In ancient Rus', torture was social advertising. The most terrible tortures in the history of mankind (21 photos)

What do you think were the worst tortures during the Middle Ages? Lack of toothpaste good soap or shampoo? The fact that medieval discos were held to the tedious music of mandolins? Or maybe the fact that medicine did not yet know vaccinations and antibiotics? Or endless wars?

Yes, our ancestors didn't go to movie theaters or send emails to each other. But they were also inventors. And the worst thing they invented was instruments for torture, instruments with the help of which the system of Christian justice was created - the Inquisition. And for those who lived in the Middle Ages, Iron Maiden is not the name of a heavy metal band, but one of the most disgusting gadgets of that time.

This is not “three girls under the window.” This is a huge sarcophagus in the form of an open, empty female figure, inside of which numerous blades and sharp spikes are reinforced. They are located in such a way that the vital organs of the victim imprisoned in the sarcophagus are not affected, so the agony of the person sentenced to execution was long and painful. The "Virgin" was first used in 1515. The condemned man died for three days.

This device was inserted into the openings of the body - it is clear that not into the mouth or ears - and opened so as to cause unimaginable pain to the victim, tearing these openings.

This torture was developed in Athens, Greece. This was a bull shape made of metal (brass) and hollow inside, with a door on the side. The convict was placed inside the “bull”. The fire was lit and heated to the point where the brass turned yellow, eventually causing it to slowly brown. The bull was designed in such a way that when screaming and screaming from inside, you could hear the roar of a mad bull.

Torture by rats was very popular in ancient China. However, we will look at the rat punishment technique developed by 16th century Dutch Revolution leader Diedrick Sonoy.

How it works?

1. The stripped naked martyr is placed on a table and tied;
2. Large, heavy cages containing hungry rats are placed on the prisoner's stomach and chest. The bottom of the cells is opened using a special valve;
3. Hot coals are placed on top of the cages to stir up the rats;
4. In an attempt to escape the heat of the hot coals, rats chew their way through the flesh of the victim.

The know-how belongs to Hippolyte Marsili. At one time, this instrument of torture was considered loyal - it did not break bones or tear ligaments. First, the sinner was lifted on a rope, and then sat on the Cradle, and the top of the triangle was inserted into the same holes as the Pear. It hurt to such an extent that the sinner lost consciousness. He was lifted, “pumped out” and put back on the Cradle. I don’t think that in moments of enlightenment the sinners thanked Hippolytus for his invention.

For several centuries, this execution was practiced in India and Indochina. An elephant is very easy to train and teaching it to trample a guilty victim with its huge feet is a matter of just a few days.

How it works?

1. The victim is tied to the floor;
2. A trained elephant is brought into the hall to crush the martyr's head;
3. Sometimes, before the “head test,” animals crush the victims’ arms and legs in order to amuse the audience.

This device is an oblong rectangle with a wooden frame. The hands were firmly fixed below and above. As the interrogation/torture progressed, the executioner turned the lever, with each turn the person was stretched and hellish pain set in. Usually, upon completion of the torture, the person either simply died from pain shock, because that’s all his joints were pulled out.

The Chinese Communist Party uses the "dead man's bed" torture mainly on those prisoners who try to protest against illegal imprisonment through a hunger strike. In most cases, these are prisoners of conscience, imprisoned for their beliefs.

How it works?

1. The arms and legs of a stripped prisoner are tied to the corners of the bed, on which, instead of a mattress, there is a wooden board with a hole cut out. A bucket for excrement is placed under the hole. Often, a person’s body is tied tightly to the bed with ropes so that he cannot move at all. A person remains in this position continuously for several days to weeks.
2. In some prisons, such as Shenyang City No. 2 Prison and Jilin City Prison, police also place a hard object under the victim's back to intensify the suffering.
3. It also happens that the bed is placed vertically and the person hangs for 3-4 days, stretched out by his limbs.
4. Added to this torment is force-feeding, which is carried out using a tube inserted through the nose into the esophagus, into which liquid food is poured.
5. This procedure is performed mainly by prisoners on the orders of the guards, and not by medical workers. They do it very rudely and unprofessionally, often causing serious damage internal organs person.
6. Those who have gone through this torture say that it causes displacement of the vertebrae, joints of the arms and legs, as well as numbness and blackening of the limbs, which often leads to disability.

