightmares" or even from Satan himself.

3. Throne
This instrument was created as a chair-shaped pillory, and sarcastically named the Throne. The victim was placed upside down, and her legs were strengthened with wooden blocks. Such torture was popular among judges who wanted to follow the letter of the law. In fact, the law governing the use of torture only allowed the Throne to be used once during an interrogation. But most of the judges circumvented this rule by simply calling the next session a continuation of the same first one. The use of the Throne allowed it to be declared as one session, even if it lasted 10 days. Since the use of the Throne did not leave permanent marks on the body of the victim, it was very suitable for long-term use. It should be noted that simultaneously with this torture, the prisoners were also “used” with water and a red-hot iron.

4. Janitor's daughter or Stork
The use of the term "stork" is attributed to the Roman Court of the Holy Inquisition in the period from the second half of the 16th century. until around 1650. Same name for this
the instrument of torture was given to L.A. Muratori in his Italian Chronicles (1749). The origin of the even stranger name "Janitor's Daughter" is unknown, but it is given
by analogy with the name of an identical fixture in the Tower of London. Whatever the origin of the name, this weapon is a great example of the vast variety of enforcement systems that were used during the Inquisition. The position of the victim was carefully considered. Within a few minutes, this position of the body led to severe muscle spasm in the abdomen and anus. Further, the spasm began to spread to the chest, neck, arms and legs, becoming
more and more painful, especially at the site of the initial spasm. After some time, tied to the Stork, he passed from a simple
experiences of torment to a state of complete insanity. Often, while the victim was tormented in this terrible position, he was additionally tortured with a red-hot iron and
in other ways. The iron fetters cut into the victim's flesh and caused gangrene and sometimes death.

5. Witch Chair
The chair of the Inquisition, known as the witch's chair, was highly valued as a good remedy against silent women accused of witchcraft.
This common instrument was especially widely used by the Austrian Inquisition. The chairs were of various sizes and shapes, all fitted with
with spikes, with handcuffs, blocks for fixing the victim and, most often, with iron seats, which, if necessary, could be heated. We have found evidence of the use of this weapon for slow killing. In 1693, in the Austrian city of Gutenberg, Judge Wolf von Lampertisch led a trial on charges of witchcraft, Maria Vukinets, 57 years old. She was put on a witch's chair for eleven days and nights, while the executioners burned her legs with a red-hot iron.
(insletrlaster). Maria Vukinets died under torture, having gone mad with pain, but without confessing to the crime.

6. Common stake
The application technology is clear and without comment.

7. Rack-suspension
This is by far the most common cap, and was often used in court proceedings in the beginning as it was considered an easy form of torture. Hands of the accused.
tied behind their backs, and the other end of the rope was thrown over the winch ring. The victim was either left in this position, or the rope was pulled strongly and continuously.
Often, an additional weight was tied to the notes of the victim, and the body was torn with tongs, such as, for example, "witch spider" to make the torture less gentle. The judges thought that the witches knew many ways of sorcery that allowed them to endure torture in peace, so it was not always possible to obtain a confession. We can refer to a series of trials in Munich at the beginning of the 17th century against eleven people. Six of them were constantly tortured with an iron boot, one of the women was dismembered in the chest, the next five were wheeled, and one was impaled. They, in turn, denounced twenty-one more people, who were immediately interrogated in Tetenwang. Among the new accused was one very respected family. The father died in prison, the mother, after being put on the rack eleven times, confessed to everything she was accused of. The daughter, Agnes, twenty-one years old, stoically endured the ordeal on the rack with extra weight, but did not admit her guilt, and only spoke of forgiving her executioners and accusers. Only after a few days of incessant
tests in the torture chamber, she was told of her mother's full confession. After attempting suicide, she confessed to all heinous crimes, including cohabiting with the Devil since the age of eight, devouring the hearts of thirty people, participating in sabbats, calling ouryu and denying the Lord. Mother and daughter were sentenced to be burned at the stake.

