A torture rack in the Tower of London

The rack is a torture device that consists of an oblong rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one, or both, ends, having at one end a fixed bar to which the legs were fastened, and at the other a movable bar to which the hands were tied. Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally Wood is hard fibrous lignified structural tissue produced as secondary Xylem in the stems of Woody plants notably trees but also shrubs The victim's feet are fastened to one roller, and the wrists are chained to the other.

As the interrogation progresses, a handle and ratchet attached to the top roller are used to very gradually stepwise increase the tension on the chains, which induces excruciating pain as the victim's joints slowly dislocate. Pain, in the sense of physical pain, is a typical sensory experience that may be described as the unpleasant awareness of a noxious stimulus or bodily harm A joint is the location at which two or more Bones make contact By means of pulleys and levers this latter could be rolled on its own axis, thus straining the ropes till the sufferer's joints were dislocated.

Additionally, once muscle fibers have been stretched past a certain point they lose their ability to contract, thus victims who were released had ineffective muscles as well as problems arising from dislocation.

Because of its mechanically precise, graded operation, it was particularly suited for hard interrogation, as to extract a confession.

One gruesome aspect of being stretched too far on the rack is the loud popping noises made by snapping cartilage, ligaments or bones. Cartilage is a type of dense Connective tissue. It is composed of specialized cells called chondrocytes that produce a large amount of extracellular matrix Eventually, if the application of the rack is continued, the victim's limbs are ripped right off. One powerful method for putting pressure upon a prisoner was to merely force him to view someone else being subjected to the rack. A person stretched on the rack presented a spectacle of the body in pain.

Uses

Early use

It was used since Antiquity, being used on St. Vincent and mentioned by the Church Fathers Tertullian (on extraction of confessions from criminals and on persisting Christian 'sacrilegers' against the state cult) and St. Jerome (used on a woman according to his first letter). Saint Vincent of Saragossa also known as Vincent of Huesca, is the Patron saint of Lisbon. Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus, Anglicised as Tertullian, (ca Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) ( Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος

Medieval Britain

Its first employment in England is said to have been due to John Holland, 2nd Duke of Exeter, the constable of the Tower in 1447, whence it was popularly known as the Duke of Exeter's daughter. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland John Holland 2nd Duke of Exeter KG ( 18 March 1395 &ndash 5 August 1447) was an English nobleman and military commander The Constable of the Tower of London is the governor of the Tower of London. The Duke of Exeter's daughter was a torture rack used in the Tower of London. Being tortured on the rack was often referred to as being "put to the question. "

In 1628 the whole question of its legality was raised by the attempt of the privy council to rack John Felton, the assassin of the duke of Buckingham. John Felton may refer to John Felton (assassin, assassin of George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham John Felton (martyr George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham ( 28 August 1592 &ndash 23 August 1628) (surname ˈvɪlɚz ("villers" was the Favourite This the judges resisted, unanimously declaring its use to be contrary to the laws of England.

Well known victims of the rack in England include Guy Fawkes, Edmund Campion and Anne Askew, venerable William Carter (1584), the famous Elizabethan dramatist, Thomas Kyd (1592) and Jesuit lay-brother Saint Nicholas Owen (1606). Guy Fawkes ( 13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606) sometimes known as Guido Fawkes, was a member of a group of English Saint Edmund Campion SJ ( January 24 1540 &ndash December 1 1581) was an English Jesuit priest Anne Askew (also spelled Anne Ayscough) ( 1521 - 16 July 1546) was an English poet and Protestant who was persecuted as a heretic William Carter may refer to William Carter (martyr (1548&ndash1584 English printer and martyr William Blount Carter (1792&ndash1848 Thomas Kyd ( 3 November 1558 – 16 July 1594) was an English Dramatist, the author of The Spanish Tragedy Saint Nicholas Owen, often known as Little John or as little Michael (died 2 March 1606) was an English Martyr who built numerous

