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25 Most Brutal Torture Techniques Ever Devised · The Mind of a Man

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  Speaker 1: Number 25, the tub. Known as the punishment of sitting
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  Speaker 1: in the tub, the convicted person would be placed in
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  Speaker 1: a wooden tub with only their head sticking out. After that,
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  Speaker 1: the executioner would paint their faces with milk and honey,
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  Speaker 1: and soon flies would begin to feed on them. The
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  Speaker 1: victim was also fed regularly and would end up swimming
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  Speaker 1: in their excrement. After a few days, maggots and worms
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  Speaker 1: would devour their body as they decayed alive. Number 24,
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  Speaker 1: the brazen bull. Also known as the Sicilian bull, it
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  Speaker 1: was designed in ancient Greece. A solid piece of brass
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  Speaker 1: was cast with a door on the side that could
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  Speaker 1: be opened and latched. The victim would be placed inside
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  Speaker 1: the bull and a fire set underneath it until the
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  Speaker 1: metal became literally yellow as it was heated. The victim
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  Speaker 1: would then be slowly roasted to death, all while screaming
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  Speaker 1: in agonizing pain. The bull was purposely designed to amplify
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  Speaker 1: these screams and make them sound like the bellowing of
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  Speaker 1: a bull. 23. Impalement Given his name, it should come
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  Speaker 1: as no surprise that this was the most favored method
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  Speaker 1: of execution by Vlad the Impaler. In 15th century Romania,
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  Speaker 1: the victim was forced to sit on a sharp and
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  Speaker 1: thick pole. When the pole was then raised upright, the
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  Speaker 1: victim was left to slide down the pole with their
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  Speaker 1: own weight. It could take the victim three days to
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  Speaker 1: die using this method, and it's been said that Vlad
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  Speaker 1: once did this to 20,000 people, all while enjoying a meal. 22.
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  Speaker 1: The Heretic's Fork This torture device consisted of a metal
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  Speaker 1: piece with two opposed bi-pronged forks attached to a belt
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  Speaker 1: or strap. One end of the device was pushed under
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  Speaker 1: the chin, the other to the sternum, and the strap
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  Speaker 1: was used to secure the victim's neck to the tool
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  Speaker 1: while the victim hung from the ceiling or was somehow
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  Speaker 1: suspended so they couldn't sleep. If their heads dropped, the
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  Speaker 1: prongs would pierce their throat and chest. 21. Neck Torture
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  Speaker 1: Humiliating and painful, this punishment was something of an endurance
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  Speaker 1: test where the victim would be hooked into a neck device,
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  Speaker 1: either made of metal or wood, which prevented them from
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  Speaker 1: adjusting into a comfortable position. The cruelty of this punishment
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  Speaker 1: lie within the fact that they were unable to lay down, eat,
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  Speaker 1: or lower their head for days. 20. Crucifixion Principally practiced
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  Speaker 1: in antiquity, though it remains practiced in some countries today,
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  Speaker 1: it's one of the most well-known execution methods due to
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  Speaker 1: the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It's a deliberately slow and
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  Speaker 1: painful execution where the condemned person is tied or nailed
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  Speaker 1: to a large wooden cross and left to hang until
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  Speaker 1: they die, which usually takes days. 19. The Judas Cradle
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  Speaker 1: Closely related to impalement, this gruesome punishment entailed having the
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  Speaker 1: victim sit on the pyramid-shaped cradle, after which they would
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  Speaker 1: be forced down on it by ropes with the intent
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  Speaker 1: of stretching the victim's orifice over a long period of time,
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  Speaker 1: and thus slowly impaling them. To add to the overall humiliation,
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  Speaker 1: the victim was usually naked and the device was rarely washed,
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  Speaker 1: so if the torture didn't kill you, the infection contracted
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  Speaker 1: from it would. 18. A Lead Sprinkler Usually filled with
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  Speaker 1: molten lead, tar, boiling water, or boiling oil, it was
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  Speaker 1: used to torture victims by dripping the contents onto their
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  Speaker 1: stomach or other body parts like the eyes. Using this device,
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  Speaker 1: the torture would proceed to pour molten silver on the
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  Speaker 1: victim's eyes, which resulted in agonizing pain and eventual death.
