Torture: the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something, or for the pleasure of the person inflicting the pain.
Some would say that people are inherently good. Even so, we have managed to come up with some creative ways of torturing one another. Here are 10 of the most heinous torture devices.
1: The Saw
Perhaps one of the most brutal and unforgiving torture methods was The Saw. Used to extract information, a person would be tied up or hung upside down, legs spread apart. The saw would be placed between the victims legs, and if they didn’t talk, the torturer would begin to cut.
More often than not, the intended target would not be the one to be tortured. Instead, a loved one would be subjected to the torture until a confession was received. If the person didn’t talk, then the saw would cut down until the victim was eventually cut in half. Most victims, however, did not get cut past their abdomen.
This method of torture was quite popular during the Inquisition, when inquisitors would travel from village to village, and could simply use the tools on site at their disposal.
2: Brazen Bull
Said to have been built by Perilaus, a sculptor for tyrant Phalaris of Agrigentum, the Brazen Bull appears to be little more than a brass statue of a bull. But this was not just some statue. It was hollow inside and affixed with pipes and whistles, and a door to get inside. Below the bull, a hot, roaring fire. This device was meant for 1 purpose – torture, and who better to test it out, than Perilaus himself. Phalaris, whether amused or not, opted to give it a go by placing his sculptor inside. There, the bull heated up, slowly roasting the man alive. His screams converted to the sounds of a grunting bull by the pipes and whistles. Moving and thrashing about did no good, instead just made the bull more “life-like” to the onlookers.
The benefit of the Brazen Bull was that it gave the torturer distance from their heinous act. They didn’t have to face their victim as they died a horrendous death.
3: Rat Torture
A method of torture, popular in movies, television, and books is the historic rat torture. A rat would be kept secure in a bucket or cage and placed on the belly of the victim. Then, heat is applied to the top of the rats vessel, leaving it nowhere to retreat, but down. It scratches, digs, tears, and burrows down through the victim’s abdomen. Interesting enough, you can still find this sort of torture happening in the real world today.
4: Breast Ripper
Oddly enough, women held a special place in the heart of the torturer. This was not a good thing, rather this meant that some of the most creative and painful methods were reserved for women. One example is the Breast Ripper, also known as the Iron Spider. This device looks like a set of metal tongs, with meat forks on the end. These “forks” pointed inward and were heated up to a very high temperature before being used to squeeze and rip apart a woman’s breast. This method of torture was intended to leave a woman disfigured and unattractive to other men.
Another torture device similar to the Breast Ripper was the Spider, which attached to a wall. The woman’s breasts were then attached to it and she was slowly pulled away until her breasts were ripped apart and she was left disfigured.
These torture methods were reserved for women who committed adultery, or performed an abortion. Sometimes, they even used them on those who were convicted of other crimes including heresy.
5: Judas Cradle
Used to acquire vital information, the Judas Cradle was favored for its ability to humiliate the victim. The device was simple; a tall, thin, stool with a metal or wooden pyramid on top. The victim would be stripped down naked then bound with ropes. They would be lowered, very slowly, onto the device, where the pyramid would then enter the vagina or anus. Any movement by the victim would cause an increasing amount of pain.
As is, the device was painful, but refuse to talk, and the torturer would rock the victim back and forth, or lift them and drop them down repeatedly onto the device. It was common for them to move the victims legs, forcing the tip of the Judas Cradle to protrude in different ways. Weights could also be strapped to the victims legs, increasing the downward pressure.
Torture would range from several hours to several days, and to make matters worse, the Judas Cradle was rarely, if ever, cleaned, meaning that if the victim did not die from wounds inflicted by the device itself, they would almost certainly die from infection. You can read more about it here.
6: Wooden Horse
The Wooden Horse, much like the Judas Cradle, used the victims weight against them. It consisted of a triangular shaped piece of wood with sharpened edges, placed over a sawhorse-like support. A victim would be restrained and forced to straddle the “horse,” causing pain and damage to the groin area. Often weights were added to the ankle of the victim.