One of the medieval tortures used in modern Chinese prisons is the wearing of a wooden collar. It is placed on a prisoner, causing him to be unable to walk or stand normally.

The clamp is a board from 50 to 80 cm in length, from 30 to 50 cm in width and 10 – 15 cm in thickness. In the middle of the clamp there are two holes for the legs.

The victim, who is wearing a collar, has difficulty moving, must crawl into bed and usually must sit or lie down because vertical position causes pain and leads to leg injury. Without assistance, a person with a collar cannot go to eat or go to the toilet. When a person gets out of bed, the collar not only puts pressure on the legs and heels, causing pain, but its edge clings to the bed and prevents the person from returning to it. At night the prisoner is unable to turn around, and in winter the short blanket does not cover his legs.

An even worse form of this torture is called “crawling with a wooden clamp.” The guards put a collar on the man and order him to crawl on the concrete floor. If he stops, he is hit on the back with a police baton. An hour later, his fingers, toenails and knees are bleeding profusely, while his back is covered in wounds from the blows.

A terrible, savage execution that came from the East.

The essence of this execution was that a person was laid on his stomach, one sat on him to prevent him from moving, the other held him by the neck. A stake was inserted into the person's anus, which was then driven in with a mallet; then they drove a stake into the ground. The weight of the body forced the stake to go deeper and deeper and finally it came out under the armpit or between the ribs.

They sat a man in a very cold room, tied him so that he could not move his head, and in complete darkness they very slowly dripped water onto his forehead. cold water. After a few days the person froze or went crazy.

This instrument of torture was widely used by the executioners of the Spanish Inquisition and was a chair made of iron, on which the prisoner was seated, and his legs were placed in stocks attached to the legs of the chair. When he found himself in such a completely helpless position, a brazier was placed under his feet; with hot coals, so that the legs began to slowly fry, and in order to prolong the suffering of the poor fellow, the legs were poured with oil from time to time.

Another version of the Spanish chair was often used, which was a metal throne to which the victim was tied and a fire was lit under the seat, roasting the buttocks. The famous poisoner La Voisin was tortured on such a chair during the famous Poisoning Case in France.

Torture of Saint Lawrence on the gridiron.

This type of torture is often mentioned in the lives of saints - real and fictitious, but there is no evidence that the gridiron “survived” until the Middle Ages and had even a small circulation in Europe. It is usually described as an ordinary metal grate, 6 feet long and two and a half feet wide, mounted horizontally on legs to allow a fire to be built underneath. Sometimes the gridiron was made in the form of a rack in order to be able to resort to combined torture.

Saint Lawrence was martyred on a similar grid.

This torture was used very rarely. Firstly, it was quite easy to kill the person being interrogated, and secondly, there were a lot of simpler, but no less cruel tortures.

In ancient times, a pectoral was a female breast decoration in the form of a pair of carved gold or silver bowls, often sprinkled with precious stones. It was worn like a modern bra and secured with chains. In a mocking analogy with this decoration, the savage instrument of torture used by the Venetian Inquisition was named.

In 1985, the pectoral was heated red-hot and, taking it with tongs, they put it on the tortured woman’s chest and held it until she confessed. If the accused persisted, the executioners heated up the pectoral again cooled by the living body and continued the interrogation.

Very often, after this barbaric torture, charred, torn holes remained in place of the woman’s breasts.

This seemingly harmless effect was a terrible torture. With prolonged tickling, a person's nerve conduction increased so much that even the lightest touch initially caused twitching, laughter, and then turned into terrible pain. If such torture was continued for quite a long time, then after a while spasms would appear. respiratory muscles and, in the end, the tortured person died from suffocation.

