Put to Question: The Strappado

Posted by kitperriman on November 11, 2022

Put To Question: The Stappado

Torture was banned under English Law except in certain circumstances,
but some unfortunates fell prey to The Strappado:

“They tied my hands behind my back. Then they hung me from a door. It feels like they are stretching you from all sides. My torso was twisted and my shoulders were dislocated from their joints from time to time. The pain cannot be described. The [Inquisitor] was shouting, ‘Confess or you will die here’.”

(Confession: Public Domain Records)

(Drawing: Public Domain)

Put to Question: Pressing

Posted by kitperriman on November 10, 2022

Put To Question: Pressing

Torture was not allowed under English law unless by royal decree –
but some folk still got pressed to death by the peine forte et dure!

“he will lie upon his back, with his head covered and his feet, and one arm will be drawn to one quarter of the house with a cord, and the other arm to another quarter, and in the same manner it will be done with his legs; and let there be laid upon his body iron and stone, as much as he can bear, or more.”

(Confession: Public Domain Records)

(Drawing: Public Domain)

Put To Question: The Thumbscrews

Posted by kitperriman on November 9, 2022

Put To Question: The Thumbscrews

Torture was not allowed under English law without permission from the king
but the thumbscrews or pilniewinks crushed even the strongest will.

“. . . in 1596, the son and daughter of Aleson Balfour, who was accused of witchcraft, were tortured to make her confess her crime in the manner following: Her son was put in the buits where he suffered fifty-seven strokes; and her daughter about seven years old, was put in the pilniewinks . . .”

(Confession and Photo: Public Domain Records)

Put To Question: The Pear

Posted by kitperriman on November 8, 2022

Put To Question: The Pear of Anguish

Torture was not allowed under English law . . .
but those Wise Women who helped young lassies to miscarry their shame were sometimes punished with The Pear of
Anguish:

It was pushed up between the legs and unscrewed into four brutal petals that tore the insides apart.

(Image Source http://www.medievalarchives.com)

Put To Question: The Rack

Posted by kitperriman on November 7, 2022

Put To Question: The Rack

Torture was technically not allowed under English law unless royal consent had been given in advance.
Traitors and heretics often got stretched on The Rack:

“We went to the torture room in a kind of procession, the attendants walking ahead with lighted candles.
The chamber was underground and dark, particularly near the entrance. It was a vast place and every device and instrument of human torture was there. They pointed out some of them to me and said I would try them all. Then he asked me again whether I would confess.
‘I cannot,’ I said.”
(Father John Gerard, 1597)

(Picture: Public Domain)

Kit Perriman

The Hill – A Historical Novel About Witches

Tag Archives: confession

Put to Question: The Strappado

Put to Question: Pressing

Put To Question: The Thumbscrews

Put To Question: The Pear

Put To Question: The Rack