Torture Methods Used on Those Accused of Witchcraft

One might glance at some of the special tortures at Bamberg, for example, such as the forcible feeding of the accused on herrings cooked in salt, followed by denial of water - a sophisticated method which went side by side with immersion of the accused in baths of scalding water to which lime had been added. Other ways with witches included the wooden horse, various kinds of racks, the heated iron chair, leg vises [Spanish boots], and large boots of leather or metal into which (with the feet in them, of course) was poured boiling water or molten lead. In the water torture, the question de l'eau, water was poured down the throat of the accused, along with a soft cloth to cause choking. The cloth was pulled out quickly so that the entrails would be torn. The thumbscrews [gresillons] were a vise designed to compress the thumbs or the big toes to the root of the nails, so that the crushing of the digit would cause excruciating pain.

Notes:

A small subset of the injustices wrought on innocents.

Folksonomies: witch hunt injustice

Taxonomies:
/society/crime/personal offense/torture (0.486413)
/food and drink (0.484058)
/hobbies and interests/needlework (0.397410)

Keywords:
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Entities:
Bamberg:City (0.879830 (neutral:0.000000))

The Encyclopedia of Withcraft & Demonology

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Robbins , Rossell Hope (1981), The Encyclopedia of Withcraft & Demonology, Bonanza, Retrieved on 2011-05-18