At the most simple version torture: sensitive areas were tickled by the interrogated, either simply with their hands, or with hair brushes or brushes. Stiff bird feathers were popular. Usually they tickled under the armpits, heels, nipples, groin folds, genitals, and women also under the breasts.

In addition, torture was often carried out using animals that licked some tasty substance from the heels of the interrogated person. The goat was very often used, since its very hard tongue, adapted for eating grass, caused very strong irritation.

There was also a type of tickling torture using a beetle, most common in India. With it, a small bug was placed on the head of a man's penis or on a woman's nipple and covered with half a nut shell. After some time, the tickling caused by the movement of insect legs on a living body became so unbearable that the interrogated person confessed to anything...

These tubular metal crocodile pliers were red-hot and used to tear the penis of the person being tortured. At first, with a few caressing movements (often made by women), or with a tight bandage, a persistent, hard erection was achieved and then the torture began

These serrated iron tongs were used to slowly crush the testicles of the interrogated person. Something similar was widely used in Stalinist and fascist prisons.

Actually, this is not torture, but an African ritual, but, in my opinion, it is very cruel. Girls aged 3-6 years old simply had their external genitalia scraped out without anesthesia. Thus, the girl did not lose the ability to have children, but was forever deprived of the opportunity to experience sexual desire and pleasure. This ritual is done “for the benefit” of women, so that they will never be tempted to cheat on their husbands...

Part of an image engraved on the Stora Hammers stone. The illustration shows a man lying on his stomach, with an executor standing over him, ripping open the man’s back with an unusual weapon.

One of the most ancient tortures, during which the victim was tied face down and his back was opened, his ribs were broken off at the spine and spread apart like wings. Scandinavian legends claim that during such an execution, the wounds of the victim were sprinkled with salt.

Many historians claim that this torture was used by pagans against Christians, others are sure that spouses caught in treason were punished in this way, and still others claim that the bloody eagle is just a terrible legend.

In order to the best way To carry out this torture procedure, the accused was placed on one of the types of racks or on a special large table with a rising middle part. After the victim's arms and legs were tied to the edges of the table, the executioner began work in one of several ways. One of these methods involved forcing the victim, using a funnel, to swallow a large number of water, then they hit the swollen and arched belly. Another form involved placing a cloth tube down the victim's throat through which water was slowly poured, causing the victim to swell and suffocate.

If this was not enough, the tube was pulled out, causing internal damage, and then inserted again and the process repeated. Sometimes cold water torture was used. In this case, the accused lay naked on the table for hours under the spray. ice water. It is interesting to note that this type of torture was considered light, and the court accepted confessions obtained in this way as voluntary and given by the defendant without the use of torture. Most often, these tortures were used by the Spanish Inquisition in order to extract confessions from heretics and witches.

THIS IS HOW THEY GOT THE TRUTH

The first mention of torture in Rus' is contained in the Code of Laws of Ivan III (late 15th century).

205 years ago, Alexander I issued a decree on the destruction of the Secret Chancellery - the Russian political police.

SINCE the main method of interrogation in this organization was torture, they soon had to be banned. This was not the first, but the most radical step towards the humanization of domestic legal proceedings.
The execution is simple and...
This is how Natalya Lopukhina, a participant in the conspiracy against Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, was tortured.

The point is that people have always been tortured in Rus'. Moreover, this happened not at the pathological whim of individual sadists, but at the state level. Thus, according to the Code of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich of 1649 the death penalty could be simple - hanging, beheading, or could be “qualified” - burning, quartering, wheeling, impalement, burying alive in the ground...

They executed people for murder by burying them in the ground. This type of execution was almost never used in the 18th century, unlike quartering, wheeling, and impalement. It is known that some participants in the Pugachev uprising were quartered. Their arms and legs were cut off one by one, and lastly, their heads. Major Glebov died on a stake when he became the lover of a woman imprisoned in a monastery ex-wife Peter I Evdokia Lopukhina. Peter ordered him to be impaled, where he suffered for 18 hours, and so that Glebov would not freeze prematurely in the cold, the emperor “carefully” threw a sheepskin coat over his shoulders.

