Methods of

Torture and

Superstitions

During the

Salem Witch Trials

Methods of Torture•Water boarding

•Strappado•Squassation•Red hot pincers•Burning Iron Chair•Hanging•Burning at the

Stake

•Death upon the rack

•Beheading•Drawing and

Quartering •The Wheel•Garrotting Chair•The Boots•Vat of lime

Waterboarding•Water by the jugfuls were funnelled into the victim’s swelling body as he or she was stretched between iron rings secured to the wall and the floor.

Strappado•Prisoner’s wrists

were bound to a rope, which was placed on a pulley.

•Man on other side of rope would pull prisoner off the ground and drop him from a certain height s so that his shoulders and arms dislocated

Squassation•This torture is similar to

strappado except that the rope is suddenly released and then checked before the prisoner’s feet touched the floor.

• It was also done to dislocate limbs and it sometimes caused death.

Red Hot Pincers/Burning Iron

Chair•Pincers made of metal and set in fire- used to burn and tear flesh

• Iron Chair- The prisoner was bound to an iron chair with a hole in its seat; then a fire was lit beneath the chair.

Hanging• Considered ideal

punishment because it was not gory as beheading was and it was cheap (a skilled executioner was not needed)

• Death after time of hanging usually occurs about 20 minutes later

Burning at the Stake

• Preferred because it did not shed the victim’s blood and it insured that the condemned did not have a body to carry on the next life.

• Some would be hanged then have their dead bodies be burnt at the stake, yet most would be burnt alive.

Death Upon the Rack

• Prisoner would be tied to the rack and would be elongated gradually for days

• Every joint in the body would be dislocated• Loud popping heard during a very painful

process• Inquisitor would apply more tortures to

prisoner while he is being stretched out

Beheading• It is effective and humane

if it is conducted properly• Can be very gruesome

and may require several blows to several the head if not conducted properly be a skilled headsman- very gory because blood from the aorta and veins spurt out

• Prisoner dies from shock and loss of blood pressure, and due to the fact that the head is severed

Drawing and Quartering

• The most commonly used form of drawing and quartering included tying four horses to the prisoner in his extremities (hands, feet) and send the horses galloping off in different directions

• Resulted in complete quartering of the body

• People gathered to watch the drawing and quartering as a form of entertainment and such

The Wheel• Prisoner would be tied to

the edge of a wheel or a rock

• Prisoner would then be rolled down a hill, usually over beds of spikes and such, so that the body was totally mutilated by the time the wheel reached the bottom

• Considered a popular form of punishment that was enjoyed by viewers and spectators passing by.

Picture is too Graphic to

Place on this PowerPoint

Garroting Chair

•Prisoner’s head was locked into a cuff while a sharp point was screwed in slowly into the back of prisoner’s neck

The Boots/ Vats of Lime• The suspect’s legs

were enclosed in a wooden “boot” and then wedges were driven down through the top. This technique smashed the legs.

• Stubborn prisoners were thrown into vats of scaulding lime and scrubbed with wire brushes

Magical Self Protection

• Drive a nail into the witch’s footprint in a dusty road; this act will cause a similar wound in the foot itself.

• Tear a witch’s forehead above the brow until the blood runs, and this act will neutralize her spell.

• Nail a horseshoe above the front door.• Attach a “hag-stone” (a holed stone) to the

keys of the barns to protect farm animals from bewitchment.

• Hide a pair of scissors or knife under the doormat.

• Place long glass tubes with colored pebbles up the chimney.

• S-shaped wall-ties were thought to guard a house from storms.

• Pain a hex (anti-witch symbol) on barn doors.

Magical Self Protection

Superstitions• Knocking on Wood• Throwing Salt

over the Shoulder• Yawning and

Sneezing• Brides veil/church

bell• Broken mirrors• 7, 9, 40, 13