Three kinds of torture in the Inquisition (Puigblanch; Walton, tr., The inquisition unmasked, 1816, vol. 1)

Text: "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;" "And he [the little horn] ... shall wear out the saints of the most High, ... and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Daniel 7:21,25

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   Three kinds of torture have been generally used by the Inquisition, viz. the pulley, rack, and fire. As sad and loud lamentations accompanied the sharpness of pain, the victim was conducted to a retired apartment, called the Hall of Torture, and usually situated under ground, in order that his cries might not interrupt the silence which reigned throughout the other parts of the building. Here the court assembled, and the judges being seated, together with their secretary, again questioned the prisoner respecting his crime, which if he still persisted to deny they proceeded to the execution of the sentence.

   This first torture was performed by fixing a pulley to the roof of the hall, with a strong hempen or grass rope passed through it. The executioners then seized the culprit, and leaving him naked to his drawers, put shackles on his feet, and suspended weights of 100 pounds to his ancles. His hands were then bound behind his back, and the rope from the pulley strongly fastened to his wrists. In this situation he was raised about the height of a man from the ground, and in the mean time the judges coldly admonished him to reveal the truth. In this position as far as twelve stripes were sometimes inflicted on him, according to the inferences and weight of the offence. He was then suffered to fall suddenly, but in such manner that neither his feet nor the weights reached the ground, in order to render the shock of his body the greater.* (Vide Plate IV.)

   The torture of the rack, (vide Plate V.) also called that of water and ropes, and the one most commonly used, was inflicted by stretching the victim, naked as before, on his back along a wooden horse or hollow bench with sticks across, like a ladder, and prepared for the purpose. To this his feet, hands, and head were strongly bound, in such manner as to leave him no room to move. In this attitude he experienced eight strong contortions in his limbs, viz. two on the fleshy parts of the arm above the elbow, and two below, one on each thigh, and also on the legs. He was besides obliged to swallow seven pints of water, slowly dropped into his mouth on a piece of silk or ribbon which, by the pressure of the water, glided down his throat, so as to produce all the horrid sensations of a person who is drowning.* At other times his face was covered with a thin piece of linen, through which the water ran into his mouth and nostrils, and prevented him from breathing. Of such a form did the Inquisition of Valladolid make use, in 1528, towards Licentiate Juan Salas, physician, of that city.*

   For the torture by fire the prisoner was placed with his legs naked in the stocks, the soles of his feet were then well-greased with lard, and a blazing chafing-dish applied to them, by the heat of which they became perfectly fried. When his complaints of the pain were loudest a board was placed between his feet and the fire, and he was again commanded to confess; but this was taken away if he persisted in his obstinacy. This species of torture was deemed the most cruel of all; but this, as well as the others, were indistinctly applied to persons of both sexes, at the will of the judges, according to the circumstances of the crime and the strength of the delinquent.* (Vide Plate VI.)

   The torture by fire, however, does not appear to have been much in use except in Italy, and this when the culprit was lame, or through any other impediment prevented from being suspended by the pulley. In the latter countries also other lesser tortures were used with persons unable to withstand those already described. Such were that of the dice, of the canes, and of the rods. For the first, the prisoner was extended on the ground, and two pieces of iron shaped like a die, but concave on one side, were placed on the heel of his right foot, then bound fast on with a rope, which was pulled tight with a screw. That of the canes was performed by a hard piece being put between each finger, bound, and then screwed as above. That of the rods was inflicted on boys who had passed their ninth year, but had not yet reached the age of puberty, by binding them to a post, and then flogging them with rods.*

Puigblanch, Antonio; Walton, William, tr., The inquisition unmasked: being an historical and philosophical account of that tremendous tribunal, founded on authentic documents; and exhibiting the necessity of its suppression, as a means of reform and regeneration, written and published at a time when the National Congress of Spain was about to deliberate on this important measure, translated from the author's enlarged copy, London: Printed for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy; and J. Booth, 1816, vol. 1, pp. 250-255.

Online Source: archive.org/details/inquisitionunmas01puig

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