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Portrait of medieval bearded pirate holding sword and gun.  Source: Oulaphone/Adobe Stock

The Horrifying Torture Methods Used By Pirates… (Video)

In the grim era of the 1600s, humanity bore witness to a dark chapter marked by massacres, persecution, and cruelty. The so-called Golden Age of Piracy unfolded amid this brutality, with pirates...
The Man in the Iron Mask. Source: Igor Normann / Adobe Stock

The True Story of the Man in the Iron Mask

L'Homme au Masque de Fer (the French for “The Man in the Iron Mask”) is the name given to a prisoner arrested in about 1669 and condemned to the cruel fate of having his head clamped within an iron...
Pirate flag. Source: adimas / Adobe Stock.

The Pirate Code: Law and Order Beneath the Black Flag (Video)

In the world of pirates , where lawlessness is often the image that comes to mind, a surprising system of governance existed beneath the black flag . Pirates may have lacked a singular written code,...
Pressing execution. Source: YouTube Screenshot / Weird History.

Pressing: One of History's Most Painful Deaths (Video)

Throughout history Europeans have come up with some of the most excruciating and slowest methods of torture . Of them all pressing to death might just be the worst. Dating back to the 13th century in...
Punishment in ancient Japan was brutal. Source: YouTube Screenshot / Crazy Histories.

Shocking Punishments in Ancient Japan! (Video)

Medieval Japan , often romanticized for its samurai culture, had a dark side characterized by brutal punishment and oppression. Peasants faced a grim fate in a society dominated by samurai overlords...
Medieval soldier eating junk food. Source: master1305 / Adobe Stock.

What Medieval Junk Food Was Like (Video)

Medieval Europe's fast food, born out of necessity, offers a glimpse into a different culinary era . Cook shops along London's bustling Thames provided hot meals for travelers and the impoverished ...
Medieval stocks. Source: Arkady Chubykin / Adobe Stock.

What It Was Like to Be in the Stocks? (Video)

During Medieval times stocks and pillories were employed as forms of punishment , the experience for those confined in them was far from pleasant. Stocks, restraining the feet, and pillories, which...
Left; Representational image of the torture endured by Anabaptists whose bodies were displayed in Münster’s famed metal cages. Right; The three cages hanging from Münster Gothic Church of St. Lambert.  Source: Left; Dawn / Adobe Stock, Right; Rüdiger Wölk, Münster/CC BY-SA 2.5

Münster’s Hanging Cages Provide a Chilling Reminder of Religious Intolerance

If you ever find yourself in Münster, Germany, be sure to visit the Gothic Church of St. Lambert on the main market square. Three metal cages hanging off the church spire serve as a 16th-century...
Samurai warrior. Source: DZMITRY / Adobe Stock.

Blood, Swords, and Samurai: Punishment in Feudal Japan (Video)

Medieval Japan may be known for its honor, duty, and bravery, but there was also a darker side to the Samurai clans who ruled the era. Punishments for crimes were brutal and oppressive, with extreme...
A man prepares for his execution. Source: jahorimine / Adobe Stock

Stories from the Gallows: Executions Exhibition Reveals Tragic Tales of Death

The Museum of London Docklands is hosting Executions , a major exhibition exploring the capital’s history of public punishment, from the first recorded public execution in 1196 to the last in 1868...
Detail from theatre poster for Jane Shore at Royal Princess' Theatre in Edinburgh, December 1885. Source: Public domain

Royal Mistress Jane Shore Walked Streets of London in her Underwear

Elizabeth "Jane" Shore was a fiery and charismatic Englishwoman who made a name for herself as one of the many sultry mistresses of the handsome and powerful English king, Edward IV. With her...
Martyr of Fanaticism by José de Brito depicts a young woman being tortured during the Spanish Inquisition. Source: Public domain

The Spanish Inquisition: The Truth Behind the Black Legend (Part II)

One of the most controversial organizations in history, the Spanish Inquisition has been poorly understood by the general public. This period of religious persecution, which took place between 1478...
Geta Dying in his Mother's Arms by Jacques Pajou. His death at the hands of Caracalla has been remembered due to the subsequent use of damnatio memoriae to erase him from public memory. Source: Public domain

