Torture In The Middle Ages

The Roman Empire was one of the greatest in history. It had one of the first strong governments and codes of law (Trembinski 6). However, the fall of Rome in 476 CE marked the end of a united Europe (“Middle Ages”). All across the continent and for many centuries to come, millions of shattered people had to fend for themselves against Vikings from the north, hordes from the east, Muslims from the south, and barbarians from within. Life was feudal, build a castle and defend it, do not let anyone in, even if they claim to be “traders”, and most of all, devote oneself to God, go on a pilgrimage, and take back the Holy Land from those heathens in the Middle East (“Middle Ages”). One day however, someone speaks about a magical land to the west, …show more content…
Torture itself is the infliction of severe pain by a perpetrator who acts purposefully (“History of Torture”). It could be a simple beating or it could involve a more complex device such as the following. The thumbscrew was designed to slowly crush fingers and toes. There were also knee, elbow, and head crushers (Pegg). Crushing all of someone’s fingers and toes would have crippled someone for life as they would never get to fully use them ever again. The lead sprinkler was used to pour molten lead, tar, boiling water, or boiling oil on the victim's body. Then they would use it to pour molten silver into the victim’s eyes (Pegg). Forcing hundreds of degree substances on bare skin was agonizing as one would guess and silver in the eyes would have blinded the victim for life if they managed to survive. Many of the reasons why there was such brutal torture techniques was to induce in a population a sense of terror (“History of Torture”). This made many people reconsider taking actions against the government as the consequences were harsh if they were caught. It could have also been used to cleanse ethnic groups (“History of Torture”). While this is not nice by any means, it created a sense of national unity which brought people together. Another one of the crazy torture devices was coffin torture. This method involved placing the victim inside a metal cage roughly the size of the human body and are left to die as birds feed on their remains (“25 most gruesome torture techniques in the history of mankind). Being stuck in a small with little room to move for days only to finally die and have bugs and birds eat the flesh of someone is a terrifying and humiliating way to end your life. These were all put into place so people could not do something like assassinate the king and get away with it. Without