In the first half of the 18th century, torture and execution were put on a “conveyor belt”. The Preobrazhensky Prikaz, which since 1698 has been dealing with the affairs of the archers, became a kind of investigative institution that received denunciations and conducted investigations. Twenty years later, a new institution of political investigation arose - the Secret Chancellery. Peter I created it to conduct the investigation into the case of his own son, Tsarevich Alexei. The Tsar-reformer liked the methods of work of this organization (“carrot without stick”), and the Secret Chancellery fit into the system for a long time. Russian system legal proceedings.
Executioner's manual

IN THE 18TH CENTURY, confession under torture was considered the highest and indisputable evidence of guilt. What methods were resorted to in the Secret Chancellery to obtain testimony can be seen from the official document - “The Rite of How the Accused Tries,” which was compiled between 1735 and 1754.

“For the torture of those accused of crimes, a special place is reserved, called a dungeon,” this instruction on torture narrated. - ...In the torture chamber there is a rack (or temple), consisting of three pillars, two of which are dug into the ground, and the third is placed across the top.

Upon arrival at the dungeon, the judges at a short meeting determine what needs to be asked of the accused, whom the escort hands over to the executioner. The executioner throws a long rope over the transverse pillar of the rack, then twists the tortured person’s hands behind his back, tucks them into the collar and, together with his assistants, pulls the rope until the person hangs in the air. After this, the executioner ties the legs of the tortured person with a belt, and the other end of the latter is screwed to a pole dug into the ground in front of the rack. Having stretched the person in this way, the executioner beats him with a whip, and the secretary writes down in detail every word spoken under torture.

According to the law, torture is required 3 times, after 10 or more days, so that the villain recovers, but if he speaks differently during torture, then he should be tortured until he shows the same thing during three tortures in a row, the word in word".

Torture was permitted by civil procedural law throughout the “enlightened” 18th century, although mores softened somewhat. Elizaveta Petrovna, for example, suspended the execution of death sentences, and under Catherine, nobles, high-ranking officials, priests, people over 70 years of age, teenagers and pregnant women were exempted from torture. However, in political affairs these rules were not observed, so the Secret Chancellery tortured everyone indiscriminately. In 1738, 13-year-old ventriloquist Irina Ivanova was “interrogated with passion.” She was raised on the rack and flogged with rods.

“Torture in past times was an excellent social advertisement for the authorities. They took one, tortured him in front of all the honest people - that’s how they kept people in fear,” I’m sure Valery Pereverzev, owner of the recently opened Museum of History in Moscow corporal punishment .

Skinny jug

There was a need for violence in the Middle Ages: there was no forensic medical examination, people could not distinguish a drop of blood from a drop of wine, a woman could not write a complaint that she was raped without three witnesses, so the authorities had no choice but to provide influencing their citizens through fear,” says V. Pereverzev. - Therefore, the very first torture is a demonstration of torture itself. They tell you what will happen to you: “Now we will take these pliers, stick your finger here and break the bone.” And the person has already begun to “cooperate with the investigation.” Torture in Rus' was regulated by law. They tortured us in the 1990s with irons and soldering irons, they torture us today - there is no need to relax. There is plenty of evidence for this. But they do it illegally. And in ancient times in Russia, according to the law, a suspect had to endure three times three tortures: the rack, the whip and the “thin jug”.

Anything on which one could torture was called a rack. They hung him, for example, from a log, threaded the second log between his legs, tied his legs, and the executioner walked along the log, stretching his body. In the notes there is: “Put a thief on the rack.” The man was simply chained to a heavy block (an iron “shirt” in which the arms, legs and neck were secured so that the prisoners could not move). Before hanging him on the rack, the executioner broke out the man’s shoulder joints. Hence the executioner was sometimes called a master of the shoulder. Why was this torture popular? Yes, because its consequences were reversible - although it is terribly painful, you can then straighten your hands and not lose your able-bodied workforce. Also, during interrogations, they beat with batogs (sticks): one executioner sat on the unfortunate man’s head so as not to hit it, and the second - on his legs, so as not to touch the organs important for his performance.

