Methods of Torture and Superstitions During the Salem Witch Trials

Methods of Torture

• Water boarding • Death upon the rack • Strappado • Squassation • Red hot pincers • Burning Iron Chair • Hanging • Burning at the Stake • Beheading • Drawing and Quartering • The Wheel • Garrotting Chair • The Boots • Vat of lime

Waterboarding

• Water by the jugfuls were funnelled into the victim’s swelling body as he or she was stretched between iron rings secured to the wall and the floor.

Strappado

• Prisoner’s wrists were bound to a rope, which was placed on a pulley. • Man on other side of rope would pull prisoner off the ground and drop him from a certain height s so that his shoulders and arms dislocated

Squassation

• This torture is similar to strappado except that the rope is suddenly released and then checked before the prisoner’s feet touched the floor. • It was also done to dislocate limbs and it sometimes caused death.

Red Hot Pincers/Burning Iron Chair

• Pincers made of metal and set in fire- used to burn and tear flesh • Iron Chair- The prisoner was bound to an iron chair with a hole in its seat; then a fire was lit beneath the chair.

Hanging

• Considered ideal punishment because it was not gory as beheading was and it was cheap (a skilled executioner was not needed) • Death after time of hanging usually occurs about 20 minutes later

Burning at the Stake

• Preferred because it did not shed the victim’s blood and it insured that the condemned did not have a body to carry on the next life. • Some would be hanged then have their dead bodies be burnt at the stake, yet most would be burnt alive.

Death Upon the Rack

• Prisoner would be tied to the rack and would be elongated gradually for days • Every joint in the body would be dislocated • Loud popping heard during a very painful process • Inquisitor would apply more tortures to prisoner while he is being stretched out

Beheading

• It is effective and humane if it is conducted properly • Can be very gruesome and may require several blows to several the head if not conducted properly be a skilled headsman- very gory because blood from the aorta and veins spurt out • Prisoner dies from shock and loss of blood pressure, and due to the fact that the head is severed

Drawing and Quartering

• The most commonly used form of drawing and quartering included tying four horses to the prisoner in his extremities (hands, feet) and send the horses galloping off in different directions • Resulted in complete quartering of the body • People gathered to watch the drawing and quartering as a form of entertainment and such

The Wheel

• Prisoner would be tied to the edge of a wheel or a rock • Prisoner would then be rolled down a hill, usually over beds of spikes and such, so that the body was totally mutilated by the time the wheel reached the bottom • Considered a popular form of punishment that was enjoyed by viewers and spectators passing by. Picture is too Graphic to Place on this PowerPoint

Garroting Chair

• Prisoner’s head was locked into a cuff while a sharp point was screwed in slowly into the back of prisoner’s neck

The Boots/ Vats of Lime

• The suspect’s legs were enclosed in a wooden “boot” and then wedges were driven down through the top. This technique smashed the legs.

• Stubborn prisoners were thrown into vats of scaulding lime and scrubbed with wire brushes

Magical Self Protection

• Drive a nail into the witch’s footprint in a dusty road; this act will cause a similar wound in the foot itself.

• Tear a witch’s forehead above the brow until the blood runs, and this act will neutralize her spell.

• Nail a horseshoe above the front door.

• Attach a “hag-stone” (a holed stone) to the keys of the barns to protect farm animals from bewitchment.

Magical Self Protection

• Hide a pair of scissors or knife under the doormat.

• Place long glass tubes with colored pebbles up the chimney.

• S-shaped wall-ties were thought to guard a house from storms.

• Pain a hex (anti-witch symbol) on barn doors.

Superstitions

• Knocking on Wood • Throwing Salt over the Shoulder • Yawning and Sneezing • Brides veil/church bell • Broken mirrors • 7, 9, 40, 13