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During the height of the Witch-hunts excruciating torture was used to wring confessions out of the accused, as well as make the accused implicate others. The Malleus Maleficarum stated that "common justice demands that a witch should not be condemned to death unless she is convicted by her own confession". To that end- confession and execution- torture was considered an acceptable means.
Torture has been inflicted on people since ancient times, but only after Pope Innocent VIII's papal bull did Inquisitional torture begin in earnest. The worst tortures occured on the Continent, particularly in Germany, France, Italy, and Switzerland, perpetrated by both Catholic and Protestant Inquisitors. After King James VI assumed the throne in Scotland, that country began to use brutal torture methods as well. Torture was far less extreme and common in England (where it was eventually outlawed), Ireland, and Scandinavia. During the Salem Witch Trials in America torture was used, but it was extremely mild compared to the Continent.
Most tortures followed the same pattern, at least on the Continent. At first, the accused was urged to confess. She was stripped naked and shaved (a torture in itself- the women thus accused were raised in a society with extreme nudity taboos, so the embarassment must have been enormous). After that she was pricked for insensitive spots (with some Inquisitors using retractable pins, so the accused would feel no pain and thus have an insensitive spot) and examined for blemishes that could be construed as Devil's Marks. Most people would not confess at this point, and so the actual tortures began.
Before torture commenced the torturer would take the victim aside and explain exactly what he was going to do to their soft little bodies. Sometimes this alone would wring a confession from the accused, and this was cried out around town as a voluntary confession. It was still considered a voluntary confession if the victim broke under light torture. Those that just would not confess were said to be aided by the Devil.
While the victim was tortured, the torturer repeated questions while the clerk took notes. There was a big chance for error, especially when the victim spoke and understood only a dialect of their native language. The torture lasted until the victim confessed. The torturer had to take great care not to kill the victim before a confession was given. Once the victim was worn out and delerious she was taken back to her cell so she could recover enough to endure another round. Each round was more brutal than the last. For these "services" the torturer and other court officials were paid, ususally with the victim's money. If the victim had no money her relatives were forced to pay for not just the actual torture but the torturer's meals, travel expenses, "entertainment", and horse-feed.
The fun did not even stop there. Once the victim did confess, normally to avoid torture, they were tortured on the way to the gallows. On the way to their execution, the victims were flogged, burned, branded, squeezed with red-hot tongs and had body parts like fingers, hands, and tongues cut off. The severed body parts were then nailed to the gallows, and the torturer got a special bonus.
Types Of Torture
Blooding
It was once commonly believed that a witch's power could be controlled by "blooding" her (much like historical doctors did with ill patients). This involved slicing the vistim open, either somewhere on the face or near a major vein. Victims blooded like this could easily die of blood loss.
Boots
Also called bootikens or cashielaws, these "cunning" little devices consisted of wedges that were applied on the legs from ankles to knees. The torturer used a cousin to the sledgehammer to pound the wedges in closer together. As the area between the wedges got smaller and began to close on the leg, the wedges began to enter the flesh and crush the bone, sometimes so thoroughly that marrow gushed out.
"Cleansing the Soul"
This was a new one on me when I first read it. Apparently, Catholics believed the soul of a witch was corrupted. To cleanse them before punishment, victims drank heated or scalding materials, like scalding water, fire brands, coals, and even soaps.
The Ducking Stool
Women witches were strapped into a seat which hung from the end of a teeter-totter type contraption. The victim was dunked into a river or pond. Not only could the temperature of the water kill the victims, but they were often left underwater for as long as 5 minutes or more. The ducking stool was used in America for witches, and in Britain for the punishment of petty criminals and prostitutes.
The Garotte
At first, garottes were an upright post with a hole bored through them. The victim would stand or sit on a seat in front of the post, and a rope was looped around his or her neck. The rope ends were pulled through the hole in the post, and the executioner would pull on both ends of the cord, slowly strangling the victim. Someone decided to get creative with it later on, and added a spike that would be driven into the neck of the victim as they were being strangled, parting the vertebrae. Sometimes a knife was used instead of the spike when just no other torture method would do.
The Iron Maiden of Nuremberg
The Maiden has now become a staple in every movie torture-room made. It was a coffin-shaped container that stood upright and closed firmly. On the inside of the door were long, thick spikes. Victims were put inside, standing up, and the door would be slammed on their bodies, driving the spikes through. The talons were not designed to kill outright, however, so the victim could enjoy their new home for several days before they died.
Knotting
This form of torture was specific to women. It involved tying a stick into a woman's hair and twisting it tighter and tighter. When the Inquisitor's arms got tired he would hand off the task to friends while either holding the victim down or just watching. Not only would the hair be ripped out completely but the scalp would often be torn open, exposing the skull-cap. As expected, only women with thick or long hair were chosen for this torture.
