20 Medieval Methods of Torment That'll Shock You

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Well preserved iron maidens.

The iron maiden

Throughout all of history there has always been a method to torturing and humans always thought of different ways to bring pain to the ones they hated. Here are twenty different torture techniques that were used throughout time. From the iron maiden to the burning stake there are many ways for humans to kill each other, and shows you how brutal humans were back in the day. 

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The iron maiden was a torture device that was invented in Germany around the 14th century, this was a steel cabinet large enough to fit humans in it and its interior was filled with spikes. People would be locked up in these for days on end and was a very feared torture device by everyone. It was said that the tortured souls would have the spikes slowly impaled into them everyday until they perished. 

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Coffin Torture

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A very cruel way to die hanging for everyone to see.
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The Coffin Torture was an medieval torture device that was used widely in public plazas and placing of meeting. The victim was kept inside for as long as the crime they did required, but if you committed a serious crime you were sentenced to death in one of these. When hung in public plazas, the victim feels full humiliation and sometimes were killed by the people below from throwing rocks and objects. 

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Judas Cradle

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A very crude and cruel device that made the strongest people talk.
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The Judas Cradle was a horrible medieval torture method that would have the victim's anus or vagina placed on top of a sharp wooden triangle, from there the victims legs would be tied so that one leg would move the other. ultimately the victim would have weights adding to his or her feet until they split in half or they told the information that was wanted. This is at the top of the most gruesome torture methods out there. 

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Crucifixion

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The sight of Jesus Christ being crucified.
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Crucifixion is a ancient torturing method that has been used for thousands of years, it is when the victim's feet and hands are nailed to a wooden cross and are left to die and killed immediately. Jesus Christ suffered this faint by Pontius Pilate, this method was made up by the Romans and was used hundreds of years before Jesus. Many people suffered being crucified mostly including the one who went against Roman laws. 

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Rope Torture 

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A man having his limbs wrapped with rope tightly for days.
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Rope torture was the simplest and cheapest way to torture someone, it was either used to hang a victim from a higher platform or was tied to the limbs of the victim and was dragged by a horse. This method has been seen all over the world being the most widely used tool. Hanging was the favored choice of execution mostly because it wasn't a big mess to clean up and was easy.

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Thumbscrew

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This crude invention was used in different variations.
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The Thumbscrew was a torture invention that was used to crush the fingers and toes of a victim cause extreme pain. These were made in many different variants including a much larger one that was used to crush knees, elbows and heads. This was a British invention that was thought of in the 16th century and the nickname for them was the thumbikens. 

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The Rack

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A man in the infamous rack.
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The rack was designed to dislocate every joint in the unfortunate victim's body, the device was feared to be the most painful torture device of the medieval ages. As seen in the picture, the device was a wooden frame with two poles on either end, the victim would be strapped to either end and would be pulled apart from the tension. In some cases, torturers would do more than dislocate limbs, they would keep going until the limbs were completely torn off. 

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Tongue tearer

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These tools of torture were no joke.
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This is the Tongue tearer which from the name means that it was used to cut out tongues. This was made during the medieval ages and was used with the other tool called the mouth opener. There was also accounts of some having serrated teeth which teared the tongue to shreds. This is the bloodiest tool in the business and would not be a good sight to see in action. 

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Rat torture

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A very gruesome way to die.
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Rat torture was a very raunchy way of torture, the victim was placed on hos back with a cage of rodents on his stomach. From here heating elements would be placed on the top side of the cage leading the rodents to escape through the body of the victim. This would be a disgusting sight to see and would not be good to be the victim. 

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The chair of torture

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The spiked chair of torture.
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The was a device used in Europe for a very long time. It was made out of iron and had 500 to 1,500 spikes with straps to tighten the victim sitting in the chair. This made people confess by displaying other people being tortured on them. There was also heating plates in some of the variants that would get to unbearable temperatures leading the victim to move around.

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Cement Shoes

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This is the most unusual way of torture methods out there.
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The cement shoes method is the least practical torture technique, there has only been one report in finding a body with cement on the shoes and ankles in New York. This method is mostly used by Hollywood movies and doesn't really happen too often in real life. It would be very hard to let the cement dry on the victims feet since it takes more than a day for cement to set. 

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Breast ripper

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The crude metal device called the breast ripper.
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The breast ripper was a torture device used mostly for women if they committed adultery or a self preformed an abortion, the device would rip the breast off of the women. This was made out of iron and was heated up before it was used against its victims. The tool was used a lot in Bavaria and Germany in the 16th century and last until the 19th century. 

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Crocodile Shears

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A torture device used to mutilate a man's penis.
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This was a very crude and brutal device called the Crocodile Shears which was used mostly to mutilate a man's penis and other parts of the body. This was a medieval invention that provoked death very easily in the eyes of the victim. The construction of the device was a giant pincer with many spikes that formed a tube, when the victims penis was heated just enough, it was then teared off. 

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Hanged, drawn and quartered

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This was the craziest was to torture someone back in the day.
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When you were hanged, drawn and quartered it was because you were committed of high treason in England during the 12th century. The victim was strapped to a wooden panel and taken to were he was going to be tortured, from here they would hang the victim almost to the point of death and then remove the victim's penis. After that he was disemboweled, beheaded and his body was quartered and displayed throughout the city. 

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The Wheel Torture

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A man enduring the painful torture wheel.
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The Wheel Torture was used for capital punishments in the medieval times, that started in Greece and made its way all across Europe. The invention was a large wooden wheel, in which the victim's limbs were tied to as it slowly rotated. The torturer was know to break the limbs of the victim and would hang the them from tall poles, for everyone to see and to have the birds eat the victim alive. 

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Spanish Donkey

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This wooden device was used mostly on women.
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The Spanish Donkey was a torture device invented by the Spanish Inquisition during the middle ages. The victim would sit on the wooden plank as if sitting on a horse naked. Weights would be applied to both legs until they would die or give up information. This was a very cruel instrument that nobody wanted to deal with, it was said that it was used in the American Civil War, the Union soldiers used it against Confederate prisoners.

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Saw Torture

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The saw torture is at the top of the list for the most brutal tool used for torturing, this method included the victim being hung upside down and slowly sliced in half by the torturers. Most of the blood would leave the victim unconscious until the blade would hit the center of the body, that was when the victim would die. This was said to be the most surreal event to witness and was later looked down upon for doing. 

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Drownings at Nantes

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A woman and man being dragged to the water where they will die.
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The Drownings at Nantes was a series of executions that happened in France in 1793. Anyone who was not supporting the Revolution or was a royalist sympathizer was jailed and thrown into the river Loire to drown. Around four thousand people were killed during this period, most of them innocent families with children. The victims were tied up and thrown in the river, sometimes stripped down for humiliation. 

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