The Worst Punishments in Human History

let's start with the bad and slowly work our way towards the stuff of nightmares number 10 the rat dungeon if you were alive in London England during the medieval period you would have definitely heard about the rat dungeon since this punishment struck paralyzing fear into the hearts of even the most hardened criminals this was a cell that was located at the bottom of the London Tower where prisoners were Shackled and chained in complete darkness but here's the thing the dungeon was connected to the nearby River and just below the river's waterline so that when the

water levels Rose all the rats that lived along the riverbed would be pushed out of their shelters and forced to swim Downstream this would of course leave the hungry and angry rats towards the entrance of the dungeon where they would then come face to face with the prisoner but to The Unlucky prisoner he never actually saw anything and all he would hear were the soft scurries of the rat's feet entering the dungeon and in a matter of minutes these soft noises were in the hundreds and all around him these angry and aggressive RVE rats would

then begin to take small bites from The Prisoner who had no way of defending himself now he might be able to shake the rats off for a few hours but eventually The Prisoner would pass out from Pure exhaustion and while he slept the rats would continue to take bites from his flesh eventually when he would wake up he would discover hundreds of bites throughout his entire body but it didn't stop there the prisoner was left here for days or weeks on end depending on his crime but towards the end of the medieval per period this

form of punishment just got more and more deranged eventually becoming a form of execution where prisoners would just be thrown in the dungeon and forgotten about number nine the rack this was yet another punishment that took place in the London Tower the rack was a torture device that was used in many places throughout history this form of punishment was originally designed for getting a confession usually from criminals slaves or prisoners of war the device looked like a large ladder but instead of secure steps they would actually rotate like a rolling pin you see when a

prisoner was placed on the rack he would have his feet and wrists tied to a ratchet pulley system where two legal officials would slowly tighten the ropes and locking them in place placing an increasing amount of strain on the prisoner's shoulders hips knees and elbows with every single turn this was all done to get information but of course A lot of the times the truth was not accepted as reality and the Prisoner would then begin to say whatever he believed the officials wanted to hear sometimes it would work and the prisoners would be let go

while other times they would be tortured even more for lying when the whole ordeal was over prisoners were usually released with dislocated joints but often times they were left completely paralyzed that was the case in England in 1447 when a 25-year-old girl named an ASU would be tortured on the rack for hours and hours on end and left completely paralized after all her joints were dislocated she was then carried on a chair and burned alive at the state all this because she read and memorized scriptures from the Bible which she preached in private to a

small group of women which were the exact women she refused to name and expose during her torture you see during this time period if you followed any religion other than the Catholic Church you better not say a word to anybody including your own husband which was the person that turned her in number eight kill hauling this brutal punishment was carried out at Sea on Sailors who would steal or be violent towards others and would usually result in death K hauling would start with a sailor having his arms tied with the Rope then looped around the

entire circumference of the ship before being tied off to his feet the Sailor would then be thrown overboard while the group of men on board pulled on the Rope to slowly drag him around the outside of the ship including over the Keel which is how this punishment gets its name but a lot of the times the Sailor wouldn't even have to worry about it since they were dead before they ever reached it kind of just depends on how hard the guys on the Rope feel like working that day not only would the sailors be drowning

and getting their backs and necks broken on the Keel they were also getting sliced apart like a cheese grater by all the sharp Barnacles on the outside of the ship but if by some miracle a sailor actually happens to make it all the way around the Ship Without Dying one of three things will happen one he would be sent for round two and for sure be dead by then two be freed and allowed back on the ship where he would then slowly di to infections or three lived the rest of his life single and being

made fun of since he was now fully covered in scars from head to toe number seven crushed by elephants now we are getting to the part of the list where living is no longer an option this form of punishment has been used by many countries throughout history but was most recently used by India in the 19th century which is really not that long ago if you really think about it like your great grandma could have witnessed one of these what type of crimes would you have have to commit to be crushed by an elephant you

might ask well apparently if you failed to pay your taxes that was good enough and of course stealing or being an enemy soldier was also a great way to become a tortilla but the most disturbing case in history was when the fourth Mogul emperor of India ordered an enormous amount of criminals to be crushed to death in a single day simply because he was bored and needed some entertainment the guy who forgot to pay his taxes crushed the man who stole an apple from the local market crushed crushed the Little Orphan who jaywalked across the

street crushed the man who murdered his neighbor and added his remains to a large pot of tomato soup then fed that soup to his family and watched them eat it from the Shadows with a creepy smirk on his face ah he's all right apparently he makes a damn good soup there are a few ways that this public execution goes down but one thing always stays the same there's always a guy on top of the elephant controlling its every move and this was very intentional as this was meant to Showcase just how amazing the ruling class

