7 brutal torture devices from the Dark Ages

While capital punishment remains legal in at least eight countries, the leaders of these nations, to the best of our knowledge, do not resort to methods such as burying people alive or crushing their heads under an elephant's feet.

However, there was nothing to prevent rulers (or others) in the Middle Ages from torturing offenders to death or until they confessed, or from using specially designed torture machines for this purpose. 

Below is a compilation of seven of the most gruesome torture devices from that era, listed in no particular order.

1. Thumbscrew

This torture device was available in various forms and configurations, capable of being applied to a thumb, a toe, or multiple fingers. It was mainly used to make a person confess to something or perhaps to reveal secret information. 

The torturer would put the victim's thumb or toe in the center of the device, which had a long screw and a metal plate. 

When they tightened the screw, the victim’s thumb would first experience pressure on the nails, and then it would be crushed, causing bleeding, muscle and bone damage, and a lot of pain.

Some variants of the device came equipped with sharp, pointed structures on the metal plate that punctured the nails and their adjoining skin before crushing the digits, thereby intensifying the pain a victim experienced.

Interestingly, the thumbscrew is often thought of as a Medieval device, but it is actually from the early modern period. There are different theories regarding the origin of the thumbscrew. Some historians believe that this device was developed by the Russian army sometime in the 16th century to punish soldiers who didn't follow orders and were undisciplined.

Another early mention of the thumbscrew was in Scotland in 1596, when it was used to punish the seven-year-old daughter of Allison Balfour, an inhabitant of the Orkney Islands who was sentenced to death after being accused of witchcraft in the witch trials of 1594. 

2. The Wheel

Different methods of wheel-based torture co-existed during the Medieval times. One of them involved tying a man to a wheel, breaking his limbs, and then rolling the wheel down a hillside with an uneven surface containing rocks and thorny bushes. 

By the time the wheel reached the bottom of the hill, the victim of the torture had either died or was about to die due to bleeding and severe injuries. Sometimes, this process was repeated daily for the same person until they succumbed to death.

Moreover, the torturers often used wheels with metal spikes or blade-like structures on their rims, making the punishment more painful.

In the 4th century, Saint Catherine of Alexandria was famously tortured on a wheel by Emperor Maxentius for refusing to renounce her Christian faith, leading to the device sometimes being called a 'Catherine Wheel'.

In 2019, a team of researchers discovered the skeleton of a person in Italy who was executed using the wheel.

Another popular wheel torture method was a two-step process. The first step involved tying a person to a flat wooden panel, placing sharp-edged timber below his joints, and repeatedly hitting the joints with a heavy spoked wheel. 

In the next step, the beaten person was tied to another wheel, which was placed on a pole. The entire contraption, along with the victim, was then sometimes set on subjected to fire. In some cases, the executioners strangled or beheaded the victim while their body burned. This would have relieved their suffering.

3. The Rack

This punishment method involved stretching the legs and arms of the condemned to the extent that either the person's limbs would be torn apart from their body or they would end up with severely dislocated joints. 

A rack was commissioned by the Duke of Exeter and was installed in the Tower of London in 1420. The purpose was to torture conspirators and rebels to make them confess their crimes and reveal other important details.The condemned is first tied to a wooden frame placed at a height from the ground. The frame has two rolling cylindrical structures to which the wrists and ankles are tied using robes. 

The arrangement worked such that when the cylinder on the top was rolled, it stretched the arms, and when the cylinder on the bottom was rolled, it pulled the legs.

During the punishment, the executioners used to stretch the criminal’s body from both sides, causing unbearable pain and damage to the bones.     

In some cases, the executioner also lit a fire below the frame, making the punishment even more terrible. 

4. Breast ripper

One of the most unnerving torture instruments in human history was the breast ripper, a metal tool that had four pointed claws. A torturer would first heat the device and then use it to rip off the breasts of a woman accused of witchcraft, extramarital sex, or abortion.

Some variants of the ripper even contained numerous spikes to deliver more pain to its victims while their breasts were pulled out of their chests.  

