Jonthan Berke, Brian Taylor, Mike rapuano
Ms. Iverson
English D
9/9/10
Medieval Torture and Punishment
In the Middle Ages torture and punishment was a common thing. It was viewed as a legitimate way of obtaining information from prisoners. At this time there were no laws or rules about the way a prisoner could be treated, sothere were an endless number of devices used to inflict pain and suffering on the victim. Some devices were made to humiliate the victim while others were made to cause immense pain. Either way torture and punishment was not an uncommon thing to see in everyday life.
One of the most common methods of torture was “the rack”. This method of torture was one that inflicted pain on the entire body but specifically on the limbs. The rack was a device that a person would be bound to by their arms and legs. Their arms and legs would be stretched apart slowly. The operator of the rack would turn a wheel that locked after it was turned forward. If the prisoner did not give up the information, the operator wanted the wheel would be turned stretching them farther and sometimes even dislocating arms and legs.
Another torture device used in the Middle Ages was “The Scavenger’s Daughter.” This device was one solid piece of iron used to squeeze the victim. The Scavenger’s Daughter had enough force to squeeze the blood from your body out from your eyes and nose.

“Thumbscrews” were another way to torture people back in the Middle Ages. These were small clamps placed around a victim’s thumb and tightened with a screw until it caused unbearable pain or the knuckle broke. One advantage of thumbscrews was that you did not need to be in a torture chamber to use them. They were very portable and easy to bring with you.
One particularly horrible form of torture was to be hung, drawn and quartered. In this punishment, a prisoner was hung by the neck until half dead then each one of his arms and legs was tied to a horse running in opposite directions. This force of stretching was enough to dislocate bones and rip ligaments. As a psychological effect, the limbs were hung on the gates of the city to deter others from committing the same crime.
One form of punishment for women for misbehaving or being rude to a man was “the brank”. This was a mask that was placed around the woman’s head and had a metal plate that covered the tongue so the women could not speak. Some of the plates even had metal spikes on the plate to cause pain if the women tried to talk. This was meant to humiliate women more than to hurt them.
Another form of punishment for petty crimes was “the stocks.” The stocks were made from two pieces of wood. If someone committed a petty crime they would be locked in the stocks for a period of time ranging from several hours to days. This was meant to humiliate the person in the stocks because people who walked by would laugh and throw all sorts of disgusting waste at them.
One punishment was “burning at the stake.” This form of punishment was always used in cases of witchcraft and heresy. A stake would be placed in the ground and a pile of straw and sticks were placed around the stake except for a small path for the victim to be walked to the

stake. They would then be tied and chained to the stake and the pathway that they entered through would be filled in. The fire would then be lit.
Another form of punishment was “branding”. If you were a runaway slave and you were caught you would have an “S” branded on your cheek or forehead. Different crimes received different letter brands. One excruciating form of punishment using the brand was to have a red hot brand waved in front of you eyes until the heat radiating from the brand burned out your eyes.
These were only some of the horrific ways to torture and punish people in the middle ages. No matter how horrific these torture devices were they were still viewed as creditable ways to obtain information. As time progressed laws were made to protect the rights of prisoners which is why these types of torture devices are no longer in use today.
Bishop, Morris. The Middle Ages. New ed. New York: Mariner Books, 2001. Print.
"Medieval Torture." Medieval Times & Castles. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.medievality.com/torture.html>.
"Medieval Torture and Punishment." Medieval Life and Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-torture-and-punishment/index.htm>.