The history of torture in Europe may seem at first to be a steady progression of barbarous tactics, leading from one social purge to the next, but this is not completely the case. Torture, as I will completely define later, has been used in a progression from primitive methods to the present more modern styles. It has also developed extensively, both in severity and variety of methods used. But in the end, torture has gone full circle; modern forms of torture are more like those methods used by savages than anything in between. Overall, the severity of torture has fluctuated, growing and receding with the passing of each new time period, but eventually reverting to its original state.
 The Wheel was a common, deadly torture used for much of European history. |
Torture, as defined by most governments, is usually taken to be any number of manipulations of the mind or body, used to elicit a confession. But this is too limiting of a definition. By English law records, torture of this kind has never even occurred in the British Isles (Scott 2). But we have considerable evidence of its use in the witch-trials of the 17th century (Notestein 167). Furthermore, many so-called "punishments" enforced under British penal codes are really nothing more than veiled forms of torture. It has always been the custom of the State to put tortures into the class of punishment to justify their use (Scott 1). So, for the following discussion, I include along with the usual idea of torture any form of harsh punishment designed to inflict pain for revenge or cruelty.
There are also several varieties of torture in general. Until the twentieth century, most forms of torture that were recognized as such were purely physical in nature. The breaking of bones, manipulation or mutilation of a person's body, and the application of flames or other implements of punishment were the main forms of recognized torture.
But there is also psychological torture. In the Spanish Inquisition, inquisitors would show the implements of torture to potential victims to scare them into submission. This form of psychological torture was known as the Second Degree (Mannix 77). In more modern times, psychological torture has all but replaced physical torture. Time in jail, for example, is often more paralyzing than many forms of physical torture (Scott 4). So, torture can take on many forms.
 Amputation, brranding, flaying and breaking of the limbs. |
Torture, it seems, has always been a part of the human condition in one form or another. It developed mainly as an extension of early legal codes. At first natural law - the law of survival and of group cohesiveness - dictated human activity and crime and punishment. The law of primitive humans used exile for punishing major offenses (Mannix 12). Alone in the wilderness, the person would most assuredly meet an untimely death. Punishment was thus the removal of criminals from society.
As time went on and civilizations grew, the need for a code of laws came. Any actual tortures inflicted would only be committed against enemy tribes and animals (Scott 12). In many cultures, religious sacrifices were precursors to torture (24). The early European codes were usually based on the principle of Lex Talionis, the idea of an eye for an eye (Mannix 14). Punishment for crimes should be similar to the offense. This was the Law of Hammurabi, written around 2,000 BC This civil code would be expanded to include other crimes in the Mosaic Code 1,000 years later, that would form the basis of Hebrew, Greek and Roman legal systems (15).
The Greeks and others of their time still operated under Lex Talionis (24). At the time, torture was mainly used as a means of extracting vengeance for real or imagined wrongs (Scott 7). Public displays such as stoning and crucifixion were used mainly to deter other criminals (Mannix 17). Karen Farrington writes of this that "the suffering of the victim was maximized to demonstrate society's outrage [of a criminal] and deter others" (22). The savagery of torture had not really entered into the European mind set yet. All this, however, would soon change.
 Various forms of crucifixion. |
Early Roman rulers were actually quite humane. Julius Caesar only tortured his conquered enemies as an example for other potential foes (Mannix 29). Eventually, however, things would change. Roman savagery is second to none in its public appeal and widespread usage.
Antiochus Epiphanes tortured numerous Jews in an attempt to make them submit to Roman authority (5). Slaves and other members of the lower classes were tortured heavily by their superiors for petty crimes (Scott 46). The first Roman gladiatorial contest started in 264 BC as a match of man against man (Mannix 30). Eventually, this turned into a full slaughter. When prisoners could not be found for the games, slaves would be used (Scott 50). These games would involve, more often than not, starving victims being torn to pieces by savage animals. The insatiable bloodlust of the Roman public was hard to satisfy; by the time of Claudius there were often 1000 or more victims in the arenas at a time (Mannix 30).
During the time period from after the fall of Rome till the 13th Century, torture was used mainly as a weapon of private citizens and eventually the State. Frequently, amputation of hands, feet, and genitalia was used as a punishment for sexual offenders, more often than not inflicted without State supervision (Farrington 27). Torture was then adopted by rulers that realized that their citizens respected such a display of force (Scott 10). And as one form of torture would become commonplace, the next generation of people would adopt more harsh forms of punishment (13).
