From vagina impalement to ‘death by elephant’ – history’s most gruesome execution methods revealed
NO one ever wants to be on the wrong side of the law but that was especially the case in ancient times.
Criminals have been subjected to a brutal range of death penalties over the years and some of the most shocking can be found below.
Death by elephant
Ancient execution methods were often brutal, but few were as terrifying as this.
Elephants were used to crush and even stab crooks to death in Medieval South and Southeast Asia. They were particularly popular in India, where the beasts were used to kill crooks as recently as the 19th Century.
The most common form saw elephants stamp on the torso or head of victims.
Elephants are clever creatures, and reportedly could be taught to slice criminals to death with “pointed blades fitted to their tusks”.
Burned to death in a metal bull
Not one for the squeamish. The Ancient Greeks used to punish people by cooking them inside a huge bronze bull.
A criminal was locked inside the device via a door on its side and a fire was then lit underneath, slowly burning the victim to death.
Reportedly, the execution method served as entertainment for passersby.
The bull had small metal pipes fitted into its nose. As the victim screamed in pain, their cries played through it as a low bellow.
Vagina and rectum impalement
Execution by impalement was a method famously used by Vlad the Impaler in the 15th-century.
He took his reign over Wallachia, which is present-day Romania, very seriously and is even the inspiration behind Count Dracula.
Images of this method usually depict people being skewered through their stomachs but historians claim the real process was must more brutal.
It is thought that the traditional method was to sharpen a stake and place a victim on top of it.
The spike would be inserted partway up their rectum or vagina.
Then gravity would come into play and the body weight on the victim would drag them down the greased pole as the sharp point pierced through their organs.
Eventually, it would make an exit wound through their skin in the shoulder, neck or throat region.
Death by sawing
Executing someone by sawing them in half may seem extreme but it was a method used by many cultures across the globe.
The condemned person would often be hung upside down.
Then the executioner would begin sawing at their genitals and continue on through the body.
As the person was upside down, blood would flow into the brain and keep the victim alive for as long as possible.
This execution method has been more commonly recorded in Medieval European history.
It’s also one of the punishments said to occur in Buddhist Hell.
Skin removal
Skin removal, also known as flaying, was a slow execution method used by various cultures.
The victim would be tied down so they couldn’t move and then their skin would be cut away.
Several people usually got involved in the cutting.
Death would occur due to several factors including blood loss, shock, infections and hypothermia.
Unfortunately, the process could be spread out over hours or even weeks.
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Which of these old execution methods shocked you the most? Let us know in the comments…
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