8. Vigil or Guarding the Cradle.
According to the inventor, Ippolito Marsili, the introduction of the Vigil was a watershed in the history of torture. The current confession system does not involve inflicting bodily harm. There are no broken vertebrae, twisted ankles, or crushed joints; the only substance that suffers is the victim's nerves. The idea behind the torture was to keep the victim awake for as long as possible, a kind of insomnia torture. "Vigil", which was not originally seen as cruel torture, took on various forms during the Inquisition, as, for example, in the picture. The victim was raised to the top of the pyramid and then gradually lowered. The top of the pyramid was supposed to penetrate into the anus, testicles or calf, and if a woman was tortured, then the vagina. The pain was so severe that the defendant often lost consciousness. If this happened, the procedure was delayed until the victim awoke. In Germany, "torture by vigil" was called "guarding the cradle."

9. Brazier.
In the past, there was no Amnesty International association, no one intervened in the affairs of justice and did not protect those who fell into its clutches. The executioners were free to choose any, from their point of view, suitable means for obtaining confessions. Often they also used a brazier.
The victim was tied to the bars and then "roasted" until they received sincere repentance and confession, which led to the discovery of new criminals. And life went on.

10. Water torture.
In order to best perform the procedure of this torture, the accused was placed on one of the varieties of the rack or on a special large table.
with a rising middle part. After the victim's hands and feet were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner went to work in one of several ways. One of these
methods consisted in the fact that the victim was forced to swallow a large amount of water with a funnel, then they were beaten on the inflated and arched stomach. Another form
It involved placing a rag tube down the victim's throat, through which water was slowly poured in, which led to swelling and suffocation of the victim. If that wasn't enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then reinserted, and the process repeated. Sometimes cold water torture was used. In this case, the accused lay naked on the table for hours under a jet of icy water. It is interesting to note that this kind of torture was regarded as light, and confessions obtained in this way were accepted by the court as voluntary and given to the defendants without the use of torture.

11. Nuremberg Maiden.
The idea to mechanize torture was born in Germany and nothing can be done about the fact that the Nuremberg maiden has such an origin. She got her name from her appearance
resemblance to a Bavarian girl, and also because her prototype was created and first used in the dungeon of a secret court in Nuremberg. The accused was placed in a sarcophagus, where the body of the unfortunate person was pierced with sharp spikes, located so that none of the vital organs was hurt, and the agony lasted for quite a long time. The first case of trial using the "Virgin" is dated 1515. It was described in detail by Gustav Freitag in his book "bilder aus der deutschen vergangenheit". The punishment befell the perpetrator of the forgery, who suffered for three days inside the sarcophagus.

12. Wheeling.
A very popular system, both torture and execution, was used only when accused of witchcraft. Usually the procedure was divided into two phases, both of which are quite painful. The first consisted in breaking most of the bones and joints with the help of a small wheel, called the crushing wheel, and equipped on the outside with many spikes. The second was designed in case of execution. It was assumed that the victim, broken and crippled in this way, literally, like a rope, would slip between the spokes of the wheel onto a long pole, where he would remain to await death. A popular version of this execution combined wheeling and burning at the stake - in this case, death came quickly. The procedure was described in the materials of one of the trials in Tyrol. In 1614, a vagabond named Wolfgang Selweiser from Gastein, found guilty of intercourse with the devil and causing a storm, was sentenced by the Leinz court to be both wheeled and burned at the stake.

13. Press for limbs.

14. Press for the skull.
This medieval device, it should be noted, was highly valued, especially in northern Germany. Its function was quite simple: the victim's chin was placed on a wooden or iron support, and the lid of the device was screwed onto the victim's head.
First, the teeth and jaws were crushed, then, as the pressure increased, the brain tissue began to flow out of the skull. Over time, this tool has lost its significance as a murder weapon and has become widespread as an instrument of torture.
In some Latin American countries, a very similar device is still used today. Despite the fact that both the lid of the device and the bottom support are lined with a soft material that does not leave any marks on the victim, the device brings the prisoner into a state of "cooperation" after only a few turns of the screw.

15. Impaling.
Impaling, one of the most brutal and barbaric methods of execution, is probably of Assyro-Babylonian origin. Widespread in the Middle East,
the execution was used during the wars of the Ottoman Empire with the infidels” against those convicted of illegal possession of weapons. The condemned were stripped naked, and then
planted on thin pointed stakes. Displayed at the walls of the fortress, the executed died painfully, sometimes for several days. This was to intimidate the besieged. Impalement was especially widely used by Vlad Tepets (the famous Count Dracula), who executed thousands of Turks after winning the battle for Wallachia.

