Another of the brutal torture devices.

Another of the brutal torture devices I encountered while touring the  Inquisition Exposition in Granada, Spain. This is the famous instrument known in English simply as “The Rack”.

According to the museum:

“In a first-degree interrogation the victim was stretched by the feet and hands, leading to dislocation of the shoulders and tearing of the muscle tissues. Recovery, although extremely painful, was still possible if the victim was freed. In a second-degree interrogation not only the feet and the hands, but the whole body would be stretched, which would cause tearing of the muscles and the limbs and the abdomen, tearing of tendons and possible dislocation of the hips. The terrible suffering inflicted during the torture session would be compounded by the fact that recovery was practically impossible. In a third-degree interrogation, as well as all the suffering described above, the kneecaps, elbows and thigh bones would be separated from the flesh, and the entrails and diaphragm would be torn. Death would follow after hours or days of extreme agony. The spike-covered rollers are nothing more than a sophisticated way of producing greater agony in sinking into the spine and kidneys.”

The Spanish Inquisition was a truly horrific period in human history. I’ve long thought that the people that found their way into being torture specialists in the Inquisition would surely have been some sort of serial killers in any other age. In fact, it may have been the perfect job for a serial killer to legitimize the sadistic torture of multitudes of people that, in any other setting, would be unacceptable to the authorities. But does a serial killer still enjoy the killings if there is no risk of getting caught? Now there’s a weird and dark question.

Anyway, that’s my thoughts on the actual torturer. As for the politicians (including church figures) actually calling the shots… their motivations were far more often about personal ambition than religious piety.