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Essay on Medieval Torture

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Torture (Latin torquere, “to twist”), in law, infliction of severe bodily pain either as punishment, or to compel a person to confess to a crime, or to give evidence in a judicial proceeding. Among primitive peoples, torture has been used as a means of ordeal and to punish captured enemies. Examination by torture, often called the “question,” has been used in many countries as a judicial method. It involves using instruments to extort evidence from unwilling witnesses.
In ancient Athens, slaves were always examined by torture, and for this reason their evidence was apparently considered more valuable than that of freemen. A free Athenian could not be examined by this method, but torture may have been used occasionally in executing …show more content…

It was last used in England in 1640 to compel a confession of treason. By the middle of the 18th century legal torture was abolished in France, Prussia, Saxony (Sachsen), Austria, and Switzerland. Under a papal bull issued in 1816 the use of torture was banned in Roman Catholic countries.
Torture in Europe through the Ages
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 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.

There are several varieties of tortures 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.

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