Hands get manacled behind backs; fingers are put in thumbscrews and twisted and broken one by one – and a heavy iron club splinters vulnerable shin bones.
The methods of torture used for the many witch trials are terrifyingly ingenious. In most countries, pain is the means of choice for interrogating witches. Witchcraft is one of several crimen exceptum that justify particularly harsh methods. The torments not only force people’s confessions, but also compels them to inform against their fellows.
It may seem highly effective, but nevertheless the courts of Europe are reluctant to use torture too frequently. People will confess to anything when subjected to violent pain and inform against anyone just to make the torturer loosen his tight grip.
Consequently, the accused In Denmark and England aren’t put on the rack until after their death sentence has been pronounced. In Germany, on the other hand, torture is often used throughout the witch trial. This leads to more chain reactions of accused people informing against others who in their turn inform against still others.
But before the torture begins, there’s often a long stay in prison under horrible conditions – cold, damp, sleep deprivation and other torments aren’t considered torture a such, but they make some convicts try to escape while others kill themselves, either to end their suffering or for fear of what’s ahead.