Medieval Era Torture

During the medieval era torture was considered a legitimate practice in getting a confession or to receive the name of any accomplice in the crime committed. The crime committed and the accused individual’s social class determined the form of torture. However individuals were primarily toured for acts of treason.Torture was inflicted by the Church, because only Monarchs and the highest nobles were allowed to inflict torture. Torture occurred so often during the medieval era that public holidays were declared for mass torture events. The most horrendous torture devices used during the medieval era were the judas cradle,the iron maiden, and rat torture. The Judas cradle originated from sixteenth century Spain. However the Judas cradle was most frequently used late in the medieval era. The Judas cradle is a wooden chair that had a pyramid shaped seat that is forced into the anus or vagina of an accused individual. Two torturers over saw the judas cradle in action. One torturer would supervise

There was no noted first time use of the rat torture. One form of rat torture is large rats were placed in a cage with the only opening being on the accused individual's stomach with a heating element on the opposite side. The accused individual was also tied down to a flat surface such as a table or the floor. The rats natural instincts kicked in and the rats would try to leave the extreme heat by burrowing inside the accused individual. The second form of rat torture is very similar to the first form of rat torture. However slits into the stomach were inflicted instead of heat and hungry rats would be placed inside of the cuts. Both forms of torture were agonizing because it took hours in some cases days for the rats to chew through the accused individual. Rat torture almost always resulted in death unless the torture was stopped immediately. Rat torture was a cheap and easily performed torture