Evil Punishments Designed to be Worse Than Death
The Infographics Show・23 minutes read
Various historical torture methods such as flaying, impalement, crucifixion, and more were used to inflict excruciating pain and prolonged suffering on victims for different purposes across various civilizations. These brutal punishments caused immense physical and psychological harm, often resulting in prolonged agony and slow, painful deaths for those subjected to them.
Insights
- Flaying in ancient Assyria involved slowly removing a victim's skin, causing prolonged suffering through blood loss, infections, and hypothermia, showcasing torturers' expertise by keeping the skin intact.
- The Breaking Wheel, a European torture device, broke convicts' limbs before display, with survivors considered spared by God, highlighting the brutality and religious connotations of historical punishments.
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Recent questions
What is flaying?
Flaying is a method of torture where victims have their skin slowly removed using special knives, causing prolonged suffering.
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Summary
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Ancient Torture Methods: Brutal Punishments Revealed
- Flaying was a method of torture used in ancient Assyria, where victims had their skin slowly removed using special knives, starting from areas without vital organs to prolong their suffering.
- Victims of flaying could survive a few days at most due to blood loss, infections, shock, and hypothermia, with skilled torturers keeping the skin intact as a display of their expertise.
- The Boats, a Persian punishment, involved force-feeding a person a mixture of milk and honey, attracting insects and vermin to consume the victim alive in a slow, painful death.
- Poena Cullei, a Roman punishment, involved convicting a criminal of patricide, whipping them, sewing them into a leather sack with vicious animals, and throwing them into water to be attacked and drowned.
- Crucifixion, a common Roman execution method, involved nailing the condemned to a cross, causing death through factors like blood loss, asphyxiation, heart failure, or infection.
- Immurement, an ancient method of torture, involved walling a person alive in a confined space, leading to death from dehydration or asphyxiation, with examples like the Vestal Virgins in Rome.
- The Breaking Wheel, a European torture device, broke the limbs of convicts before lifting them onto a wheel for display, with survivors being deemed spared by God and pardoned.
- Impalement, a brutal punishment used since ancient times, involved inserting a sharpened stake through a person's body until it emerged from their mouth, often leading to a slow, agonizing death.
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Torture methods throughout history and cultures
- Threading the stake effectively and following the spine caused minimal damage, allowing a person to linger for days, with the record being eight days.
- The Ottoman empire extensively used the stake method, notably during the Armenian Genocide starting in 1915, and the Dutch rulers of the East Indies also employed it during the colonial era.
- The Rack, a torture device resembling an old-fashioned washboard, was used to inflict slow-level pain by extending the victim's arms and legs until they could endure no more.
- The Rack did not deliver immediate fatal injury but caused excruciating pain as ligaments, cartilage, and bones were stretched beyond their limits, often breaking the victim down.
- Auto-da-fe, a punishment method during the Spanish Inquisition, involved public penance, whipping, and ultimately burning the convicted at the stake, primarily targeting religious minorities and critics.
- Schwedentrunk, a torture method during the Thirty Years' War, involved forcing captives to drink excessive amounts of liquid, sometimes boiling water or sewage, causing internal burns and possible stomach rupture.
- Tarring and Feathering, a punishment in 18th century America, involved pouring hot tar on victims, causing permanent burn scars and excruciating pain, although rarely resulting in death.
- Trial By Ordeal, an ancient practice, included trials by combat or torture, such as walking over hot coals or submerging accused witches in water to prove innocence, often leading to death.
- Rat Torture, a method used in the Dutch Revolt, involved placing rats on a prisoner's body under a heated bowl, causing the rats to gnaw at the victim's flesh in desperation.
- Yubitsume, a Yakuza ritual, required members to slice off their little finger as a form of penance, weakening their grip and serving as a payment method in the past.
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"History's Worst Punishments Explained"
- Resource: "Worst Punishments in History" playlist
- Provides detailed breakdown of various historical punishments
