Foot roasting

Last updated
Engraving of the Spanish Inquisition where a woman is being prepared for torture. The story of our Christianity; an account of the struggles, persecutions, wars, and victories of Christians of all times (1893) (14597346288).jpg
Engraving of the Spanish Inquisition where a woman is being prepared for torture.

Foot roasting is a method of torture used since ancient times.

Contents

Ancient Rome

The Romans immobilized the prisoner and pressed red-hot iron plates to the soles of his feet. The Spanish Inquisition bound the prisoner face-upward to the rack with his bare feet secured in a stocks. The soles of the feet were basted with lard or oil and slowly barbecued over a brazier of burning coals. A screen could be interposed between the feet and the coals to modulate the exposure, while a bellows controlled the intensity of the flame. A version that consisted of a chair with an integrated foot stocks was referred to as the Spanish chair, [1] but this is readily confused with the Iron chair. By way of contrast, in the Brittany chair, the coals were held in a movable iron tray which could be cranked upward until it actually made contact with the feet. [2] Added diversions included placing slivers of hot coals between the toes, or suspending the prisoner head-downward and placing hot coals directly on the soles.[ failed verification ] The destruction of the Order of the Knights Templars is credited largely to foot roasting, which was committed with savagery sufficient to, literally, drive the sufferers to insanity; Knights also had their toes denailed. [3]

Brittany

In Brittany, an torture chair was used [4] that immobilized the feet and provided a movable tray of coals that could be cranked up and down, eventually making physical contact with the soles of the feet.

Star kicking

A form of torture called "star kicking" supposedly began with Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who derived sadistic pleasure from placing oiled bits of paper or string between her prisoners’ toes and lighting the material on fire, inflicting savage burns. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horseshoe</span> Device attached to a horses hoof to protect it from wear

A horseshoe is a product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toenail, although much larger and thicker. However, there are also cases where shoes are glued.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shoe</span> Footwear

A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function but over time shoes also became fashion items. Some shoes are worn as safety equipment, such as steel-toe boots, which are required footwear at industrial worksites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grilling</span> Form of cooking that involves dry heat

Grilling is a form of cooking that involves heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above, below or from the side. Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat and vegetables quickly. Food to be grilled is cooked on a grill, using a cast iron/frying pan, or a grill pan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rack railway</span> Steep-grade railway with a toothed rack rail

A rack railway is a steep grade railway with a toothed rack rail, usually between the running rails. The trains are fitted with one or more cog wheels or pinions that mesh with this rack rail. This allows the trains to operate on steep grades above 10%, which is the maximum for friction-based rail. Most rack railways are mountain railways, although a few are transit railways or tramways built to overcome a steep gradient in an urban environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ski binding</span> Connects skier boot to snow ski

A ski binding is a device that connects a ski boot to the ski. Before the 1933 invention of ski lifts, skiers went uphill and down and cross-country on the same gear. As ski lifts became more prevalent, skis—and their bindings—became increasingly specialized, differentiated between alpine (downhill) and Nordic styles of skiing. Until the point of divergence in the mid-20th century, bindings held the toe of a flexible, leather boot against the ski and allowed the heel to rise off the ski, typically with a form of strap or cable around the heel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boot (torture)</span> Torture and interrogation instruments

The term boot refers to a family of instruments of torture and interrogation variously designed to cause crushing injuries to the foot and/or leg. The boot has taken many forms in various places and times. Common varieties include the Spanish boot and the Malay boot. One type was made of four pieces of narrow wooden board nailed together. The boards were measured to fit the victim's leg. Once the leg was enclosed, wedges would be hammered between the boards, creating pressure. The pressure would be increased until the victim confessed or lost consciousness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the railway track</span>

The railway track or permanent way is the elements of railway lines: generally the pairs of rails typically laid on the sleepers or ties embedded in ballast, intended to carry the ordinary trains of a railway. It is described as permanent way because in the earlier days of railway construction, contractors often laid a temporary track to transport spoil and materials about the site; when this work was substantially completed, the temporary track was taken up and the permanent way installed.

Professional wrestling holds include a number of set moves and pins used by performers to immobilize their opponents or lead to a submission. This article covers the various pins, stretches and transition holds used in the ring. Some wrestlers use these holds as their finishing maneuvers, often nicknaming them to reflect their character or persona. Moves are listed under general categories whenever possible.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dismemberment</span> Act of completely removing the limbs from a living or dead being

Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and or removing the limbs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicide, but can occur as a result of a traumatic accident, or in connection with murder, suicide, or cannibalism. As opposed to surgical amputation of the limbs, dismemberment is often fatal. In criminology, a distinction is made between offensive dismemberment, in which dismemberment is the primary objective of the dismemberer, and defensive dismemberment, in which the motivation is to destroy evidence.

