The chastity belt is a locking item of clothing worn mostly by women, designed to prevent rape, sexual intercourse, or temptation. Some of the devices were designed with additional features to also prevent masturbation. It was most often a jealous husband, or sometimes a controlling father, who enforced the wearing of the locking mechanism. The term “chastity belt” is also used as a metaphor in modern English to apply over protectiveness. The term carries a derisive connotation and may also imply that the subject is antiquated, or is cumbersome, or provides unnecessary or unwanted protection. According to modern myth, the chastity belt was used as an anti-temptation device during the Crusades. When the knight left for the Holy Lands on the Crusades, he would force his lady to wear a chastity belt to preserve her faithfulness to him. There is no credible evidence that chastity belts existed before the 15th century, more than one hundred years after the last Crusade. The Iron Maiden
A mantle of infamy for women and girls during the 16th century, the iron maiden is in fact a sarcophagus. The only two main differences are that it has tips all over the front door and that people died after getting in--and not before. The Iron Maiden was introduced in Germany. Even though it is commonly believed that it was used in the Middle Ages, the truth is that it was invented a few centuries later. Very few people had the misfortune of experiencing what it feels like to be trapped in this sarcophagus. Normally, the big door would be shut slowly; the tips crushing a person in agonizing pain. There was a tube in the bottom that made the victim see his own blood as it poured out of his body. The few people that did make it to this device lasted more than 2 days before death finally struck them.
The Inquisitional Chair or Spiked Chair
An instrument of torture which originated from the witch trial era, The Spiked Chair is covered with spikes on the back, arms, seat, on the leg-rests, and on the foot-rests. To make the spikes piercing the body even more effective and torturous, they also used a screw system. The bars, either made of iron or wood, fastened the victim around the waist, around the wrists, and around the chest or bust. The seat was often made of iron that could be heated. These implements were used in Germany up until the 19th century, in Italy and in Spain up until the end of the 1700s, in France and in other central European countries, according to certain sources, up until the end of 1800.
The Branks
The Branks or Scold's Bridle is a sort of metal gag, which was principally used on scolding housewives. It was typically fashioned as a cage that locked onto the head, aided by a metal protrusion that fit into the mouth. This tongue-piece was often enhanced with spikes or a rowel (small spiked wheel) to discourage attempts to speak. They appear to have originated in Scotland in the 16th century and passed from there to England and thence to the Americas, although there is some evidence that a type of branks may have been used even earlier. Some were also fitted with a chain to permit securing the wearer in a public place. Ancient houses in Congleton, Cheshire had a hook fixed beside the fireplace to which the town gaoler could fix the community bridle if the wife nagged too much. Occasionally a bell on a spring was added to herald the approach of the wearer. An example of this type is on display in the Torture Chamber of the Tower of London. Branks were also used to silence witches to prevent them from chanting or reciting their magic spells. In the Americas, the branks were a type of humiliation punishment, while in medieval Europe, they were used more as a torture device.
The Breast Ripper
Cold or red-hot, the four claws slowly ripped to formless masses the breasts of countless women condemned for heresy, blasphemy, adultery and many other “libidinous acts”, self-induced abortion, erotic white magic and other crimes. In various places at various times –in some regions of France and Germany until the early nineteenth century– a “bite” with a red-hot ripper was inflicted upon one breast of unmarried mothers, often whilst their creatures, splattered with maternal blood, writhed on the ground at their feet. Besides the punitive function, breast-ripping also served as an interrogational and juridical procedure.
The Pear of Anguish
Feared in Europe during the Medieval Times, the Pear of Anguish was an extremely painful device used to punish and torture women who committed adultery and performed abortions; also liars, blasphemers, homosexuals, and witches. The pear shaped instrument was inserted into one of the victim’s orifices: the vagina for women, the anus for homosexuals, and the mouth for liars and blasphemers. The instrument consisted of four leaves that slowly separated from each other as the torturer turned the screw at the top; increasing the pain, tearing the skin, and mutilating the victim’s orifice. The Pear of Anguish was mostly commonly used for oral punishments; it would destroy teeth, dislocate, or even break the jawbones. If introduced in the anus or vagina, it would rupture the sensitive membranes and tissues of the areas resulting in severe internal mutilation. The instrument was rarely washed, thus causing infections very frequently. Pears of Anguish still in existence are lavishly engraved or adorned to differentiate between the anal, vaginal, and oral pears. This form of torture rarely brought death, but was often followed by other torture methods.
