Information AboutThe Rack |
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TORTURE DEVICE It consists of an oblong rectangular, usually Wood en frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one, or both, ends, having at one end a fixed bar to which the legs were fastened, and at the other a movable bar to which the hands were tied. The victim's feet are manacled to one roller, and the wrists are chained to the other. As the interrogation progresses, a handle and Ratchet attached to the top roller are used to very gradually stepwise increase the tension on the chains, which induces excruciating Pain as the victim's Joint s slowly dislocate. By means of pulleys and levers this latter could be rolled on its own axis, thus straining the ropes till the sufferers joints were dislocated. It was used throughout Europe, an early famous victim being the Merovingian Queen Brunhilda Of Austrasia , and became the chief instrument of torture in many dungeons. Because of its mechanically precise, graded operation, it is particulaly suited for hard interrogation, as to extract a confession. One gruesome aspect of being stretched -deliberately- too far on the rack are the loud popping noises made by snapping cartilage, ligaments or bones. Eventually, if the application of the rack is continued, the victim's limbs are ripped right off. One powerful method for putting pressure upon a prisoner was to merely force him to view someone else being subjected to the rack. Indeed, a person stretched on the rack presented the ultimate spectacle of the body in pain. A victim would often be placed on the rack naked or nearly so, and their taut skin would run with the sweat of their agonies. Wrists and ankles would be swollen and bloodied from the bite of ropes or manacles. The spread-eagled posture left no part of the body invulnerable from the application of other devices like hot irons or pincers, or immune from the attention of those gathered to observe the torture. British use Its first employment in England is said to have been due to John Holland, 4th duke of, Exeter, constable. of the Tower in 1447, whence it was popularly known as the Duke of Exeters daughter. In 1628 the whole question of its legality was raised by the attempt of the privy council to rack John Felton, the assassin of the duke of Buckingham. This the judges resisted, unanimously declaring its use to be contrary to the laws of England. Well known victims of the rack include Guy Fawkes , Edmund Campion and Anne Askew in England .
Myth of the Inquisition Rack A popular belief, especially in the English speaking world, is that the Spanish Inquisition employed the rack. This, however, is no longer accepted by scholars currently studying the exstensive records kept in Spain during the period of the Inquisition. In fact, there is no historical documentation that suggests use of the rack by any of the Medieval Inquisitions of Europe. OTHER PUNITIVE POSITIONING CONTRAPTIONS The term rack is also used, occasionally, for a number of simpler constructions that constitute no such mechanical torture device, but simply to position the victim over for some Physical Punishment , after which it may be named specifically, e.g. ''caning rack'', since in a given jurisdiction it was often custom or even prescribed to administer any given punishment in a specific position, for which the device (with or without fitting shackling and/or padding) would be chosen or specially made. SEE ALSO
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