The “working area” is only the back. They hit her with all their might. Water torture called the “thin jug” was also popular. Drop by drop fell on the shaved crown of the man tied to the post, and as a result, after a couple of hours, he lost his mind. By the way, the law has an amazing wording attached to this torture: “Sit you down, tie you to a pole. The head is secured with a gag through the mouth, which makes him amazed.”

By the way, many of our tortures were borrowed. For example, the British mocked their drunkards so much: they put barrels on them instead of shirts, and then led them on chains around the cities. In Russia there was also a barrel for drunkards. But it looked more like a font. They poured mash in there, put a drunkard in it, and locked it so that he couldn’t get out. Around the barrel, girls in wreaths danced in circles, saying: “Eat wine, drink wine.” But when a person is in an alcohol solution, the meat separates from the bone, and he suffers incredibly. And, as a rule, all this “fun” ended with a corpse being taken out of the barrel.

Torture with a fiery (burning) broom was common. In Russia, people took a steam bath and were treated for colds. That’s why everyone had a bath broom in their hut. When someone was beaten with a fiery broom in the square, everyone else, coming home, looked at their broom, and wondered whether they should break the law.

Toad feet

In all times of torture and corporal punishment, tongues were pulled out. Until Peter I introduced the fashion for tobacco, a person who tarred and had smoke coming out of his mouth also had his tongue torn out. In addition to their tongues, gamblers also had their noses cut off. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, everyone was sure that the four symbols that killed Jesus Christ were in the cards. The pikes are the spear that pierced him, the crosses are the cross, the diamonds are the diamond-shaped nails with which they nailed him to the cross, the worms are the sponge that they brought to his lips.

In Russia they didn’t like parsley plants - the first ones. They were punished most severely. Ivan the Terrible has everything clearly spelled out about this: “Press the parsley plant’s fingers into a bench press and squeeze out the bone. The bone should come out of your finger the way a cherry pit comes out.” After this, the finger could only be cut off. That’s why many parsley growers walked around with “short arms,” and everyone said: “He’s coming with the legs of a toad.”

One of the most shameful corporal punishments is beating. In Rome they used a whip from the genital organ of a bull - it left a characteristic mark in the form of a scythe. In our country it is a whip that shepherds use to beat cattle. Flogged on some object. Most often on a “mare” - a structure made of two boards and a log. The person had to be in an obscene position on his knees with his back arched. And the executioner could do incredible things with a whip. For example, there was such a famous princess Lopukhina, an incredibly beautiful person. I kept competing with Elizabeth in the number of grooms and dresses. Elizabeth accused her of treason. And during interrogations, Lopukhina slandered her friend Bestuzheva. The sentence was harsh: to have his tongue pulled out, beaten with a whip and sent to hard labor. Lopukhina was flogged like this: stripped naked in front of all the honest people, the assistant took the victim and threw it behind his back. The executioner hit only three times - two laid parallel to each other, and one horizontally. The skin came off from Lopukhina's back and, like a skirt, covered her buttocks. And Bestuzheva “fraternized” with the executioner and gave him a cross - this moment is shown in the film about midshipmen. And the executioner hit her so that not a single scar remained on her back, and only slightly caught her tongue. As a result, after several years of hard labor, women were again accepted into the court. And Lopukhina was a complete invalid, and Bestuzheva was also “pretty.”

Torture has been used throughout the world since time immemorial. Inflicting physical torture helped in obtaining information, intimidation and punishment. The prohibition of torture was officially enshrined by the UN General Assembly in 1984. Not all states supported this decision.

Over many millennia, many methods have been invented and improved to inflict pain, suffering, and humiliation. One of them was a rack. The instrument of torture has gained popularity in many large countries, including Russia.

Application

During the existence of the weapon, it was modified. Two main types were used: bed and suspension. Their essence was similar.

The rack (an instrument of torture) was used to stretch the human body, which led to tearing of soft tissues and loss of limbs from the joints. The victim felt extreme pain. Most people confessed to all crimes, if they did not die earlier from painful shock.

