Torture Instruments from Medieval Times

With the accused's chin on the lower bar of this head crusher, and the "cap" over the victim's head, authorities forced this instrument down as the screw was turned. It takes very little imagination to figure out what happened next.

The rack, made popular in movies and television shows, pulled a victim's body in opposite directions while water torture was imposed to simulate drowning. Sometimes these preliminary methods of torture caused death. Other times death came slowly - as when prisoners were locked in a "hanging cage."