Torture has been practiced all over the world since time immemorial. The infliction of physical torment helped in obtaining information, intimidation and punishment. The ban on torture was officially enshrined in the 1984 UN General Assembly. Not all states supported this decision.
Over the course of many millennia, many methods have been devised and improved in causing pain, suffering, and humiliation. One of them was a rack. The instrument of torture gained popularity in many large states, including Russia.
Application
During the existence of the tool, it was modified. Two main types were used: bed and suspension. Their essence was similar.
The fish (a tool of torture) was used to stretch the human body, which led to tearing of soft tissues, loss of limbs from the joints. The victim felt extreme pain. Most people confessed to all crimes, if they did not die earlier from pain shock.
Roman origins
In ancient times, the rack (a tool of torture) was quite widespread. The Romans used it as a tool to punish criminals and slaves. With the advent of Christianity, it began to be applied to them.
Over time, it was the Christians who made wide use of the rack. During the Middle Ages, the gun became the most popular among the inquisitors.
Spread in Europe
The dung as a tool of torture very quickly spread throughout Europe. There were two main types of described instrument:
- Bed - the design consisted of boards and rollers. Ropes were wound around the rollers that held the person by the wrists and ankles. The rollers rotated and pulled the ropes in opposite directions. The victim’s body stretched, causing severe pain.
- Suspension - the design consisted of two posts connected by a crossbar. The man had his hands tied behind his back and hung on a rope. At the feet could additionally hang a load. The victim’s arms were twisted, coming out of the joints. The victim hung on broken hands for a long time.
Both versions were used in different countries until the seventeenth, in some places of the eighteenth century.
English version of the gun
On the island, the rack as a tool of torture (photo below) came in 1447. According to legend, John Holland, the Duke of Exeter, began to use it, occupying the highest position in the Tower of London. The instrument was called the "daughter of the duke."
According to the description, the English rack had the following characteristics:
- base material - oak;
- the frame is large, mounted horizontally;
- the frame is raised 3 feet above the floor;
- cylindrical gates installed at the edges of the frame;
- ropes tied to wrists and ankles.
The rotation of the levers tightened the ropes, the victim's body stretched and rose to the height of the frame. At this time, people were asked questions. If there were no answers or they did not satisfy the jailers, the torture continued until the joints popped out of their places. The victim heard tendons tearing in her body.
German version
The German executioners also liked the torture on end. The most famous was the design that was used in the city of Nuremberg. It has been improved over earlier versions.
Description:
- the rack is made of wood;
- was ten feet long;
- on one side a powerful winch was fitted;
- winch rotated levers
- could be used "hare with spikes."
Before the torture, the victim was stripped naked, laid face down, his hands fastened to the crossbar, his legs tied to a winch. The executioners began to turn the winch in complete silence. Soon the victim's body was stretched, and a moan broke the silence. With the stretching of the first tendons, the victim began to scream. After that, the executioners turned the winch slowly, since the slightest movement brought unbearable pain. The official stopped the procedure from time to time, asking his questions. Not receiving an answer to them, he continued to torture.
If the official did not receive an answer, a cylinder with inch spikes was rolled over the victim’s body. To kill a man, the executioner could place a “hare with spikes” under his stomach and continue to twist the winch until the body is torn from punctures.
To inflict even greater torment, a man was tortured with water on a rack, a cord was drawn on his body, which was pulled so that he deeply dug into the body. Sometimes a person admitted everything only from the type of construction.
Russian rack
The rack was used as a tool of torture in Russia. She was preceded by pads in which criminals were chained. As a form of punishment, the gun has been used since the thirteenth century. The intentional infliction of suffering on the accused was especially widespread under Ivan the Terrible. This was due to the appearance of the oprichnina, which had been the secret police since 1565. For inquiry, torture on the rack began to be used. The method of obtaining information was preserved under Peter the Great.
Interrogation under the rack "in Russian"
According to the description of Grigory Kotoshikhin (wrote an essay on the history of Russia) in the seventeenth century, punishment was applied to thieves.
A shirt was removed from a person, hands were tied behind on the hands, legs were fastened with a belt. The design resembled a gallows. A victim was hung on it. One executioner stepped on the belt, and the second lifted the man, so that he remained hanging on the rack with dislocated arms.
The punishment was sometimes supplemented by blows to the back with a whip. Every blow left a deep mark. The strikes were carried out at intervals in order to prolong the torture as long as possible. If necessary, the victim was brought to life. If the culprit did not confess, he was hung up again and tortured repeatedly, but with the use of fire. The executioner heated iron mites and broke ribs. They also made a fire under the victim and tied a log to his legs. Not only men but women were tortured.
Famous people who “met” with a rack
As a weapon, punishment was used more often on slaves and criminals. Many people went through torture, most of which are unknown.
List of known victims of the rack:
- Saint Juliet - it is known about a woman that she was a Christian. For this, she and her child were brought to Alexander, who ruled the city of Tara. She admitted to him that she was a sect of Christians and that was sentenced to torture. At the end of the torture, hot tar was poured on her feet and the flesh was mutilated with iron hooks. In the end, the victim was stripped of his head. The governor killed the woman’s child because he kept repeating that he was a Christian. He hurt the boy’s head on the stone floor. After a while, Juliet was called a saint.
- Jan Sarkandera - was a Catholic priest, proclaimed a martyr. He lived in the sixteenth to seventeenth century. He was accused of loyalty to Poland and tortured. He was supposed to break the secret of confession, but did not and died in captivity in 1620.
- William Ligtou - was arrested in Malaga for espionage in 1620. He was a Protestant and refused to convert to Catholicism. He went through the torture of the Inquisition and survived. At that time it was allowed to use torture if the prisoner's guilt was proved by half. At the same time, it was impossible to apply the same method for one person, so the torment was stretched for a long time. To begin with, a man was intimidated with information about the upcoming interrogation, then the equipment was shown. If a person did not want to confess, they began to prepare him for interrogation. The torture on end continued for many hours. The victim's tendons were torn, the bones were broken, the limbs fell out of the joints. Ligtou spent several months in prison and was tortured eleven times. He escaped thanks to a servant who spoke of a captured English ambassador.
- Guy Fox is an English nobleman who became a Catholic. He lived in the late sixteen-early seventeenth century. Known for participating in a conspiracy against Jacob the First in 1605. Due to prolonged torture on the rack, he betrayed his brothers. The men were sentenced to be hanged, followed by gutting and quartering. Fox was able to jump from the scaffold so as to break his neck and prevent the execution from continuing.
Thanks to the sleeping prisoners and their testimonies, the world became aware of the methods of the Spanish Inquisition, not only in relation to their subjects, but also to guests. Representatives of the Inquisition recorded many interrogations on their own. They prove the inhumanity of some ministers of the church. No less cruel were the rulers who, for their own interests, were ready to rack even their loved ones.
Torture in the cinema
Only descriptions and images have survived to this day, how a person on a rack could look. Reconstruction of torture can be seen in museums in Europe, as well as in cinema.
Films showing torture with the rack:
- The Tudors is a television series that aired in 2008-2010. The historical project was filmed by Michael Hurst. He tells of the events in England in the sixteenth century under the reign of Henry the Eighth. It was at this time that the rack was a popular tool for interrogation.
- "Tsar" - a motion picture of 2009. The historical film by Pavel Lungin presents many tortures and executions that are attributed to the era of Ivan the Terrible. The picture describes two years from the life of the king at the time of his struggle with the opposition.
Of course, art cannot convey the horror that occurred with people prone to torment on the rack. The design itself has been preserved in the Tower of London. It can be seen by visiting the tour.