ipl-logo

Determining Guilt Or Innocence In Medieval Times

973 Words4 Pages

The medieval times were very barbaric times beginning in 500 CE and continuing to 1500CE. In the medieval era, there were many different forms of punishments such as ‘The rack’, ‘the iron balls’ and ‘quartering’. During this era, there were also many ferocious means of determining guilt or innocence such as ‘trial by ordeal’ and ‘the judicial duel’. In medieval times, determining guilt or innocence experienced several changes and several continuities. Examples of methods that were used to determine guilt or innocence include ‘The Judicial Duel’ This was a trial by combat which was generally used for cases involving nobles, as they had more training in fighting, it involved the accuser and the person being accused fighting each other to the …show more content…

Then they would turn a ratchet and handle attached to one of the four rollers on the wooden frame. This would cause the criminal to be initially just stretched but as the turning continued it caused dislocations and with prolonged use the limbs were ripped from their sockets. ‘The iron balls’ The iron balls was a form of torture that entailed a criminal being hung by their wrists with two heavy iron balls attached to their feet. This caused them excruciating pain and dislocations. A more extreme version of this torture called ‘The veglia’ the criminal was placed horizontally and had ropes attached to each of their limbs which were placed in the wall and the only other means of support was the point of a stake cut into a diamond shape. There would be a doctor standing by, who would feel the criminals pulse through their temples as to know when they would no longer be able to bear the pain. Once this point was reached the criminal was taken down and given hot fomentations to revive them. As soon as the criminal had regained a small amount of strength the process was repeated. The entire process went on for 6 consecutive hours. ‘Quartering’ was one of the most painful forms of execution ever invented. It consisted of the criminals limbs being attached by rope to four strong horses which were made to first pull on the limbs in short rapid jerks which continued until the criminal let out a cry of pain. Once the criminal cried out the horses were then made to pull as hard as they could as to rip the criminals limbs from their bodies. If the muscles and tendons continued to stay intact then the executer cut the joints several times with a hatchet. When each horse

Show More
Related
222 Words | 1 Pages

The ones that were shown as weak, were immediately sent to the crematories to be burned alive. For those that had signs of strength left, were used as slaves to do back-breaking labor. At the concentration

Read More
525 Words | 3 Pages

8. Scaphism Scaphism was a cruel method originated from ancient Persia against their enemies. They put the condemned to a container and firmly fastened him within a back-to-back pair of narrow rowboats with his head, hands, and feet protruding outside from this container. Then the executioner forcedly fed large amount of honey and milk to the condemned. Also, a mixture of milk and honey rubbed on the exposed part of his body to attract the flies.

Read More
2309 Words | 10 Pages

Then before we know it, by the end of the day the audience is presented by this old fashioned, gruesome death of stoning. This source is most accurately going to be used in my essay, by its citation for irony of the “stoning” itself. I quote “though the villagers had forgotten the ritual and lost the original black box, they still remembered to use stones”. Ironically no one in the community understands why they must kill a citizen each year, but in response, know “exactly” how to throw stones and kill

Read More
475 Words | 2 Pages

The prisoners had seen and experienced so much brutality, endured repeated beatings, and humiliated beyond imagination, so one more death did not affect them. Their emotions hardened to the point of being non-existent… or so they thought. Although the prisoners seemed hardened and unaffected by death, a different hanging did deeply affect them.

Read More
1227 Words | 5 Pages

(Brooks, pg. 76). Trial by ordeal was commonly used. People would be put to trials to see if they were guilty or not. For example, a woman had to carry a red hot iron for three steps. After three days, if the burn was larger than the size of a walnut, then she would be guilty.

Read More
1102 Words | 5 Pages

In similar fashion, most of the deaths in the European trials were hangings. Another way of execution was tying the persons hands and feet together and putting them in water, if the person sank, deemed innocent. If the person floated, considered to be witches and executed on the spot. Other tortures included thumbscrews, leg vices, scalding lime baths, whipping stocks, and the strappado. The strappado hoisted up a person and pulled apart.