“Misogyny dominates the history of torture. Breast rippers, for example, dating from 1300-1700, were used to tear the breasts of women condemned for adultery, pregnancy out of wedlock, self-induced abortion, and “erotic white magic,” said the authors of a study focusing on Medieval torture instruments of Europe.  

However, as we know, brutal misogyny isn’t just limited to the Middle Ages. In 2014, members of the jihadist terrorist group ISIS used “Biter,” a device similar to that of the breast ripper, to punish a woman for wearing a transparent face cover instead of a dark one, according to a report. 

“They brought a sharp object that has a lot of teeth and held me, placing it on my chest and pressing it strongly. I screamed from pain and I was badly injured. I felt then that my femininity has been destroyed completely,” Batol, a 24-year-old mother and victim of the Biter from Syria, told the New York Post.

Similar incidents happened in 2016, also when ISIS terrorists tortured women for nursing their children in public places and for not wearing their headscarves.

"They used this on my neighbor who was cleaning in front of her house without the headscarf," Umm Azma told NBC News while gesturing to her own upper arm to illustrate where the tool had been used. "Then they took her away for lashings. She never came back.”

5. Lingchi

Also known as slow slicing or 'death by a thousand cuts', lingchi was probably the most horrible capital punishment given in ancient China to people who were found guilty of crimes such as treason or enslaved people who killed their owners.

This execution practice originated in the seventh century during the rule of the Tang dynasty and lasted until around the early 1900s. 

The executioner would first tie the condemned person to a pole such that he was unable to move. Then he would use a knife to make cuts on the criminal’s body, starting in one area (usually the chest) and making cuts there until the bones and tissues were visible.

Then, he would move to the next area and begin slicing the skin. 

After making cuts on the chest and abdomen, the executioner moved on to the arms and legs and made larger cuts. The procedure induced shock and significant bleeding, and it was reiterated until the victim succumbed to their injuries. While fortunate individuals died within 15 minutes of the procedure starting, others could survive up to 3,000 cuts.    

The Chinese believed that this type of punishment would not only cause the criminal to suffer in this life but also in the next one.

6. Brazen Bull

There is an interesting legend associated with the origin of the brazen bull. Between 570 to 554 BC, Greece was ruled by Phalaris, a cruel king who enjoyed torturing. 

One of the sculptors in his court, named Perilaus, created a unique torture apparatus thinking that his invention would please the king. It was a life-sized replica of a bull made of brass that sat atop a metal container containing burning wood. 

Perilaus claimed that a person could be roasted alive inside the bull, and as they screamed, it would sound like whistles and roars, resembling the sound of a real bull.

Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian mentioned in one of his accounts that while presenting the Brazen Bull to the king, Perilaus said:

“If you ever wish to punish some man, O Phalaris, shut him up within the bull and lay a fire beneath it; by his groanings, the bull will be thought to bellow and his cries of pain will give you pleasure as they come through the pipes in the nostrils.”

Fascinated with Perilaus’ claims, the king asked him for a demonstration. The excited sculptor entered the bull to make arrangements for the demonstration, but as he went in the king ordered his men to shut the bull’s entry door and light the wood in the container.  

Unfortunately, Perilaus became the first victim of his invention. 

He wasn’t the last one though, as the king supposedly continued to use the brazen bull to torment many others in the following years.

However, this story is based on the accounts of ancient historians and so far, researchers have not found any evidence suggesting the use of a brazen bull in reality.

7. Rat torture

There were many kinds of torture methods involving rats in the Middle Ages. The Tower of London included a "Rats Dungeon", which consisted of a cell below the high-water mark and totally dark, where rats would be drawn in from the River Thames as the tide flowed in. Prisoners would then be bitten by the rats.

However, probably the most disturbing rat torture was devised by the Dutch.

It involved placing a bottomless metal cage with a rat inside on a person’s chest and then heating the cage from the top, causing the rats to gnaw into the victim in a desperate bid to escape the heat. The rat left behind a trail of internal wounds, ruptured organs, and a dead victim.

Sadly, torture involving rats was not confined to the Middle Ages, it was reportedly used in several South American military dictatorships from the 1960s to 1990.