Middle Age Torture

Figure 1. Saw Torture

Hey kids, could you imagine if you didn't listen to your teacher one day, and she cut you in half with a saw?! Back in the old days, way older than your grandpa, they pretty much used to do that. If you were a witch or stole something from the olden days Wal-Mart, the king would tell his people to bring out the saw, and cut you in half! (1)

This type of torture was know as saw torture, as shown in Figure 1. The towns people loved this because they would get to watch the person being cut in half and their blood fly everywhere. The only gross part about this type of torture was that they would be all gross and naked. (1) For these people watching other people get tortured was like their old time video games, except more bloody and cool.

Another cool way people were punished back in the day was, they were placed in a giant metal bull and then put over over a fire. (2) This technique was called, The Brazen Bull, and was popular with the ancient Greeks. (2) It actually cooked the people in the box! They would put the people in the bull because, when the person would scream because they were burning, it would sound like a bull grunting. (2)

Figure 2. Vlad the Impaler

Many kings and queens loved the idea of torturing their enemies, but no one loved it more than Vlad the Impaler. (Figure 2) You may know him as his famous name, Dracula. He was a prince in Romania about 500 years ago. (2) I bet you heard some crazy stories about Dracula,and they are most likely true. Historians say he his the most violent man EVER! (2)

He got his name Vlad the Impaler because his favorite type of torture was impalement. This is when the victim was forced to sit on a sharp, thick pole, like the flagpole outside your school. (2) The pole was then raised up by Vlad,  and the victim would slide down the pole with their own weight. It could take the victim 3 days to die using this method. Some people claim that Vlad did this to 20,000 people all while enjoying a meal! (2) 20,000 people! Thats like 500 school buses full of kids! He did all this while eating a meal, he defiantly was crazy!


Some torture techniques they used in medieval times were so cool and bloody, they actually put them in video games. Have you ever played Assassin's Creed? Well, the guillotine technique is used in that game.Shown below in Figure 3 is an actually picture from the game, Assassin's Creed. The guillotine was famous during the French Revolution made of a tall wooden frame and a very sharp and heavy blade is at the top.(4)The victim is secured at the bottom of the frame, their neck is placed directly below the blade. The blade is then released, chopping the victims head clean off. (4)

Figure 3. Guillotine

So there you go, next time you play Assassin's Creed watch for the guillotine, and remember the French loved that. Who says you can't play video games and learn a little history at the same time? 

References 

1. Medieval torture. (2008, November 29). Saw Torture. Retrieved from http://medievality.com


2.  Grabianowski, E. (2015). The Brazen Bull. HowStuffWorks

3. Linke, D. (n.d). Vlad tepes. Retrieved from http://donlinke.com

4. Andrews, E. (2014). 8 things you may not know about the guillotine. History

Saw torture. (2013). Retrieved from list 25 website: http://list25.com/25-most-brutal-torture-techniques-ever-devised/5/

Vlad the Impaler. (n.d). Retrieved from Don Linke website: http://www.donlinke.com/drakula/vlad.htm

Guillotine. (2014). Retrieved from GameQuiche website: http://gamequiche.com/2014/07/14/assassins-creed-unity-revolution-gameplay-trailer-heads-will-roll/