Read More
2086 Words | 9 Pages

An inmate is executed in front of the prisoners and then another in the same way. Three prisoners are hanged for the possession of weapons the next

Read More
1088 Words | 5 Pages

In medieval times, torture was used to punish criminals, deter crime, and gather information. There were many different types of tortures, most of which were brutal and painful. At the time, torture was deemed necessary to maintain order. Laws were harsh and torture was severe, but effective form of punishment. Despite its effectiveness, torture was often an unfair and extremely cruel punishment, and should have been eliminated in all forms.

Read More
973 Words | 4 Pages

This essay will mention some of the crimes and punishments; it will also explain the differences between the medieval times and the modern times. Crime Crimes for people to commit in the Medieval times was easier for people to commit than. Most of the crimes were very so unnecessary that even lighting a fire can cause big times. Some of the crimes committed in the Medieval times were Theft which means to steal something from another person, Arson which means to light fire in public, Witchcraft means to practise magic such as black magic and a use of spells, Heresay/blasphemy means disrespect towards god because in the Medieval times they looked up to god a lot and they would make big discussions by asking god in a way people would not know. Treason which is traitor to the crown (king), Vagrancy means homelessness which in the medieval times was very common for people that work or the king such as peasants.

Read More
1124 Words | 5 Pages

Rhetorical Analysis of “A Hanging” In his personal narrative, “A Hanging”, George Orwell, a renowned British author, who often used his talents to criticize injustice and totalitarianism, describes an execution he witnessed in Burma while serving as an officer in the British Imperial Police. Originally published in The Adelphi, a British magazine, in 1931, the piece was written for educated, politically aware people in England, in hopes of provoking questions regarding the morality of capital punishment, and perhaps imperialist society overall, in those benefitting from such a system. Although he died nearly seventy years ago, his works are still influential and relevant today. Using vivid descriptions and a somber tone, Orwell recreates his experience in a tense narration that clearly shows his thesis concerning the value of human life and the wrongness inherent to a system that dismisses it so casually.

Read More
571 Words | 3 Pages

The Judas Cradle, for example, forced an individual to sit on a wooden pyramid, almost always stark naked — to add to the shame — and left for several hours or days with their limbs tied. Flagellation, punishment by whipping, was also a favorite. This technique was regularly performed in a place of communion and involved tying the offender's wrists

Read More
714 Words | 3 Pages

If they killed someone they died with them. This was done so that the privilege of execution by decapitation would no longer be confined to the nobles and the process of execution would be as painless as possible. The first machine was called Louisette, or Louison, but soon became known as la guillotine. Later the French underworld dubbed it “the widow.” Use of the guillotine continued in France well into the 20th century, diminishing during the 1960s and ’70s, with only eight executions occurring between 1965 and the last one in 1977.

Read More
648 Words | 3 Pages

“They struck others in the shoulders, and their arms were torn from their bodies. They wounded some in the thigh and some in the calf. They slashed others in the abdomen, and their entrails all spilled to the ground. Some attempted to run away, but their intestines dragged as they ran; they seemed to tangled their feet on their own entrails (pg 76).”

Read More
879 Words | 4 Pages

While we prefer life in jail, they preferred death. To conclude, a significant extent of the nature of crime and punishment changed between social classes and over the years since the Medieval Period. This is seen through the significant groups that were involved in medieval crime and punishment, the effects of a person’s social class on crime and punishment, the sort of crime each punishment was used for and the difference between crime and punishments between the Medieval Period and today. The Medieval Period lasted from 476 CE to 1453 CE, with different punishments for each crime committed by different social

Read More
733 Words | 3 Pages

In Darrow’s closing argument he gives his famed “A Plea for Mercy” to the judge. This plea not only acted as a conclusion to his defense, but it also acted as an introduction the eradication of the death penalty. Darrow uses a mix of ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices to impose a merciful effect on his audience in hopes to reduce his clients punishment and the use of capital punishment. Darrow gracefully uses all three appeals when referring to the rise of crime after war “I know that it has followed every war; and I know it has influenced these boys so that life was not the same to them as it would have been if the world had not been made red with blood.

Read More

More about Determining Guilt Or Innocence In Medieval Times

Related Topics

Open Document