While this device was primarily intended for women, it was also used on men. This device was also used during the American Civil war by Union guards against their confederate prisoners.
“There were some of our poor boys, for little infraction of the prison rules, riding what they called Morgan’s mule every day. That was one mule that did the worst standing stock still. He was built after the pattern of those used by the carpenters. He was about fifteen feet high; the legs were nailed to the scantling so one of the sharp edges was turned up, which made it very painful and uncomfortable to the poor fellow especially when he had to be ridden bareback, sometimes with heavy weights fastened to his feet and sometimes with a large beef bone in each hand. This performance was carried on under the eyes of a guard with a loaded gun, and was kept up for several days; each ride lasting two hours each day unless the fellow fainted and fell off from pain and exhaustion. Very few were able to walk after this hellish Yankee torture but had to be supported to their barracks.” — Milton Asbury Ryan, Co. G, 8th MS Regiment
7: Iron Maiden
The Iron Maiden, also the name of a popular English heavy metal band, is a fairly well known torture device. Believed to have originally been created sometime around the 14th century in Nuremberg Germany, the Iron Maiden is an upright sarcophagus with a hinged door with small spikes that protruded from the back and the door, strategically placed to pierce the eyes and other vital organs, but not long enough to cause instant death.
The goal of the Iron Maiden was mostly to evoke fear in those who were threatened with being placed inside. It was often designed to look like a woman on the outside; some were even made to resemble the Virgin Mary. The device may even still be used in some parts of the world. TIME World News, who reported on Saturday April 19, 2003, that an Iron Maiden was found in the Iraqi National Olympic Committee compound in Baghdad. Uday Saddam Hussein was head of the committee and reportedly oversaw the torture of Iraqi athletes who had not performed as was expected. You can read more about it here.
8: Head Crusher
Another popular tool of the Inquisition is the Head Crusher. Much as it sounds, the purpose of this device was to crush the head of its victim. The victim would have their chin placed under a cap, and their chin just over a metal bar. A screw from above would slowly be turned, pressing the bar against the cap. A great way to get a confession, this method would first shatter teeth, break jaws, even cause eyes to pop out of their sockets (in many cases, a small container was kept in front of the eyes to catch, just in case.).
Torture would be carried out slowly, usually over several hours. If, for whatever reason, the torture would end before the victim was dead, they would be left with irrepariable damage to their jaw,, eyes, and even brain.
9: Heretic’s Fork
Appreciated for its simplicity, the Heretic’s Fork was little more than an iron rod, forked on both ends, with a buckle in the middle. The for would be placed between the victims breastbone and throat, just below the chin, and secured around the neck with a leather belt. The victim wouldn’t be allowed to lie down or rest, instead always suspended in an upright position, else the fork would pierce the throat or chest. They wouldn’t be able to sleep, or speak, and after days would be so exhausted they would say anything to make it stop. Used especially during the Inquisition, this device was a popular method of extracting confessions from blasphemers, liars, and others.
10: Iron Chair
The Iron Chair was not at all like the coveted Iron Throne (Game of Thrones). No, this chair was used as a means to obtain a confession – and not from the one being tortured. A person would be forced to witness a loved one be tortured in the iron chair until they couldn’t take it any longer and confessed.
The Iron Chair was lined with hundreds of sharp spikes, which would cover the back, seat, armrests, leg rests and foot rests. The number of spikes in a chair would range anywhere from 500 – 1,500. Some versions of the chair even had spikes on the headrest, and the torturer would push the victim’s head against it. The victim, seated on the chair, would be restrained by straps or two bars that would push their arms against the arm rests. Some versions of the chair contained holes in the seat, allowing the torturer to light a fire beneath it, slowly roasting the victim alive. In all cases, the torturer would progressively tighten the restraints, forcing the spikes deep into the flesh of the victim. Sometimes weights would be placed on the victim’s thighs or feet. Torture could go on for hours, sometimes days. The good news was, spikes did not penetrate vital organs and blood loss was minimal until they stood up, when the wounds would be fully opened and the victim often bled to death. You can read more about it here.
