Medieval Torture

The English in medieval times, utilized torture to extract information or a confession from a certain person (generally performed on infidels and church priests because of how religion was very important Medieval English society.) Torturers would torture someone with great skill by preventing the victim to not pass out and receive life-threatening damage but still deal excruciating pain to reach success in the torture. There were a large variety of tortures in medieval England but the particularly successful forms were The Rack, Scavengers Daughter, The Boot, Iron Gauntlet, Thumbscrews, Branding and Mutilation. English torture was highly effective based how the tortures were used and its success rate.

The Boots (or Boot) was simply an iron boot, which the victim inserted their feet and legs into it, whilst the torturer forced segments of wood into the boot. This caused horrific pain to the victim’s legs and feet. The boot was not an expensive torture to perform and was very easy to do without silencing the victim. A strong point about this torture was that the torturer would simultaneously perform other forms of torture on the victim resulting in even more pain to the victim. Overall The Boot was highly effective on the victim because the torturer could keep forcing more segments into the Boot until the information or confession was gained.

The Iron Gauntlet was basically a glove or cuff applied to the victim’s hands or wrist, and then Tied up followed by slowly being lifted up from the ground. This resulted in the victim suffering tremendous pain from the shoulder joints. Just like The Boot; the torturer would place other tortures on the victim simultaneously, to cause maximum pain, to increase its effectiveness. The Iron Gauntlet would eventually dislocate the victim’s joints and deplete circulation in the hands, causing them to swell up. Not only was The Iron Gauntlet easy to perform and very painful, you could weigh down the victim by a weight or