The Catherine Wheel
There are many horrific devices of the past that were made to inflict unbearable pain or flat out kill their target. Some of these, such as the Brazen Bull, and the breaking on the rack.
The Catherine wheel. You might think, that doesn’t actually sound so bad. You’d be in for quite a shocked on the amount of pain this instrument impacts on its victims.
The Catherine Wheel worst punishments. According to legend, the Catherine Wheel is named after St Catherine of Alexandria, who is a patron to those academically or philosophically inclined and prevents unexpected death.
Now, there’s no mention of this individual before the 9th century, although she supposedly lived in the 4th. So it’s suspected that she did not truly exist. Nevertheless, her story was a well known one that began in Egypt. She was believed to be noble, as well as very studious.
However, some might consider it less than wise that she rose up to protest the wrongs of the Roman emperor of the time, Maxentius, who was relentlessly persecuting Christians. Maxentius allegedly selected several scholars to engage in a battle of wits with the young Catherine. But ultimately the wise men lost as a further insult while she was in prison.
For her words, Catherine managed to convert many of Maxentius soldiers and even his wife to the Christian religion. Needless to say, that didn’t exactly sit well with Maxentius after torture, in which she declared Jesus Christ her spouse.
She was sentenced to death. This is when the wheel came into play, which was the intended execution.
The emperor ultimately had her beheaded. She was then carried to Mount Sinai. Interestingly, later on, Saint Joan of Arc identified Catherine’s voice as one of the several she heard. So what is this wheel that Catherine had miraculously escaped, but that went on to kill many of the less fortunate.
it’s known by the breaking wheel, will probably give you some ideas. It was a wheel made of wood, similar as those used on carriages. these wheels were outfitted with a metal ram, though sometimes they would be modified so that they could inflict further damage with protruding iron blades. These massive wheels would then be dropped on convicts all over their body, breaking bones upon impact. Another approach was to tie a person to the wheel and hit his or her limbs with iron.
Hammers are vast while the wheel was rotated. As long as the bones were shattered, that was all that mattered. The exact amount of wheel drops or hammerheads were already determined beforehand. This would depend on the extent of the convicts crimes, such as if they committed acts of robbery or murder for the worst offenders, efforts were made to better match their punishment to the crimes. For example, sharp pieces of wood would sometimes be set underneath the victim to bring yet further torture.
The wheel was then attached to a pole and displayed for all to see, much like those who had undergone crucifixion. At this point, some would be cut apart or strangled, which would finally, though painfully in their suffering. Others would be placed above a blazing fire or alternatively thrown directly in one.
It was even possible for the individual to be hung while on the wheel, though this option The executioners in charge had no mercy. Even upon the souls of those they kill, bodies were simply left where they had been thrown or hung off to be eaten away wild animals.
Many believed that this would prevent the souls from ever finding eternal peace. It would also serve as a gruesome warning to others. But there was one little hope for those sentenced to death by the Catherine wheel, and that was if they somehow became disengaged or if the wheel in some way failed to do its job.
A man named Boneyards lasted for four full days and nights. A more questionable account of a German serial killer in the 1400’s claimed that he remained alive with the help of alcohol for as many as nine days. But again, more likely than not,
The Catherine or Breaking Wheel was quite a horrible device, it was used as a method of public execution in Europe from antiquity to early modern times, Bavaria utilized it until it was outlawed in 1813 and it’s suspected last use was in Prussia as late as 1841.