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  Speaker 1: Number 17, the Iron Maiden. This torture device consisted of
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  Speaker 1: an iron cabinet with a hinged front and spike-covered interior,
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  Speaker 1: sufficient enough to enclose a human being. Once inside its
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  Speaker 1: conical frame, The victim would be unable to move due
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  Speaker 1: to the great number of steel spikes impaling them from
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  Speaker 1: every direction. 16. Coffin Torture The most preferred torture technique
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  Speaker 1: in the Middle Ages was known as coffin torture. This
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  Speaker 1: method involved placing the victim inside a metal cage roughly
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  Speaker 1: the size of the human body, hence the name. The
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  Speaker 1: torturers also forced overweight victims into smaller cages to heighten
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  Speaker 1: their discomfort as they hung from a tree or gallows. Generally,
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  Speaker 1: they would be left there until the crows came to
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  Speaker 1: feed on their remains. 15. A Thumb Screw Though there
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  Speaker 1: are many variations of this torture device, the thumbscrew, or piliwinks,
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  Speaker 1: all function the same. They were designed to slowly crush
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  Speaker 1: not only the fingers and toes, but larger devices were
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  Speaker 1: also used to crush knees and elbows. In fact, there
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  Speaker 1: was one that was even designed to crush heads. Its
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  Speaker 1: primary intention, however, was to extract confessions from victims, and
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  Speaker 1: it was first used in medieval times. 14. Rope Torture
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  Speaker 1: A rope is the easiest to use of all the
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  Speaker 1: torture devices, since it's easy to find and can easily
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  Speaker 1: be fashioned to inflict a number of terrible retributions. For example,
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  Speaker 1: It could be used to tie the victim to a tree,
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  Speaker 1: leaving the victim exposed with no way of defending himself.
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  Speaker 1: It could be used to hang victims at the gallows
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  Speaker 1: for entertainment purposes, and it could be fashioned to restrain
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  Speaker 1: the victim's limbs while attaching the other end to horses
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  Speaker 1: who would then be made to run, consequently severing their limbs.
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  Speaker 1: Number 13, the guillotine. One of the most notorious forms
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  Speaker 1: of execution, the guillotine was made of a razor-sharp blade
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  Speaker 1: attached to a rope. The victim's head was placed in
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  Speaker 1: the middle of the frame as the blade dropped, severing
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  Speaker 1: the victim's head from the body. Since the decapitation was considered,
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  Speaker 1: To be an instant and painless event, at least relative
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  Speaker 1: to the other torture methods, it was often considered the
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  Speaker 1: most humane method of execution. 12. The Rack Designed to
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  Speaker 1: dislocate every joint of the victim's body, it was believed
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  Speaker 1: to be the most painful form of medieval torture. This
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  Speaker 1: torture device was made out of a wooden frame with
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  Speaker 1: two ropes fixed to the bottom and the other tied
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  Speaker 1: to the handle on top. Once the victim was bound
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  Speaker 1: and placed on top of the rack, the torture would
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  Speaker 1: proceed to turn the handle. Eventually, the victim would be
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  Speaker 1: stretched till his limbs were dislocated. The torturers, however, just
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  Speaker 1: to make sure those limbs were indeed dislocated, would continue
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  Speaker 1: to turn the wheel until the limbs were completely torn
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  Speaker 1: off the victim's body. 11. The Tongue Tear Looking like
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  Speaker 1: an oversized pair of scissors, it could effortlessly cut the
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  Speaker 1: victim's tongue. Their mouth would be forced open with a
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  Speaker 1: device called a mouth opener, and then the iron tongue
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  Speaker 1: tear would twitch the tongue with its rough grippers. Once
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  Speaker 1: a firm hold was maintained, the screw would be firmly
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  Speaker 1: tightened and the victim's tongue would be roughly torn out. 10.
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  Speaker 1: Rat Torture Being in an enclosure with rats is torture enough,
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  Speaker 1: but apparently that's not enough for medieval times. One of
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  Speaker 1: the most sadistic of all torture techniques involved having a
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  Speaker 1: cage with one open side strapped against the victim's body.