 Burning at the stake was a common method of executing heretics. |
Also, during this time period there was some torture used for religious persecution. Christian leaders forced conversion of others with the application of torture (26). During this time period, burning at the stake, drowning, and suffocation were common tortures (51). As the Church used torture in its proceedings, this would prompt civil authorities to adopt the practice as well (Keickhefer 190). But all this would change in the 6th Century, when an order of Pope Gregory I made statements given under torture inadmissible (Mannix 43). Torture was then not used as a legal device except as a punishment for nearly 800 years.
Torture, however, was still an option for mob justice. The ordeals of fire and water were used to prove guilt - if a person was not injured by exposure to extreme conditions, then they were innocent. This remained in fairly common use until its abolition in 1215 by the Papacy (Farrington 22).
The Inquisition and Beyond
At first, there was much leniency even in the punishment of heretics up till the 13th Century. Then, the rise of the Albigeneses and other religious sects prompted Pope Innocent III to start the Holy Inquisition of Toulouse to purge the apparent threat to the Catholic Church (Scott 64). He had previously authorized the use of torture in a Bull in 1252, so the stage was now set for the events to come. The movement against heretics spread rapidly to Germany, Holland, Spain, Portugal, and eventually most of Europe. The procedure adopted by the Inquisition, which would be used later in the witch-trials, reintroduced torture to Europe (Klaits 142).
 This scene shows a torture room of the Inquisition. |
These Inquisitions were all conducted with great expertise and under a rigorous procedure. There was a lengthy process of examination, followed by torture (Scott 66). The accused were rarely allowed to see witnesses against them, and were subjected to such tortures as pulleys and the rack stretching limbs, and the treatment of body parts with fire (66). Its scope was huge; Larente, secretary of the Spanish Inquisition, estimated that from 1481 to 1517 there were 13,000 people burnt alive, with 17,000 condemned to other forms of punishment (81). It is estimated that in 1481 alone, Torquemada burnt over 800 heretics (Mannix 60). The thoroughness and completeness of the Inquisitions spread and covered Europe.
Eventually, the focus of persecution would shift from religious sects, to the purging of supposed witches and sorcerers. This purge carried into the British Isles, and eventually out of Europe. In Scotland and Ireland in the 16th and 17th Centuries torture was commonly used to get the accused to confess their crimes (Scott 89). As time went on, the tortures increased in severity. By this time, iron gauntlets, floggings, amputation of women's breasts, and being bitten by scores of rats were common tortures (89). One horrible torture, called the bootes, would crush a person's lower leg, usually rendering the victim permanently unable to walk (90).
Only in 1808 would Napoleon's capture of Almanza and other cities in Spain end the Spanish Inquisition, the last remaining part of this operation (137).
 A French Auto da Fe |
In modern times, while some harsh forms of torture persist, we seem to have reverted to the tortures of primitive humans. In Russia in 1919 it was revealed that the Bolsheviks had nailed leather straps to victims' shoulders, gouged out their eyes and cut off noses (Scott 265). Similar tortures were used by British and Irish forces in Ireland in the 20's (268). The atrocities of World War II had inmates of concentration camps forced to live in lice-infested barracks, where they lived in a constant atmosphere of death and cruelty (Mannix 193). In Dachau alone, it is estimated that around 200,000 people were killed (291). But besides these cases, most modern forms of torture involve imprisonment. While in ancient times humans could exile their criminals away from the community, now we wall them up in stone and metal jails. The circle is indeed complete.
Tortures inflicted by the Irish Papists upon
Protestants in 1642.
Even from the beginnings of civilization, there have been a few notable individuals who voiced their objections to torture in its many forms. Seneca, Cicero, and St. Augustine all recognized that torture may result in the unjust conviction of innocents (Scott 134). Unfortunately, they were a minority whose opinions did not shape events to come later. While torture was not used consistently during Europe's history, is has been frequently used by the Church and various States in proving cases of treason and heresy (44). Torture was looked upon as an almost infallible method of proof during the witch-craze (Klaits 153). Only after the 16th Century did stronger voices oppose torture openly.
 Flagellation was one of the tortures that remained in use even after most tortures were abolished. |
In the 17th and 18th Centuries the opposition became more stern. Johann Graefe in 1624 published Tribunal Reformation, a case against torture. Cesare Beccaria, and Italian lawyer, published in 1764 An Essay on Crimes and Punishments, in which he argued that torture unjustly punished the innocent and should be unnecessary in proving guilt (Scott 135). His book went through 6 editions in 18 months and was translated into 22 languages (Mannix 136). This was the end of the era of harsh physical torture.
Throughout Europe, torture in its current state would decline quickly. It was abolished by Frederick the Great in Prussia in 1740 (Scott 135). Italy followed suit in 1786, followed by France in 1789 and Russia in 1801 (136). Eventually, nearly every nation of Europe would abolish most forms of torture. While occasional aberrations would arise over the years, there were few government sanctioned tortures besides incarceration after this time.
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