The Streltsy uprising of 1698 was an uprising of the Moscow Streltsy regiments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">High-heeled shoe</span> Footwear that raises the heel of the wearers foot significantly higher than the toes

High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels or pumps, are a type of shoe with an upward-angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, accentuating the calf muscle.

Far' Falastine, also known as Branch 235, is a prison operated by Syrian Intelligence under the charge of Brig. Gen. Muhammad Khallouf located in Damascus, notorious for accounts of torture, coercive interrogation, and deplorable conditions related by its former detainees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jiagun</span>

The jiagun ankle crusher was a Chinese instrument of torture consisting of three wooden boards approximately a yard in length that were connected with cords, which when placed around a suspect's feet and gradually pulled, caused agonizing pain in order to force a confession. Under traditional Chinese law, a person could not be convicted of a crime unless they confessed. The jiagun was a legal and non-lethal method for torturing men to confess, and for women there was the similar and less painful zanzhi finger crusher with small sticks and cords.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5-inch/38-caliber gun</span> Deck gun

The Mark 12 5"/38 caliber gun was a United States dual-purpose naval gun, but also installed in single-purpose mounts on a handful of ships. The 38 caliber barrel was a mid-length compromise between the previous United States standard 5"/51 low-angle gun and 5"/25 anti-aircraft gun. United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile 5 inches (127 mm) in diameter, and the barrel was 38 calibers long. The increased barrel length provided greatly improved performance in both anti-aircraft and anti-surface roles compared to the 5"/25 gun. However, except for the barrel length and the use of semi-fixed ammunition, the 5"/38 gun was derived from the 5"/25 gun. Both weapons had power ramming, which enabled rapid fire at high angles against aircraft. The 5"/38 entered service on USS Farragut, commissioned in 1934, the first new destroyer design since the last Clemson was built in 1922. The base ring mount, which improved the effective rate of fire, entered service on USS Porter, commissioned in 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old New-Gate Prison</span> United States historic place

Old New-Gate Prison is a former prison and mine site on New-Gate Road in East Granby, Connecticut. It is now operated by the state of Connecticut as the Old New-Gate Prison & Copper Mine Archaeological Preserve. Previously closed for restoration since 2009, it was re-opened on July 14, 2018. The site includes a colonial-era copper mine, which visitors are able to explore through a guided tour, and the remains of the state's first official prison, which was used between 1776 and 1782 to house prisoners of war from the American Revolutionary War. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heated shot</span>

Heated shot or hot shot is round shot that is heated before firing from muzzle-loading cannons, for the purpose of setting fire to enemy warships, buildings, or equipment. The use of heated shot dates back centuries. It was a powerful weapon against wooden warships, where fire was always a hazard. It was rendered obsolete in the mid-19th century when vessels armored with iron replaced wooden warships in the world's navies. Also at around the same time, the replacement of solid-iron shot with exploding shells gave artillery a far more destructive projectile that could be fired immediately without preparation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burg Lockenhaus</span>

Burg Lockenhaus is a castle and medieval fortress in the Güns Valley in the southeastern part of Lockenhaus, in Burgenland, eastern Austria. Burg Lockenhaus is 368 metres (1,207 ft) above sea level. The castle was built in Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles around 1200, and was initially called "Leuca" or Léka. It is part of the Naturpark Geschriebenstein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naraka (Jainism)</span> Hell realm in Jainism

Naraka is the realm of existence in Jain cosmology characterized by great suffering. Naraka is usually translated into English as "hell" or "purgatory".

References

  1. Swain, John, The Pleasures of the Torture Chamber, New York: Dorset Press, 1931.
  2. Abbott, Geoffrey, Rack, Rope, and Red-Hot Pincers, Cadwell, ID: Caxton Press, 2000
  3. Robinson, John J., Dungeon, Fire and Sword: The Knights Templars in the Crusades, Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1991.
  4. Geoffrey Abbott, Rack, Rope, and Red-Hot Pincers, London: Trafalgar Square Publishing, 1993, pp. 106-107.
  5. Kimberly L. Craft, Infamous Lady: The True Story of Countess Erzsebet Bathory, North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing, 2002, p. 232.