Roman origins

IN ancient times The rack (an instrument of torture) was quite widespread. The Romans used it as a tool to punish criminals and slaves. With the advent of Christianity, it began to be used on them.

Over time, it was Christians who widely used the rack. During the Middle Ages, the weapon became the most popular among inquisitors.

Distribution in Europe

The rack as an instrument of torture very quickly spread throughout Europe. There were two main types of the described instrument:

• The bed - the structure consisted of boards and bolsters. Ropes were wound around the rollers, which held the person by the wrists and ankles. The rollers rotated and pulled the ropes in opposite directions. The victim's body was stretched, causing severe pain.
• Hanging - the structure consisted of two poles connected by a crossbar. The man's hands were tied behind his back and hung on a rope. An additional weight could be hung at the feet. The victim's arms were twisted and pulled out of their sockets. The victim hung on his broken arms for a long time.

Both options were used in different countries until the seventeenth, in some places the eighteenth century.

English version of the gun

The rack came to the island as an instrument of torture (photo below) in 1447. According to legend, John Holland, Duke of Exeter, began to use it, holding the highest position in the Tower of London. The instrument began to be called the “Duke’s Daughter.”

According to the description, the English rack had the following characteristics:

• base material - oak;
• the frame is large, installed horizontally;
• the frame is raised 3 feet above the floor;
• cylindrical gates are installed at the edges of the frame;
• ropes were tied to the wrists and ankles.

The rotation of the levers tightened the ropes, the victim's body stretched and rose to the height of the frame. At this time, questions were asked to the person. If there were no answers or they did not satisfy the jailers, the torture continued until the joints popped out of their places. The victim heard tendons in her body tearing.

German version

The German executioners also liked torture on the rack. The most famous design was used in the city of Nuremberg. It has been improved compared to earlier versions.

Description:

• the rack is made of wood;
• was ten feet long;
• on one side a powerful winch was installed;
• the winch was rotated by levers
• a “hare with spikes” could be used.

Before torture, the victim was stripped naked, laid face down, his arms were attached to a crossbar, and his legs were tied to a winch. The executioners began to turn the winch in complete silence. Soon the victim's body stretched, and the silence was interrupted by a groan. As the first tendons stretched, the victim began to scream. After this, the executioners rotated the winch slowly, since the slightest movement brought unbearable pain. The official stopped the procedure from time to time, asking his questions. Having not received an answer to them, he continued the torture.

If the official did not receive an answer, a cylinder with one-inch spikes was rolled over the victim's body. To kill a person, the executioner could place a "spiked hare" under the stomach and continue to turn the winch until the body exploded from the punctures.

To inflict even greater torment on the rack, they tortured the person with water, tightened a cord on his body, which was pulled so that it dug deep into the body. Sometimes a person confessed to everything just because of the type of construction.

Russian rack

The rack was also used as an instrument of torture in Rus'. It was preceded by stocks in which criminals were shackled. The weapon has been used as a form of punishment since the thirteenth century. The deliberate infliction of suffering on the accused became especially widespread under Ivan the Terrible. This was due to the emergence of the oprichnina, which served as the secret police since 1565. Torture on the rack began to be used for inquiries. The method of obtaining information was preserved under Peter the Great.

Questioning on the rack "in Russian"

According to the description of Grigory Kotoshikhin (who wrote an essay on the history of Russia), in the seventeenth century punishment was used for thieves.

The person's shirt was taken off, his hands were tied behind his hands, and his legs were fastened with a belt. The structure resembled a gallows. The victim was hung on it. One executioner stepped on the belt, and the second lifted the man, so that he remained hanging on the rack with dislocated arms.

Punishment was sometimes supplemented by blows to the back with a whip. At the site of each blow there was a deep mark. The blows were applied at intervals in order to prolong the torture as long as possible. If necessary, the victim was brought to life. If the culprit did not confess, he was hanged again and tortured again, but this time with the use of fire. The executioner heated the iron pincers and broke the ribs. They also lit a fire under the victim and tied a log to his feet. Not only men, but also women were subjected to torture.