16. Pillory.
The pillory has been a widespread method of punishment at all times and in every social system. The condemned was placed at the pillory on
certain time, from several hours to several days. The bad weather that fell during the period of punishment aggravated the situation of the victim and increased the torment, which was probably regarded as "divine retribution." The pillory, on the one hand, could be considered a relatively mild method of punishment, in which the guilty were simply exposed in a public place for general ridicule. On the other hand, those chained to the pillory were completely defenseless before the "court of the people": anyone could insult them with a word or action, spit at them or throw a stone - such treatment, which could be caused by popular indignation or personal enmity, sometimes led to mutilation or even the death of the convicted person.

17. Violin gossip.
It could be wooden or iron, for one or two women. It was an instrument of soft torture, possessing rather a psychological and symbolic
value. There is no documented evidence that the use of this device resulted in physical injury. It was applied mainly to those guilty of slander or insulting a person, the gooks and neck of the victim were fixed in small holes, so that the punished woman found herself in a prayer pose. One can imagine the victim's suffering from circulatory problems and pain in the elbows when the device was worn for long periods, sometimes for several days.

18. Prayer cross.
A brutal instrument used to immobilize a criminal in a cruciform position. It is credible that the Cross was invented in Austria in the 16th and 17th centuries. This follows from the book "Justice in Old Times" from the collection of the Museum of Justice in Rottenburg ob der Tauber (Germany). A very similar model, which was in the castle tower in Salzburg (Austria), is mentioned in one of the most detailed descriptions.

19. Rack.
This is one of the most common instruments of torture found in historical descriptions.
The rack was used throughout Europe. Usually this tool was a large table with or without legs, on which the convict was forced to lie down, and his legs and arms were fixed with wooden dies. Immobilized in this way, the victim was "stretched", causing her unbearable pain, often until the muscles were torn. The rotating drum for tensioning chains was not used in all versions of the rack, but only in the most ingenious "modernized" models. The executioner could cut the victim's muscles to hasten the final tearing of the tissues. The body of the victim was stretched over 30 cm before rupturing. Sometimes the victim was tied tightly to the rack to make it easier to use other methods of torture, such as pinching the nipples and other sensitive parts of the body, cauterization with a red-hot iron, etc.

20. Rack.
Design element.

21. Garrote.
This execution tool was used in Spain until recently. The last officially recorded execution using garrote was carried out in 1975. The suicide bomber was seated on a chair with his hands tied behind his back, an iron collar rigidly fixed the position of his head. In the process of execution, the executioner twisted the screw, and the iron wedge slowly entered the skull of the condemned, leading to his death. Another version, more common in recent times, is strangulation with a metal wire. This method of execution is often shown in feature films, especially in films about espionage.

22. Neck traps.
The weapons used by police officers and guards in prisons have specific functions - to exercise control and repression against unarmed prisoners. Of particular interest is the neck trap - a ring with nails on the inside and with a device resembling a trap on the outside. Any prisoner who tried to hide in the crowd could be easily stopped using this device. After being caught by the neck, he could no longer free himself, and he was forced to follow the overseer without fear that he would resist.
Such tools are still used in some countries, and in most cases they are equipped with an electroshock device.

23. Iron gag.
The instrument was used to stop the piercing screams of the victim, which bothered the Inquisitors and interfered with their conversation with each other. Iron Pipe
inside the ring was tightly thrust into the throat of the victim, and the collar was locked with a bolt at the back of the head. The hole allowed air to pass through, but if desired, it could be plugged with a finger and cause suffocation. This device was often applied to those condemned to be burned at the stake, especially at the great public ceremony called the Auto-da-fé, when heretics were burned by the dozen. The iron gag made it possible to avoid the situation when the convicts drown out the spiritual music with their cries. Giordano Bruno, guilty of being too progressive, was burned to death in Rome in Campo dei Fiori in 1600 with an iron gag in his mouth. The gag was equipped with two spikes, one of which, piercing the tongue, came out under the chin, and the second crushed the sky.

24. Breast Ripper. No comment.