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Medieval Torture Devices - The Rack
The rack was first officially used as a form of torture in antiquity,
during pre-Hellenic times and in the early medieval period.
It has often been claimed that the rack was first used in ancient Greece to torture slaves and non-citizens.
In 356 BC, the historian Herostratos was subjected to the rack,
in order to force a confession for the burning down of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.
The rack was also employed by Alexander the Great in 328 BC to torture those who conspired against him in an assassination plot,
including his court historian Callisthenes.
However, while these stories exist,
it is often contested whether this torture device was used at all in classical Greece or in ancient Rome.
It's because of this lack of proof that the origins of the rack can only concretely be traced back to
anglo-saxon England and the European continent during the Middle Ages.
The rack itself was a large wooden frame either elevated off the ground and placed horizontally,
or propped up at almost a 90-degree angle.
These rollers were attached to levers or wheels which if pulled,
would stretch the limbs of the victim until they either couldn't take it anymore,
Or until their limbs were dislocated from the rest of their body.
One very gruesome aspect when they were stretched beyond their limit,
was the loud popping noises made by snapping cartilages, ligaments, or bones.
In different countries, modifications were made to the rack to enhance its damage to the victims.
In particular, France added spikes to the planks which the victim would be supported on,
causing them to be pierced in the back as they were stretched.
While the victims were confined on the rack,
It would also be subjected to other forms of torture,
such as burning or having their nails forcibly removed from their fingers and toes.
The rack was used most often to torture individuals into answering questions asked of them by their captors.
Use of the rack increased in frequency during the Middle Ages around the time of the Inquisition.
The Catholic Church held a large amount of power on Continental Europe during the Middle Ages,
and it was Pope Lucius III who first sent inquisitors in search of heretics.
The systematic rooting out and punishment of heretics began in the late 12th century,
with the persecution of the Cathars in the South of France and several other heretical groups.
A forerunner to the Spanish Inquisition was introduced in the kingdom of Aragon in the 13th century.
The rack was used by the inquisitors in an attempt to force confessions of heresy.
As the Inquisition's reached their peak,
torture became routine practice, especially during the Spanish Inquisition, which began in 1478.
While early inquisitors were agents of the Pope,
the Spanish Inquisition was under the direct control of the Monarchs Ferdinand the II of Aragon,
and Isabella I of Castile.
The rack was often used in England from the 15th through the 17th centuries.
It's first appearance in England is said to have been due to John Holland 2nd Duke of Exeter and constable of the tower
Under the Tudor and Stuart
Monarchies the use of torture including the rack increased as it was justified in the case of treason trials
Some of the most prominent rulers who employed the rack as a torture method included
very the first also known as Bloody Mary Henry the eighth and Elizabeth the first
The Tower of London was known as the center of British torture and many were tried on the rack
Also known as the Duke of Exeter's daughter within the confines of that historic site
The only woman to be documented as being tried on the rack in the Tower of London was an askew in
1546
Anne was a supporter of Martin Luther and his Protestant ideals and was imprisoned on charges of spreading Protestant beliefs
Even though Anne was so badly tortured on the rack that she was not able to walk afterwards. She never surrendered her faith
She was later condemned to death for her Protestant faith and burned at the stake
Guy Fawkes was the most famous victim of the Tower of London
he was thought to have been tried on the rack after the failed Gunpowder Plot of
1605 as a last resort as the lesser tortures were not successful in forcing a confession
After suffering on the rack multiple times Guy Fawkes finally confessed and gave the names of his accomplices
The torture was so terrible that Fox fainted before he was able to sign his name to the confession
When he was finally brought to consciousness and gave his signature. He was condemned to death and executed
Fox was supposed to be hanged drawn and quartered one of the slowest and most painful executions implemented in the late Middle Ages
However, when he was brought to the noose
He was able to jump from the platform with enough force to successfully break his neck and end his suffering
yet that did not stop his executioner's from drawing and quartering his dead body a
Form of the rack persisted in Russia until the 18th century in different countries
The rack was gradually replaced by a host of less barbarous and cruel forms of punishment for crimes. Great and small
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