Re: Bilboes, Bridals, and Gibbets (fwd)

[clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)]

Poster: clevin@ripco.com (Craig Levin)

Alanna:

> There was also the the handy-dandy do-it-yourself method that was
> reportedly used on Mark Smeaton to obtain his confession of adultery
> with Anne Boleyn -- a knotted rope tied about the head and tightened
> with a stick, just like a torniquet.  
> 
> Poke your own thumbs into your temples for just a taste of how
> painful this one could be.

Chillingly enough, this form of torture has an honorable ancestry
to it. The Goths put Boethius, one of the last classical
philosophers (he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy) to the test
in this fashion. He stood it until his eyes popped out, and then
they finished him off with a club.

Pedro
-- 
http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~clevin/index.html 
clevin@ripco.com
Craig Levin
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