Torture Instruments from Medieval Times

Judas Cradles were used to extract confessions.

The accused was stripped, placed inside the iron harness and then lowered on to the point. It doesn't take much imagination to figure-out where the point of the Judas Cradle and the human body made contact. The illustration says it all.

Judas Cradles were used in several countries. Called "culla di Giuda" in Italian, "Judaswiege" in German, and "la veille" (the wake) in French, the device was unchanged since the Middle Ages.

Also unchanged since the Middle Ages, but destroyed in air raids over Nuremberg in 1944, was the "Iron Maiden of Nuremberg," a horrific instrument of torture.