Since people seemed to enjoy the last Spanish Inquisition torture device post, here’s another one!
Since people seemed to enjoy the last Spanish Inquisition torture device post, here’s another one! Although made famous by the name Iron Maiden, this torture instrument was known to the Spanish Inquisition as The Iron Virgin. According to the museum: “Iron Virgin: This fabulous instrument of torture and execution Is surrounded by an aura of mystery, as its exact origin is unknown. Reference is made to a tomb of this kind used in the 15th century to punish a coin counterfeiter. It was used above all in Germany up to the 18th century. The sharpened spikes of the figure are designed to inflict serious injuries without instant death. It is possible that a system was designed to adjust the position of the spikes to achieve the desired effect. In any event, the spikes would enter the parts of the body which caused the most pain, leading to injuries that after some hours or a day would lead to death.“ As you can see there is an almost weird giddiness in these descriptions of torture instrumen...