Famous people who “met” the rack

The rack as a weapon for punishment was used more often on slaves and criminals. Many people went through torture, most of whom nothing is known about.

List of known rack victims:

• Saint Juliet - it is known about the woman that she was a Christian. For this, she and her child were brought to Alexander, who ruled the city of Tara. She confessed to him that she was a member of a Christian sect and was sentenced to torture. At the end of the torture, hot tar was poured onto her feet and her flesh was mutilated with iron hooks. In the end, the victim was decapitated. The ruler killed the woman’s child because he kept repeating that he was a Christian. He smashed the boy's head on the stone floor. After a while, Juliet was called a saint.
• Jan Sarkandera - was a Catholic priest, proclaimed a martyr. Lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He was accused of being loyal to Poland and tortured. He was supposed to break the secret of confession, but did not do so and died in captivity in 1620.
• William Ligtow - was arrested in Malaga for espionage in 1620. He was a Protestant and refused to convert to Catholicism. He passed the torture of the Inquisition and remained alive. At that time, it was allowed to use torture if the prisoner was half proven guilty. At the same time, it was impossible to use the same method for one person, so the torment was extended over a long time. To begin with, the person was intimidated with information about the upcoming interrogation, then they were shown the equipment. If a person did not want to confess, they began to prepare him for interrogation. The torture on the rack continued for many hours. The victim's tendons were torn, bones were broken, and limbs fell out of their joints. Ligtow spent several months in prison and was tortured eleven times. He was saved thanks to a servant who told the English ambassador about the prisoner.
• Guy Fawkes is an English nobleman who became a Catholic. Lived at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries. Known for his participation in the conspiracy against James the First in 1605. Due to prolonged torture on the rack, he betrayed his brothers. The men were sentenced to be hanged followed by drawing and quartering. Fox was able to jump from the scaffold so as to break his neck and prevent the execution from continuing.

Thanks to the sleeping prisoners and their testimony, the world became aware of the methods of the Spanish Inquisition not only in relation to its subjects, but also to its guests. Representatives of the Inquisition recorded many interrogations themselves. They prove inhumanity on the part of some church ministers. No less cruel were the rulers who, for the sake of their interests, were ready to put even their close people on the rack.

Torture in cinema

Only descriptions and images of what a man on a rack could look like have survived to this day. Reconstruction of torture can be seen in museums in Europe, as well as in cinema.

Films that show torture using the rack:

• "The Tudors" is a television series that aired in 2008-2010. Historical project was directed by Michael Hirst. It tells about events in England in the sixteenth century during the reign of Henry the Eighth. It was at this time that the rack was a popular interrogation tool.
• “The Tsar” is a 2009 film. The historical one presents many tortures and executions that are attributed to the era of Ivan the Terrible. The picture describes two years in the life of the king at the time of his struggle with the opposition.

Of course, art cannot convey the horror that happened to people subjected to torture on the rack. The structure itself is preserved in the Tower of London. You can see it by taking a tour.

In the Middle Ages, the suspect, according to the law, had to withstand three times: the rack, the whip and the "thin jug""

THIN JUG

There was a need for violence in the Middle Ages: there was no forensic medical examination, people could not distinguish a drop of blood from a drop of wine, a woman could not write a complaint that she was raped without three witnesses, so the authorities had no choice but to provide influencing their citizens through fear,” says V. Pereverzev. - Therefore, the very first torture is a demonstration of torture itself. They tell you what will happen to you: “Now we will take these pliers, stick your finger here and break the bone.” And the person has already begun to “cooperate with the investigation.” Torture in Rus' was regulated by law. They tortured us in the 1990s with irons and soldering irons, they torture us today - there is no need to relax. There is plenty of evidence for this. But they do it illegally. And in ancient times in Russia, according to the law, a suspect had to endure three times three tortures: the rack, the whip and the “thin jug”.

