Seeing some images of olden times may seem somewhat cartoonish. Because these events happened a long time ago, they can appear to be overly simplified and unrealistic.
However, what isn’t amusing at all are the implements people used to t*****e and execute convicted criminals during those days. The brutality of these devices alone can make one question how society viewed human rights back then.
We’ve compiled some of them into this list, along with a bit of information about how they worked. Just reading them can scare you off from the mere thought of committing any form of crime. Scroll through to see what I mean.
1: Impalement With Stake, Pole, Spear, Or Hook
Impalement is one of the most gruesome and feared methods of e*******n, designed for maximum suffering. The most infamous version involved forcing a victim onto a large, rounded, and often oiled stake, which was then raised upright. The person’s own weight would slowly drive the pole up through their body, a process that was deliberately designed to miss vital organs and prolong the agony for hours, or even days. It’s most famously associated with Vlad the Impaler of Wallachia, who created entire “forests” of his impaled enemies to terrorize his foes, making it not just a way to end a life, but a horrifying tool of psychological warfare.
2. The Pillory
The pillory was a device used for public punishment, focused more on humiliation than on physical harm. It consisted of a wooden frame with holes for an offender’s head and hands, which officials would lock in place. Stuck in a town square or marketplace, the person was helpless against the crowd, who would often throw garbage, rotten food, and even rocks at them. The real punishment was the intense public shame and social ostracism that followed, though the physical harm from the crowd could sometimes be severe.
3. Goat-Licking Frame
The victim would be restrained, usually in stocks, with their bare feet exposed and covered in saltwater. Then, a thirsty goat would be brought in to lick the salt off. What started as unbearable, maddening ticklishness would eventually turn into pure pain. A goat’s tongue is incredibly rough, and after a while, it would lick the skin right off the feet, leaving them raw and bleeding.
4. Ducking Stool
The ducking stool was a tool for public humiliation, aimed almost exclusively at women considered gossips or “scolds.” It was basically a chair attached to the end of a long wooden beam that worked like a giant seesaw. They’d strap the woman in and repeatedly plunge her into a cold, dirty river or pond in front of the whole town. The goal wasn’t necessarily to k**l her, but the combination of public shame and the shock of the cold water was a brutal punishment, and accidental drownings definitely happened.
5. Chinese Water T*****e
Chinese water t*****e is a form of mental torment rather than physical injury. The method involves restraining a person and allowing cold water to slowly and methodically drip onto a single spot on their forehead. While seemingly harmless, the relentless, repetitive sensation over a long period becomes maddening. The constant anticipation of the next drop combined with the chilling effect on the skin was intended to drive the victim to a state of psychological collapse.
6. Schwedentrunk – Swedish Drink
The Swedish Drink was a horrifying form of t*****e used during the Thirty Years’ War to force peasants to reveal hidden valuables. Soldiers would restrain a victim and force them to swallow enormous quantities of a vile liquid, often a foul cocktail of manure, urine, and dirty water. Once the person’s stomach was horrifically bloated and distended, the torturers would then kick them, stomp on their belly, or press a board against them. This caused the victim to violently expel the contents, often leading to ruptured internal organs and a slow, agonizing death.
7. The Brazen Bull
This is a truly horrifying one, straight out of ancient Greece. The Brazen Bull was a life-sized, hollow statue of a bull made entirely of bronze, with a door on the side. You’d lock a victim inside, light a fire underneath, and essentially roast them to death. The most diabolical part was a complex system of tubes and pipes inside the bull’s head, which was designed to convert the victim’s terrified screams into the bellowing sound of an actual bull, turning the e*******n into a ghastly spectacle.
8. Lingchi Bench (Death By 1000 Cuts)
Also known as “death by a thousand cuts,” Lingchi was a horrifying method of e*******n used in imperial China for the absolute worst crimes. The executioner would tie the condemned person to a wooden frame and slowly slice off bits of their flesh over a long period. The whole point was to maximize the suffering and keep the person alive for as long as possible as a public spectacle. This wasn’t just physical t*****e; it was designed to destroy the person in the afterlife, too, by dismembering their body.
9. Gas Chamber
The gas chamber executes a person by sealing them in an airtight room and flooding it with poisonous gas. Typically, this is done by dropping cyanide pellets into a pan of sulfuric acid, which creates deadly hydrogen cyanide gas. Although introduced as a more humane alternative to other methods, death by gas can be slow and visibly agonizing. The method is infamous for its use in the H*******t and is now very rarely used for capital punishment in the United States.