When it comes to torture in ancient feudal society, the first thing that comes to everyone's mind may be car cracking and Ling Chi.
Yes, these two tortures are indeed cruel enough.
However, in ancient times, the rulers of each country had their own criminal laws in order to serve as a good warning to the people and better consolidate their dominance.
And how much do you know about torture in ancient Europe?
Blossom pear, also known as bitter pear, is a punishment used exclusively on women.
It originated in Europe in the 16th century.
The tool is shaped like a baseball bat, thick in the front and thin in the back, and is made up of four petals. On top of each petal is a long iron nail.
At first, the tool was put into the mouth of a female prisoner. At this point, it may not be painful for female prisoners.
The point is that next, the executor of the torture instrument will turn the switch of the torture instrument, and the four petals will immediately open in the mouth of the female prisoner, and the mouth of the female prisoner will be torn apart in an instant.
Not only that, but next, the executor will speed up the rotation of the torture equipment, and the female prisoner's mouth will face the pain of making her worse than death.
I thought this torture device was creepy enough, but it also had an "upgraded version".
With the continuous improvement of the torture instrument by the ancient punishers, the blossom pear was used exclusively for the lower body of female prisoners.
In the same way, this will make the pain endured by female prisoners even more difficult.
Its purpose was to allow female prisoners to endure the pain of physical destruction without dying. Although it is very simple to operate, the pain caused to the victim is maximized.
Such a punishment can be said to be a great insult to women, and in those days, many young women would rather choose to die than suffer this punishment.
The Iron Maiden, also known as the "Iron Maiden", was widely used in Europe in the 15th century.
It looks like an Egyptian mummy coffin.
A height of about 2 meters is made according to the height of the human body. This "mummified coffin" is mostly made of wood, with a few made of iron.
But no matter what material the exterior is made of, both doors are filled with sharp iron nails of varying lengths.
Then, the iron nails on the door will instantly pierce the prisoner's body, including the eyes, hands and feet.
Most of the prisoners who were subjected to this punishment died of excessive bleeding.
During this process, some prisoners will struggle unconsciously due to the extreme pain caused by the piercing of their bodies, but they do not know that this action will exacerbate their physical pain.
The original torture tool of the Iron Lady was invented by Countess Barthori Elisabeth of Hungary. At the time, she was convinced by hearsay that there was a secret to her eternal youth, which was to bathe her body with virgin blood.
So, she sent a large number of people to capture virgins, and in order to obtain the blood of these virgins more easily, she invented the tool of the iron virgin.
According to statistics, in just 3 years, Earl Elizabeth killed more than 600 young girls.
And the Earl Elizabeth, after draining the blood of these maidens with the "Iron Maiden", threw them directly into a nearby village.
In the long run, her actions caused outrage. The local villagers banded together to take her to an international court.
She herself was not executed due to the peculiarities of her status, but was confined to her castle. But because she couldn't stand such loneliness and disparity, in less than four years, she went crazy and died in that castle.
Such an ending is also considered deserved by her. Because of her extreme ruthlessness, later generations gave her nicknames such as "Count of the Virgin Death" and "Countess Vampire".
In addition to this, there is castration in Europe.
As early as around 10,000 B.C., it was widely believed that human beings were created by God, and in gratitude to heaven and earth, people would offer what they considered to be the most precious things.
So in Europe, castration first appeared and was used for sacrifice.
In Europe in the mid-16th century, women were not allowed in the churches of the time, and in order to fill the vacancy of sopranos, they would castrate boys before the voice change period, which is also known as eunuchs.
In ancient Egypt, castration was again used in religion, and some clergy would castrate themselves in order to eliminate their desires and become closer to God.
Later castration was used on the battlefield again.
During the period of the largest territory of ancient Egypt, Thutmose III was ambitious, and in order to make his soldiers braver, he proposed to cut off the enemy's arms to lead the army.
Later, however, Thutmose discovered that cutting off his arm was too easy to fake, and in order to prevent the soldiers from cheating, he changed the rule to using male genitalia to lead the army.
Later, in order to ensure the purity of his bloodline, the Egyptian rulers would castrate the male palace members in the palace.
Unlike the ancient and mature castration technology of the mainland, the castration method of ancient Europe was still very cruel.
They would castrate defeated slaves, or find fifteen or sixteen-year-old, good-looking children.
The specific operation is simple and crude, using a rope to tie up the genitals of castrated people, directly cutting off their genitals with a sharp blade, and then inserting a copper tube in the urethra.
Finally, to prevent infection, they will rub the wound with oil.
This kind of pain is not something that ordinary people can bear, and in order to prevent these people from running around because of the pain, they will also bury the lower bodies of these castrated people in the hot sand.
Bury it for a few days until there is no pain. And in this process, if you can survive, you will come back to life, and of course, there are many people who can't survive. It is recorded that about 80% of people would have died as a result of castration.
After looking at these punishments in ancient times, I have to sigh that the destruction of people in ancient feudal society is simply unbearable to look at.
In that era, once the laws and regulations of the country were violated, it would really end up with a consequence of not being able to survive and not be able to die.
From the ruler's point of view, however, these punishments, though cruel, can be an effective deterrent among the masses.
The times are advancing, and our current punishment is very humane compared to ancient times, but for the sake of our families, we must all be good citizens who abide by the law.