Caracalla Erased Hated Brother’s Memory Using Damnatio Memoriae

We’ve all had issues with family at one time or other. But the lengths taken by the Roman emperor Caracalla really take the biscuit. To ensure he would never again be reminded of his younger brother...
The drunkard's cloak on display at the Torture Museum in Bruges. Source: Dimitris Kamaras / CC BY 2.0

Wearing the Drunkard’s Cloak Was the Worst Hangover in History

After a night of drinking, few things are worse than a heinous hangover. Or so I thought! For during the early modern era, heavy drinkers were faced with a far worse punishment. Those guilty of...
A Scold’s Bridle used in Medieval Poland. Source: Fotokon / Adobe Stock

Scold’s Bridles: 12 Torturous and Humiliating Shame Masks of the Middle Ages (In Pics)

There was no end to medieval creativity when it came to torture , punishment and humiliation! The ‘scold’s bridle’ or ‘mask of shame’ was a concept developed in medieval Europe to punish people,...
Man hanging from an execution rope, a very technical method of execution. 	Source: zef art / Adobe Stock

The Gruesome History of Botched Executions

Capital punishment (death by execution) has been a part of human society since time immemorial. Even though it is a practice as old as human civilization, perhaps the most surprising thing about...
Decimation was the cruelest punishment in the Roman army. Source: vukkostic / Adobe Stock

Roman Decimation: The Cruelest Form of Punishment in History?

The Roman army was one of the fiercest armies ever assembled. It was disciplined, well trained, and well equipped. This combination meant the Roman army played a crucial role in Rome’s expansion from...
Royal children were untouchable, so whipping boys would be punished on their behalf. Source: liyasov / Adobe Stock

Whipping Boys Were Kids Spanked in Place of an ‘Untouchable’ Young Prince

In many corners of the globe, aristocrats and nobles, kings and young princes, were all deemed to be ‘ untouchable ’ and protected by divine right . To lay one’s hand on a nobleman or noble child was...
An artist's illustration depicting Xerxes' alleged "punishment" of the Hellespont: Xerxes lash sea (Public Domain)

Persian King Xerxes Ordered the Sea to be Whipped as Punishment

Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was a 5th century Achaemenid king of the Persian empire. He is best known for leading the massive invasion of Greece, marked by the battles of Thermopylae,...
Researcher Li Nan, from Peking University, pictured with her team, holding the foot amputation evidence that was subjected to biomedical analysis. Source: South China Morning Post

Punishment: 3000-year-old Chinese Foot Amputation May Be Oldest Ever!

Researchers in China believe a skeleton found in a tomb in the northwest of the country is the earliest known example of foot amputation as punishment for a crime, reports the South China Morning...
Socrates drinking poison

Brutal Draconian Laws of Ancient Greece Were Etched in Blood

Athens is perhaps most famous for being the birthplace of democracy. One of the cornerstones for the establishment of Athenian democracy was the introduction of a written law code that could only be...
18th Century Post-Mortem Punishment: Gibbets ‘Hanging In Chains’ In England

18th Century Post-Mortem Punishment: Gibbets ‘Hanging In Chains’ In England

The curious English have a predilection for heaping abuse upon the corpses of the unfortunate dead, including a cruel and unusual punishment the bodies of executed murderers were subject to in the...
A cylinder seal impression, ca. 2100 BC, sometimes interpreted as Ur-Nammu (seated) bestowing governorship on Ḫašḫamer, ensi of Iškun-Sin.

The Code of Ur-Nammu: When Ancient Sumerians Laid Down the Law, Everyone Obeyed

The Code of Ur-Nammu is the oldest surviving law code. This text was written on clay tablets in the Sumerian language and is reckoned to have been produced towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC...
Replica Roman slave collars, after Zoninus. Source: nikhg / Adobe Stock.

“Hold Me Or I Will Run!” Roman Slave Collars Came With A Warning

Slavery was a large part of the Roman Empire. Military expansion brought captives, to compliment the material wealth taken back to Rome. And there is strong evidence that these slaves were not always...

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