Mastectomy
Yes, this does mean what you think it does. Women had their breasts torn off with red- or white-hot clamps. It seems like the misogyny was enforced here, as torturers made it a point to damage a woman's breasts in some way. The most famous case is that of Anna Pappenheimer. After already being tortured with the strappado, Anna was stripped, her flesh torn off with red-hot pincers, and her breasts cut off. The bloody breasts were then forced into her mouth and then into the mouths of her two grown sons.
The Oven at Neisse
Another new one on me. The oven at Neisse, in Silesia, was a forerunner of the ovens used in Nazi concentration camps. The difference was that in the concentration camps, the victims were killed before they were roasted. In mid-17th-century Silesia, more than two thousand girls and women were cooked during a nine-year period. This number includes two babies.
The Pear
The pear had more than one way to be used, with the most popular being orally. The pear was also used in the rectum and in the vagina. The pear was "expanded by force of the screw to the maximum aperture of their segments. The inside of the cavity in question is irremediably mutilated, nearly always fatally so. The pointed prongs at the end of the segments serve better to rip into the throat" or "the intestines." When applied vaginally, the spikes tore apart the cervix. The vaginal use was devised for women who had been found guilty of sexual union with the Devil or his familiars.
Pressing
Pressing was both a death sentence and a means of drawing out confessions. Adopted as a judicial measure during the 14th century, pressing reached its peak during the reign of Henry IV. In Britain, pressing was not abolished until 1772.
The Rack
The victim was tied across a board by his ankles and wrists. Rollers at either end of the board were turned, pulling the body in opposite directions until dislocation of every joint occurred. Basically a slow, mechanical version of drawing and quartering. This method was not used in England or Scotland but it was used on the Continent, especially in France.
Swimming
This one is similar to the dunking stool. The victim was bound hand and foot and thrown into water to see if they sank. If the innocent victim sank and drowned, that was just too bad. If they floated, it was a sign that God's baptismal waters had rejected them and they were off to the gallows.
The Strappado
The strappado was one of the easiest and, therefore, one of the most common torture techniques. All this took was a rafter and a rope. The victim's hands would be tied behind their back. One end of the rope was attached to the wrist and the other was thrown across the rafter. Then the victim was repeatedly hauled to the roof and dropped so their arms and shoulders would dislocatete. A variant involved attaching weights to the feet of the victim as they were being dropped. This resulted in a harder jerk at the bottom and more bone dislocation and pain.
Strangulation
Strangulation was used either on its own or as the precursor to burning at the stake. Because being burnt alive evoked sympathy from the crowds, victims were generally dispatched of before being consigned to the flames.
Spidering
This form of torture was similar to the masectomy. The spider was a sharp iron fork that was used to mangle breasts. Again, this was a torture pretty much exclusive to women.
Thrawing
A technique wherein the victim's head was tied with ropes and jerked from side to side.
Thumbscrews
Also known as pinniewinks, these tools did the same thing that boots did, except on the fingers and toes, crushing them at the root of the nail until the blood spurted out. In 1629 a woman in Prossneck, Germany, was left in the thumbscrews from 10 AM to 1 PM while the torturer and other court officials went out to lunch.
Tormentum Insomniae
In England, torture was not allowed against witches. Tormentum insomniae was torture by sleeplessness, and was allowable perhaps because it did not seem to be a real torture.
The Turcas
A turcas was used to tear out fingernails. In 1590-1591 John Fian was subjected to this and other tortures in Scotland. After his nails were ripped out, needles were driven into the quicks.
Walking
This was a "mild" form of torture used mainly in England. This involved making the victim walk until the were so tired they passed out and had blisters on their feet. This was generally accompanied by the Tormentum insomniae.
Water Torture
This one took inspiration to dream up. Water torture involved forcing great quantities of water, sometimes boiling, down the throat of the victim, along with a long knotted cloth. The cloth was then jerked out, which did a real number on the victim's insides. A variation included only feeding the victim salted foods and briny water.
The Wheel
What fun! Strap a man to a wheel, crush his bones with an iron bar, and hoist him up so the crowd can watch! Now, now, don't be sloppy and pierce the skin; it's so much better for him to be bleeding internally, because if no one sees any blood no one can be really sorry for him. Ooh, and for even more fun, we can put the wheel over the fire to cook the strapped in man for a bit, or we can put it on a bed of nails for our own little version of the Iron Maiden. Then, to be chairitable, we could bang his chest with the bar a few times so he can die faster! This method had wide-spread appeal in Germany and Spain.
Whipping
This was a mild, common form of torture. The victim would be horse-whipped until their back was in ribbons. The whip was used on all parts of the body. When the victim passed out they were revived before the whipping continued. This form of torture was generally a prelude to worse things.