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  Speaker 1: It would then be filled with large rodents and a
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  Speaker 1: heating element which would be placed on the other side
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  Speaker 1: of the cage. The rodents' natural instinct led them to
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  Speaker 1: flee the intense heat. In order to escape, they would
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  Speaker 1: burrow through the victim's body with fatal results. 9. The
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  Speaker 1: Chair of Torture Also known as the Judas Chair, it
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  Speaker 1: was a terrible intimidating torture device that was added to
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  Speaker 1: dungeons in the Middle Ages. Used until the 1800s in Europe,
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  Speaker 1: this chair was layered with 500 to 1500 spikes on
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  Speaker 1: every surface with tight straps to retain its victims. Made
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  Speaker 1: of iron, it can also contain spaces for heating elements
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  Speaker 1: beneath the seat. It was often used to scare people
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  Speaker 1: into giving confessions as they watched others being tortured on
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  Speaker 1: the device. 8. Cement Shoes The cement shoes were introduced
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  Speaker 1: by the American Mafia when they executed enemies, traitors, and
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  Speaker 1: spies by placing their feet inside cinder blocks and then
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  Speaker 1: filling them up with wet cement. Once it dried, the
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  Speaker 1: victim would be thrown alive into a river or other
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  Speaker 1: deep body of water. 7. The Breast Ripper Though women
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  Speaker 1: were subject to many of the torture techniques on this page,
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  Speaker 1: this is one that was specifically designed for them. Used
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  Speaker 1: to cause major blood loss, the claws, which were often
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  Speaker 1: red hot, would be placed on the exposed chest as
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  Speaker 1: the spikes penetrated beneath the skin. It would then be
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  Speaker 1: pulled or jerked causing large chunks of flesh to come
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  Speaker 1: off with it. 6. Crocodile Shears Often used to mutilate
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  Speaker 1: those who would attempt to assassinate the king, this iron
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  Speaker 1: pincer was heated red hot before being used to clamp
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  Speaker 1: down on the victims appendages and tear them off from
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  Speaker 1: their bodies. 5. Republican Marriage Besides the guillotine and burning
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  Speaker 1: of the stake, this act of torture was employed by
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  Speaker 1: Jean-Baptiste Carrier during the French Revolution. It involved binding naked
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  Speaker 1: males and females together and then throwing them into icy
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  Speaker 1: waters to drown. When water was unavailable, they would just
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  Speaker 1: be run through with swords or bayonets. This was the
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  Speaker 1: preferred method used to execute nuns and priests. 4. The
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  Speaker 1: Breaking Wheel Also known as the Catherine Wheel, this is
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  Speaker 1: a torture device used to slowly kill the victim. First,
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  Speaker 1: the victim's limbs were tied to the spokes of a
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  Speaker 1: large wooden wheel, which would then be slowly revolved as
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  Speaker 1: the torturer simultaneously smashed the victim's limbs with an iron
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  Speaker 1: hammer to break them in numerous places. As the bones
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  Speaker 1: were broken, the victim would be left on the wheel
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  Speaker 1: to die, or could be placed on top of a
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  Speaker 1: tall pole so the birds could feed on their flesh
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  Speaker 1: while still alive. This was slow, indeed, since it could
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  Speaker 1: have taken days before the victims would die from dehydration. Sometimes,
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  Speaker 1: blows of mercy were employed by ordering the executioner to
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  Speaker 1: deal a fatal blow on the victim's chest and stomach
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  Speaker 1: to end their agony. 3. The Spanish Donkey One of
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  Speaker 1: the torture devices during the Spanish Inquisition, this is probably
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  Speaker 1: one of the most gruesome of them all. The victim
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  Speaker 1: is put astride naked on a donkey-like apparatus, which is
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  Speaker 1: actually a vertical wooden board with a sharp V-shaped wedge
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  Speaker 1: on it. After that, the torturer would add varying weights
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  Speaker 1: to the victim's feet until finally the wedge sliced through
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  Speaker 1: the victim's body. Number two, saw torture. In this method,
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  Speaker 1: the victim is hung upside down so that the blood
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  Speaker 1: will rush to their heads and keep them conscious during
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  Speaker 1: the long torture. The torturer would then saw through the
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  Speaker 1: victim's bodies until they were completely in half. Most were
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  Speaker 1: cut up only in their abdomens to prolong their agony.
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  Speaker 1: Number one, During medieval times, the penalty for high treason
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  Speaker 1: in England was to be hanged, drawn, and quartered in public,
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  Speaker 1: and though it was abolished in 1814, it's been responsible
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  Speaker 1: for the death of thousands of people. In this torture technique,
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  Speaker 1: the victim is dragged in a wooden frame called a
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  Speaker 1: hurdle to the place of execution. They would then be
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  Speaker 1: hanged by the neck for a short period of time
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  Speaker 1: until their near death, followed by disembowelment and castration where
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  Speaker 1: their entrails and genitalia are burned in front of them.
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  Speaker 1: The victim would then be divided into four separate parts
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  Speaker 1: and beheaded.