Anything on which one could torture was called a rack. They hung him, for example, from a log, threaded the second log between his legs, tied his legs, and the executioner walked along the log, stretching his body. Alexey Mikhailovich’s notes include: “Get the thief on the rack.” The man was simply chained to a heavy block (an iron “shirt” in which the arms, legs and neck were secured so that the prisoners could not move). Before hanging him on the rack, the executioner broke out the man’s shoulder joints. Hence the executioner was sometimes called a master of the shoulder. Why was this torture popular? Yes, because its consequences were reversible - although it is terribly painful, you can then straighten your hands and not lose your able-bodied workforce. Also, during interrogations, they beat with batogs (sticks): one executioner sat on the unfortunate man’s head so as not to hit it, and the second - on his legs, so as not to touch organs important for his performance.

The “working area” is only the back. They hit her with all their might. Water torture called the “thin jug” was also popular. Drop by drop fell on the shaved crown of the man tied to the post, and as a result, after a couple of hours, he lost his mind. By the way, the law has an amazing wording attached to this torture: “Sit you down, tie you to a pole. The head is secured with a gag through the mouth, which makes him amazed.”

By the way, many of our tortures were borrowed. For example, the British mocked their drunkards so much: they put barrels on them instead of shirts, and then led them on chains around the cities. In Russia there was also a barrel for drunkards. But it looked more like a font. They poured mash in there, put a drunkard in it, and locked it so that he couldn’t get out. Around the barrel, girls in wreaths danced in circles, saying: “Eat wine, drink wine.” But when a person is in an alcohol solution, the meat separates from the bone, and he suffers incredibly. And, as a rule, all this “fun” ended with a corpse being taken out of the barrel.

Torture with a fiery (burning) broom was widespread under Ivan the Terrible. In Russia, people took a steam bath and were treated for colds. That’s why everyone had a bath broom in their hut. When someone was beaten with a fiery broom in the square, everyone else, coming home, looked at their broom, and wondered whether they should break the law.

TOAD FEET

In all times of torture and corporal punishment, tongues were pulled out. Until Peter I introduced the fashion for tobacco, a person who tarred and had smoke coming out of his mouth also had his tongue torn out. In addition to their tongues, gamblers also had their noses cut off. Under Alexei Mikhailovich, everyone was sure that the four symbols that killed Jesus Christ were in the cards. The pikes are the spear that pierced him, the crosses are the cross, the diamonds are the diamond-shaped nails with which they nailed him to the cross, the worms are the sponge that they brought to his lips.

In Russia, they didn’t like parsley makers, our first “comedy club members.” They were punished most severely. Ivan the Terrible has everything clearly spelled out on this matter: “Press the parsley plant’s fingers into a bench press and squeeze out the bone. The bone should come out of your finger the way a cherry pit comes out.” After this, the finger could only be cut off. That’s why many parsley growers walked around with “short arms,” and everyone said: “He’s coming with the legs of a toad.”

One of the most shameful corporal punishments is beating. In Rome they used a whip from the genital organ of a bull - it left a characteristic mark in the form of a scythe. In our country it is a whip that shepherds use to beat cattle. Flogged on some object. Most often on a “mare” - a structure made of two boards and a log. The person had to be in an obscene position on his knees with his back arched. And the executioner could do incredible things with a whip. For example, there was such a famous princess Lopukhina, an incredibly beautiful person. I kept competing with Elizabeth in the number of grooms and dresses. Elizabeth accused her of treason. And during interrogations, Lopukhina slandered her friend Bestuzheva. The sentence was harsh: to have his tongue pulled out, beaten with a whip and sent to hard labor. Lopukhina was flogged like this: stripped naked in front of all the honest people, the assistant took the victim and threw it behind his back. The executioner hit only three times - two laid parallel to each other, and one horizontally. The skin came off from Lopukhina's back and, like a skirt, covered her buttocks. And Bestuzheva “fraternized” with the executioner and gave him a cross - this moment is shown in the film about midshipmen. And the executioner hit her so that not a single scar remained on her back, and only slightly caught her tongue. As a result, after several years of hard labor, women were again accepted into the court. And Lopukhina was a complete invalid, and Bestuzheva was also “pretty.”