RMT9652M–Medieval and early modern European courts used torture, depending on the crime of the accused and his or her social status. Torture was deemed a legitimate means to extract confessions or to obtain the names of accomplices or other information about a crime, although many confessions were greatly invalid due to the victim being forced to confess under great agony and pressure. It was permitted by law only if there was already half-proof against the accused.
RMT95484–A man tied to a rack has his armpits and the soles of his feet scorched by candles. Medieval and early modern European courts used torture, depending on the crime of the accused and his or her social status. Torture was deemed a legitimate means to extract confessions or other information about a crime, although many confessions were greatly invalid due to the victim being forced to confess under great agony and pressure.
RMT965CP–The thumbscrew is a torture instrument which was first used in medieval Europe. It is a simple vice, sometimes with protruding studs on the interior surfaces. The victim's thumbs or fingers were placed in the vice and slowly crushed. The thumbscrew was also applied to crush prisoners' big toes. The crushing bars were sometimes lined with sharp metal points to puncture the thumbs and inflict greater pain in the nail beds. Larger, heavier devices based on the same design principle were applied to crush feet and ears.
RMT9548B–Various forms of mutilation and torture including scourging, beheading, burning, hanging, drowning, quartering, the cutting off of hands and ears, and the breaking on the rack. Medieval and early modern European courts used torture, depending on the crime of the accused and his or her social status.
RMT965G6–Entitled: 'Reatus diverse, acriterg July Cesaris imperatoris justitia torquet' (A torture chamber in the reign of Julius Caesar). Eight men shackled in a dungeon; two others peer out a bar-covered window at the end of the room to converse with someone outside. There is not much information about the exact methods employed in Roman torture sessions. The artist took liberty in his interpretation as the strappado method is a medieval method. Romans did not use prisons as do we.
RMT96534–The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one or both ends. The victim's ankles are fastened to one roller and the wrists are chained to the other. As the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet mechanism attached to the top roller are used to very gradually increase the tension on the chains, inducing excruciating pain.
RMT9652T–The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one or both ends. The victim's ankles are fastened to one roller and the wrists are chained to the other. As the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet mechanism attached to the top roller are used to very gradually increase the tension on the chains, inducing excruciating pain.
RMT9653A–The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one or both ends. The victim's ankles are fastened to one roller and the wrists are chained to the other. As the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet mechanism attached to the top roller are used to very gradually increase the tension on the chains, inducing excruciating pain.
RMT9652J–The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam.
RMT9547P–A torture chamber of the Inquisition. Priest supervising his scribe while men and women are suspended from pulleys, tortured on the rack or burnt with torches. The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the government system of the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy. It started in 12th century France to combat religious sectarianism, in particular the Cathars and the Waldensians.
RMT9653X–The term boot refers to a family of instruments of torture and interrogation variously designed to cause crushing injuries to the foot and/or leg. The boot has taken many forms in various places and times. Common varieties include the Spanish boot (sometimes referred to as scarpines) and the Malay boot. One type was made of four pieces of narrow wooden board nailed together. The boards were measured to fit the victim's leg.
RMT9658N–The term boot refers to a family of instruments of torture and interrogation variously designed to cause crushing injuries to the foot and/or leg. The boot has taken many forms in various places and times. Common varieties include the Spanish boot (sometimes referred to as scarpines) and the Malay boot. One type was made of four pieces of narrow wooden board nailed together. The boards were measured to fit the victim's leg.
RMT9544P–German postcard depicting medieval punishment 0f the ducking-stool on a baker accused of making his loaves too small. Ducking stools were chairs formerly used for punishment of disorderly women, scolds, and dishonest tradesmen. An instrument of public humiliation and censure. Ernest Nister (1841-1906) was a publisher and printer of movable books for children and paper ephemera such as greeting cards, post cards, and calendars.
RMT9652D–Torturing of Jews in Granada accused by the inquisition as heretics and perpetrators of black magic. Amputation and tissue removal have long been used as forms of torture. Torturers commonly remove fingernails, teeth and digits from victims, but any body part could be a target. The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I.
RMT9545F–German postcard depicting medieval punishment quarrelsome women. The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse. The pillory is related to the stocks. Ernest Nister (1841-1906) was a publisher and printer of movable books for children and paper ephemera such as greeting cards, post cards, and calendars.
RMT95456–German postcard depicting medieval punishment for drunkeness or debauchery. A Drunkard's cloak was a type of pillory used in various jurisdictions to punish miscreants. The drunkard's cloak was actually a barrel, into the top of which a hole was made for the head to pass through. Two smaller holes in the sides were cut for the arms. Once suitably attired, the miscreant was paraded through the town, effectively pilloried.
RMT9547W–An Inquisition torture chamber where one victim is tied up and suspended from a pulley while being interrogated by two scribes, while another victim is suspended from the ceiling and lowered onto a spike with his rectum. The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the government system of the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy. It started in 12th century France to combat religious sectarianism, in particular the Cathars and the Waldensians.
RMT95462–German postcard depicting medieval punishment for a card cheat. Public humiliation is the dishonoring showcase of a person, usually an offender or a prisoner, especially in a public place. It was regularly used as a form of punishment in former times, and is still practiced by different means in the modern era. Ernest Nister (1841-1906) was a publisher and printer of movable books for children and paper ephemera such as greeting cards, post cards, and calendars.
RMT9545W–German postcard depicting medieval punishment for bad musicianship. A shame flute for a bad musician. Ernest Nister (1841-1906) was a publisher and printer of movable books for children and paper ephemera such as greeting cards, post cards, and calendars. He refined the techniques used in the design of magic windows, dissolving picture, and pop-up books, publishing them from his firm based in Nuremberg, a toy-making center of the 19th century. Reprinting, Nuremberg, 1910.
RMT9652H–Protestants and Jews accused of heresy and witchcraft being burned alive. The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam.
RMT965A0–Two Dominican monks burned at the stake by order of the Inquisition for allegedly signing pacts with the devil. The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control. The Inquisition was originally intended primarily to ensure the orthodoxy of those who converted from Judaism and Islam.
RMT9544K–Bas-relief of execution by elephant at Preah Khan (Royal Sword) a temple at Angkor, Cambodia, built in the 12th century. Execution by elephant was a common method of capital punishment in South and Southeast Asia, particularly in India, where Asian elephants were used to crush, dismember, or torture captives in public executions. The animals were trained and versatile, able to kill victims immediately or to torture them slowly over a prolonged period.
RMT96528–The term 'death by sawing' indicates the act of sawing a living person in half. Most often the victim was suspended upside down, most of the blood will go to the head. The torturers would saw into the victim's crotch, all of the blood in the head will oxygenate the brain so that the victim will not pass out as one normally would under such excruciating pain. Typically, the saw would reach the victim's navel before unconsciousness would take hold, sometimes as far as the midriff.
RMT9652R–Victims were drowned in rivers, lakes and village pons, in boast and barrels, and even in bowls and saucepans. Sometimes he or she was tied up in a sack with a dozen cats. Trial by ordeal was an ancient judicial practice by which the guilt or innocence of the accused was determined by subjecting them to a painful, or at least an unpleasant, usually dangerous experience. The test was one of life or death and the proof of innocence was survival.
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