Untitled - Shattering Denial

THE INQUISITION 153
was stretched and bound, so that he could not move.
Cords were attached to his arms and legs, and then con
nected with a windlass, which when turned dislocated the
joints of the wrists and ankles.
The strappado or vertical rack was no less painful.
The prisoner with his hands tied behind his back was
raised by a rope attached to a pulley and windlass to
the top of a gallows, or to the ceiling of the torture cham
ber; he was then let fall with a jerk to within a few inches
of the ground. This was repeated several times. The
cruel torturers sometimes tied weights to the victim s
feet to increase the shock of the fall.
The punishment of burning, "although a very dan
gerous punishment," as an Inquisitor informs us, was
occasionally used. We read of an official of Poitiers, who,
following a Toulousain custom, tortured a sorceress by
placing her feet on burning coals (juxta carbones accensos). 1
This punishment is described by
ioire de V Inquisition.
Marsollier in his His-
First a good fire was started; then
the victim was stretched out on the ground, his feet
manacled, and turned toward the flame. Grease, fat, or
some other combustible substance was rubbed upon them,
so that they were horribly burned. From time to time
a screen was placed between the victim s feet and the
1 "De concilio quorumdam proborum qui se asserebant vidisse penis
examinari haereticos in partibus Tholosanis, fecisti plantas pedum ejusdem
mulieris juxta carbones accensos apponi." Letter of John XXII, July 28,
1319, in Vidal, op. cit., October, 1905, p. 5.