Descriptionary

pitchcapping a form of torture in which a paper cap filled with hot tar or pitch is forcibly placed on a victim's shaved head and then later torn off, pull­ing up shreds of skin and flesh in the process. Used by British soldiers on Irish rebels in 18th-century Ireland.

Procrustes in Greek myth, the son of Poseidon. He was notorious for his iron bed, on which he cut off the legs of victims who were too tall for it. Con­versely, he stretched on the rack those who were too short.

rack a wooden frame fitted with a roller at one or both ends, to which hands and feet were attached. By means of an incremental turn of a handle, the limbs were stretched to the point of breaking.

run the gauntlet made famous by the Roman mili­tary, a form of punishment in which a disgraced sol­dier would be made to run through two rows of men, who would strike him as he passed.

scavenger's daughter used in the Tower of Lon­don, a metal rack through which head, hands, and legs were strapped, and the victim made to bend and compress oneself so forcefully that blood would ooze from the nose and ears. Also known as the iron shackle or the stork.

scold's bridle an iron muzzlelike apparatus fit around the head, with a mouthpiece that stuck the tongue with sharp spikes if the wearer stirred or spoke, used as punishment for mouthy or troublesome women, including workhouse inmates in England and Scotland in the 1600s. Also known as the Branks.

scourge a multithonged whip or flail.

shunning in some Christian sects, the act of ignor­ing and avoiding someone who has sinned or acted out in some way against the church.

star chamber in the English court of law and oper­ating out of the palace of Westminster from the 15th century to 1641, a secret court that tried cases with­out juries, witnesses, or the possibility of appeal, and which punished those found guilty with whippings, cutting off of ears, imprisonment, and the pillory. As an adjective, any secret, arbitrary, or strict institution of law that disregards human rights.

strappado used during the Middle Ages, a form of torture in which victims' hands were tied behind their backs and then pulled up into the air by another rope, which dislocated the arms. Also known as a reverse hanging.

tarring and feathering in Europe and in the Ameri­can colonies in the 1700s, a form of mob punishment in which one was stripped to the waist and covered in tar and then plastered with or rolled in chicken feath­ers and made to ride in a cart through town as a form of humiliation.

Third Geneva Convention created in 1949, an international treaty agreement that spells out how prisoners of war are to be cared for during their cap­tivity and that prohibits all forms of torture.

thumbscrew used during the Middle Ages, a vice placed over a victim's finger, thumb, or toe, and slowly crushed.

tocks similar to a pillory, a contrivance of boards that lock in a sitting victim's feet, hands, or head, or sometimes all of these. Used to publicly humiliate military deserters or minor offenders from the Middle Ages through colonial America.

torture chamber any room used for torture, where various torture devices may be set up, used from as early as Roman times and widespread during the Middle Ages, with the most notorious being used dur­ing the Spanish Inquisition.

Tower of London a fortress and prison in central London, famous for holding a torture chamber, which included such devices as the rack and the scavenger's daughter.

waterboarding originating during the Spanish Inquisition or earlier and used by the United States on suspected al-Qaeda suspects after the 9/11 attacks, a form of torture in which a victim is put on his back, with his hands and feet tied and his head inclined, while water is then poured over the mouth and nose to simulate drowning.

water ingestion a form of torture in which a victim has water forced down his throat, sometimes to the point of death, used against American soldiers by the Japanese in World War II.

whipping boy as part of the English court in the 1600s and 1700s, any boy who served as a substitute to a young prince when punishment for the prince's misbehavior was called for. The substitute, usually a close companion, would be whipped or beaten either for the prince's poor school performance or for acting out. The practice arose because a prince could not be physically punished by anyone other than the king, who was often away or too busy to attend to disci­plinary matters.

abdicate vb. (AB duh KAYT) to give up one's posi­tion, office, or power. The outraged citizens forced the king to abdicate the throne.