Although many instruments of torture have been made over the centuries, the Spanish Donkey used in the Middle Ages was undoubtedly one of the most painful practices.
The suffering and damage to the bodies of the people who were condemned to this torture are unbelievable.
The Spanish Donkey, one of the most preferred methods of punishment, was very popular in the 12th century. This torture device was also used mostly in the inquisition courts.
In most Western countries during the Middle Ages, Catholicism had a strict belief system. Those who opposed the Church and those who strayed from this belief system were referred to as “heretics”. These courts, formed by church members, were called inquisition courts and criminals were punished here.
These inquisitions, in which the Spanish Donkey was used, were administered by the Papacy in Rome. The way these courts operated was quite different. He used people’s emotions against them and aimed to make them feel fear. It also made people dependent on the Church in hopes of going to heaven.
The Spanish Donkey was also a tool that people bowed to with this sense of fear.
The Spanish Donkey’s design was literally reminiscent of a mount. It was triangular in shape, supported by a foot at each end, and had a very pointed top at the top. The person who was judged to be guilty by a court decision was seated naked on this wooden mechanism.
Then, a weight was attached to his legs, which he hung down, and he was held on this device forcibly until it reached the point where he could not stand. In fact, this punishment was a method of torture applied to bad people who were described as unbelievers and who went against the rules of Christianity and offended God, so to speak.
The person seated on the Spanish Donkey would almost pass out from pain and fatigue, and his bones would break due to the weights hanging on his feet. Of course, there were those who survived this punishment, but the aftermath was not much of a salvation.
Because people exposed to the Spanish Donkey would receive severe damage to their genitals.
These damages usually meant that the person would never be able to have children again. In addition, this tool could cause various gait disorders and disintegrate the coccyx. In short, after the Spanish Donkey, walking and sitting became almost torture.
Sometimes, it was desired to maximize the physical damage of the punished people, and for this reason, the mechanism was made to move back and forth, making the sharp edges hurt even more. Again, sometimes the weights were increased in stages, and additional needle-like protrusions could be added to the pointed place on the seat.
In other words, it did not seem possible to survive this torture method.
Most of the people who were sainted by the Spanish Donkey died during the torture, while the survivors died due to infection after a while. Those who survived the infection in some way could not walk or run, become disabled and could not have children due to physical deformations.
Also, the Spaniards were not the only people to use this torture device. Especially since the 12th century, it was very popular in France, America and Italy. It is even known that the Spanish Donkey was used during the civil war in America.
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