Did the punisment fit the crime

During the Middle Ages, people were punished in various ways that would seem cruel and unusual to us today. Some of the worst punishments included being burned at the stake, being drawn and quartered, and being boiled alive. These punishments were often reserved for the most severe crimes, such as treason or heresy. Throughout history forms of justice have been dished out that can be described as brutal, irregular, and just downright bizarre. Here are a few peculiar punishments from history that will make you wince, laugh, and maybe even vomit.

That’s gotta hurt – radishes and mullets

2,500 years ago, a man committing adultery in Athens might find himself before a crowd in the agora. There he would be subjected to a grim legal punishment known as Rhaphanidosis. This involved a radish being shoved where the sun doesn’t shine. Before the radish went in, the guilty man would also have all the hair from his nether regions removed with hot ash.

The Romans did a similar thing to adulterers but used a grey mullet, the fish not the hairstyle, instead. The Romans clearly hated adulterers, and anyone found guilty could be fined, raped, castrated, or executed.

Put a lid on it - the iron coffin of Lissa

In the medieval period, people clearly thought quick deaths were a bit dull and boring, as so many methods of execution were designed to prolong the screams of the condemned. One such mode of dispatch is known as ‘The Iron Coffin of Lissa’. The prisoner was placed in an iron coffin and over the course of several days, they were forced to endure the agony of watching the lid slowly shut. Inching towards them almost too slowly to see, eventually, they would feel the cold iron touch their nose. Then it was more suspense coupled with great physical pain as it slowly crushed them to death.

fate worse than death – the extreme execution of Balthasar Gérard

The execution of Balthasar Gérard shocked and sickened people across Europe, who were no strangers to all manner of gory public justice. He was dispatched in Delft, The Netherlands, in 1584 for slaying William of Orange. Gérard’s sentence was death preceded by torture, which lasted for 18 days. First, he was flogged, had his hand forced into a vat of boiling oil, and honey rubbed into his wounds. A goat was brought in to lick the honey off, but the animal thought better of it. Then Balthasar’s limbs were stretched, and armpits branded. He was covered in hot bacon fat and his feet were shrunken by fire. Then the skin on his feet was torn off before a single arm was amputated. Over the course of the next two weeks, different parts of his body had the flesh torn by red hot tongs. Before he’d had a chance to cool down, he was tied naked in the middle of a public square, and carts loaded with coal were placed around him. They were set on fire, creating a huge BBQ in which poor Balthasar was the meat. Barely alive, he was then bound to a cartwheel with his legs and one remaining arm smashed to pieces. He was left on the wheel writhing in misery for six hours. The executioner took pity on Gérard and garrotted him, after which he was disembowelled and quartered.

Mistress K Hope you enjoyed this you blood thirsty slaves!!!