Medieval Torture Research Paper

In Great Britain, medieval torture device were mostly inhumane and considered cruel and unusual punishments. Which consisted of the Pear of Anguish, the Iron Maiden, and the Strappado. Many believe that shaming people will deter people from becoming a criminal while others believe that it will just make people sneaker. First of all to be considered cruel and unusual we have to know what the definition of cruel and unusual punishment is. It includes anything that is” torture, a deliberately degrading punishment , or any punishment that is too severe for the crime that has been committed” (unknown 1). Manly all the torture was shown for public viewing and was done this way to deter any future outlaws. Since then, the United States have added

This device has been rarely fatal, but the person receiving this punishment endured excruciating pain. This device was inserted into one of the body's orifices depending on the crime that they had committed. This device is described to look like a pear shape made up of four metal “leaves” joined by a hinge at its top, and a key or a crank at the other end of the instrument. For example, if the person was said to have been a liar, they would insert the Pear of Anguish into that person’s mouth and they would turn the key so that the leaves would start expanding and would cause the mouth to be dislocated (Dvorsky) . Since back then they were not oblivious to the fact of infection the Pear of Anguish was rarely washed thus causing an infection to start and would more than likely kill the person. The Pear of Anguish was invented by the french villain Palioly (Ehrengardt

The Iron Maiden was a sarcophagus with spikes on the interior surfaces and the door. Double doors would open, and on the inside of the door there were the spikes, but they weren't that long, so the person wouldn't die instantly but would go threw a painful death. Most of the spikes were strategically placed so they would puncture vital organs another fact was that they placed two spikes in front of the eyes so when the box was closed they would puncture the eyes leaving the victim blind. It was thought that the Iron Maiden was a factional torture device, but was later found out to be real when they later found an Iron Maiden in the 1800’s in a castle in Nuremberg, Germany. In 1733, Johann Philipp Siebenkees reported an Iron maiden being used to execute a coin forger in August 14. 1515 ( Unknown) . His story was later found to be false, Other name for the Iron Maiden include Virgin, and in German jungfer (