A relief of the torture of Saint John Sarkander on torturing rack at Sarkander's gravestone in 1620

Another well known victim was Saint John Sarkander (1620). Saint John Sarkander ( Czech and Polish: Jan Sarkander) (1576 – 1620 was a Polish and Moravian priest Saint John Sarkander ( Czech and Polish: Jan Sarkander) (1576 – 1620 was a Polish and Moravian priest

Inquisition

The Inquisition used the rack as one of their principal methods of torture. The term Inquisition can refer to any one of several institutions charged with trying and convicting heretics within the Roman Catholic Church and (McCall, 1979)

Other punitive positioning devices

The term rack is also used, occasionally, for a number of simpler constructions that constitute no such mechanical torture device, but simply to position the victim over for some physical punishment, after which it may be named specifically, e. Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to Punish a person or change his/her behavior g. caning rack, since in a given jurisdiction it was often custom or even prescribed to administer any given punishment in a specific position, for which the device (with or without fitting shackling and/or padding) would be chosen or specially made.

A similar device was the intestinal crank. This method of torture involved making an incision in the abdominal area, separating the duodenum from the pylorus, and attaching of the upper part of the intestine to a crank. In Anatomy of the Digestive system, the duodenum is a hollow jointed tube about 25-30 cm (10-12 in long connecting the Stomach to the Jejunum The pylorus (from Greek πυλωρος = "gate guard" is the region of the Stomach that connects to the Duodenum. In Anatomy, the intestine is the segment of the alimentary canal extending from the Stomach to the Anus and in humans and other mammals consists The crank then would be rotated to extract the intestines from the gastrointestinal cavity of a conscious person, for the purposes of torture (Monestier, 1994). ^[1] A similar device appears during a dream-like sequence in the 2000 movie The Cell. 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The Cell is a 2000 Psychological thriller film written by Mark Protosevich directed by Tarsem Singh and starring Jennifer Lopez.

Popular culture

• In the Monty Python sketch The Spanish Inquisition, one of the inquisitors mistakes a dish washing rack for a torturing rack. Monty Python (sometimes known as The Pythons) is the collective name of the six creators of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British Television " The Spanish Inquisition " was a series of sketches in Monty Python's Flying Circus, Series 2 Episode 2 Parodying the
• Winston Smith, in the film 1984, is subjected to torture on a pneumatic rack. Winston Smith is a Fictional character and the Protagonist of George Orwell 's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes 1984) is a British Film based upon George Orwell 's novel of the same name
• In the film The Punisher, the eponymous hero is tortured on a rack. The Punisher is a 1989 film starring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle, directed by Mark Goldblatt from a screenplay by Boaz Later, he subjects one of his tormentors to the same torture.
• In the film Saw III, one of Jigsaw's tests involves a man caged in a rack-like device. Saw III is the third installment in the Saw series The film is a joint effort of both Saw's writers/directors James Wan The victim's head was held in place by a rotating lock, while the arms and legs were held in place by spikes through the hands and feet. Each section began rotating around 180 degrees, one by one, taking his arms, legs, and head along with it and breaking the bones eventually killing the victim by breaking his neck.
• In the film Braveheart, near the end he is put in rack in front of the village. Braveheart is a 1995 historical action-drama movie produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who also starred in the title role
• In Kids Next Door, the episode KASTLE A rainbow monkey is laid on a rack, when Numbuh 3 is in King Sandy's dungeon. Codename
• In The Tudors, Season 2, Episode 9, Mark Smeaton is put on the rack during his interrogation about Queen Anne's affairs. The Tudors is a historical fiction Television series created and entirely written by British screenwriter Michael Hirst.

References and sources

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
• Monestier, M. (1994) Peines de mort. Paris, France: Le Cherche Midi Éditeur.
• Crocker, Harry W; "Triumph: The Power and Glory of the Catholic Church - A 2,000 Year History"
• McCall, Andrew: "The Medieval Underworld". Hamish Hamilton, 1979. ISBN 0750937270