instrument was secured by a padlock. At the back of the collar was fixed a ring, by which to attach the witch to a staple in the wall of her cell. Thus "bridled," and day and night watched over by some person appointed by her inquisitors, the unhappy creature, after a few days of such torture, maddened by misery and pain, would be brought to the point of confessing anything in order to be rid of her wretched life.
But thumb-screws, the collar, the scavenger's daughter, the rack and the bridle were not the only means of inflicting pain devised by the ingenuity of cruelty. There was also the "Spider," a diabolic implement with curved claws, for tearing out a woman's breast. There were the iron Spanish Boots, the inner sides of which were set with points. After these machines had been placed around the lower legs of the victim they were screwed so tightly that often the shin-bones were crushed. To increase the horrible pain the torturer from time to time knocked with a hammer on the screws, so that sharp shocks like strokes of lightning shot through the victim's body.
Another implement was an iron band which was fastened around the head and screwed tight and tighter until the eyes of the maltreated person protruded and she went almost crazy.
If the rack had not brought confession, the inquisitors ordered the "Elevation."
After the writhing sufferer's hands had been tied to the back, a rope, running over a pulley on the ceiling, was fastened to the hands. Then, by pulling the rope, the body of the victim was slowly lifted until the contorted and dislocated arms stood over the head, while the feet were high above the floor. To render such torment more severe, heavy stones were fastened to the feet, and now and then the body was allowed to drop suddenly, only to be lifted again after a while. In this dangling position the heretic or witch was often left for hours, while the tormentors sat in some nearby saloon over their ale and wine.
There were many other methods of torment, each more cruel than the others, among them the gradual pouring of water drop by drop on a particular part of the head or body, or the pouring of water onto a piece of gauze in the back of the throat, thus gradually forcing the gauze into the stomach. Boiling hot oil, burning sulphur and pitch, or molten lead were poured on the naked body, or the poor creatures were incessantly pricked and prodded in their dungeons so that they could not rest a second for weeks at a time, until they were finally driven to despair and madness.
No periods in human history are more terrible, revolting and depressing to contemplate than these times of the Inquisition and of persecution for witchcraft. The student, who has
104