were I mean mean look at them they can control an elephant now be impressed the first method of execution was the one that you better pray for if this was going to be your fate here the criminals would have their arms tied behind their back and their heads placed on a pedestal where it was then crushed like a grape by the elephant's foot now the second method is much more cruel the criminal would be placed flat on the floor with their arms tied behind their backs then the elephants would be guided to walk over the

person's body and hopefully the criminal would die on the first go but sometimes they just end up crushing a leg or an arm so the elephant then has to make a U-turn and try again and again and again the final and worst way is when a highly trained elephant was guided to slowly crush the person limb by limb they would first crush the arms then the legs and then poke holes in them with the Tusk until eventually dealing the final Blow To The Head or torso this is the more theatrical route that rulers like the

fourth mogul love to take and made for a truly traumatizing experience for everyone except for the fourth Mogul he loved it number six impel probably one of the grossest and most cruel forms of punishment on the list this has been used by a few countries throughout history but was most recently used in Egypt in the 17th century usually against criminals that were Highway robbers grave thieves or anyone who would try and start a rebellion this punishment was start by having a criminal lay flat on their stom mix with their arms tied behind their back they

would then be sliced open with a razor to increase the size of their back door and as soon as that incision was made the cut would be lathered with paste to instantly stop the blood they would then thrust in a long wooden steak that was the width of a man's arm which was sharply tapered on one end they then begin to hit the wooden steak with the Mallet pushing it further and further in and of course the steak was greased up beforehand to make this process a lot smoother and once the steak has popped out

of the criminal's shoulder head or mouth they were pretty much long gone he is then planted next to a busy road like a Halloween decoration to remind everyone that this is what happens when you break the law they will be left there for the entire day and remove the following morning before the body begins to stink but wait there's another version of this as well you see on some occasions the criminals would only be impelled just deep enough to keep them in place but not too deep that it would cause immediate death they would do

this by having Stakes that had a seated position on them to prevent the person from sliding down any further they would then be placed on a busy road where they would suffer for hours and hours pleading to people walking by for help until eventually succumbing to their wounds number five poena koule poena koule is Latin for penalty of the sack and that's exactly what it was just a lot more terrifying and cruel this was an exclusive punishment for anyone that would murder their own family members this was first seen in the 2 Century in Rome

but would later be used by the Germans in the 18th century this all begins with a convicted murderer being placed inside a thick leather bag but just to make sure the man isn't lonely they would then add a dog a rooster a Viper and a monkey I don't know what these animals did to deserve this but hey at least the evil family murderer doesn't die alone once all the animals are added inside the bag it is then sewn shut creating an almost airtight seal now you would think this would be horrible enough but no this

is just the beginning because as soon as the bag is sewn shut it is then tossed into the ocean but don't worry later on these murderers would be given the option to either be placed inside the leather bag or be sent to perform at the Coliseum where they can perform the act of being mauled to death in front of all of their loved ones and peers you know at least they had the option number four rat s this is one of the most sick punishments in all of human history and it involves the use of

rats I will cover two of them here as they are very similar the first use of this form of punishment dates back to 1568 during the 80 years war a Dutch leader named dri sooi would often use this method of punishment which involved placing a rat inside of a clay Bowl then placing it topside down on a prisoner's stomach chest face or groin then the back of the bow would be heated with either a torch or some coals causing the rat to go into a full-on panic trying to escape from the Heat and its only

way out was to burrow into the human once inside it would continue to chew and tear apart whatever was in its way desperately searching for a way out eventually the rat finds its way out of the Maze and survives the same could not be said for the prisoner but the second method was much much worse and was highly secretive since it was used under the guidance of the dictator austo Pinos where he held power from 1976 through 1983 they called it the rectoscope and I'm sure you have already figured out where this is going yes

it's exactly what you think they would place a tube on a prisoner's back door then insert a rat inside of the tube the rat would then begin to burrow its way in these people were so sick that they actually expected the prisoners to answer questions while this was going on eventually the rat would find its way in and begin to move forward to find its way out nobody really knows how many people died from this punishment but we do know that a ton of people went missing when this dictator was in charge number three giting

the last known use was in the early 1900s in Afghanistan this all came to light in 1921 when the National Geographics published this image in their magazine this was also used in the United States from time to time during the 17th and 18th century one notable example was in Boston Massachusetts where a few few Pirates were hung at the Boston Harbor which served as a warning to any Sailors that were approaching Boston now let's talk about England since they love this form of punishment so much in England this was used on traitors murderers Pirates and

thieves but after the year 1752 the murder Act was passed which required that all convicted murderers must be put to death by being publicly dissected or by giting of some sort and over 134 confirmed people met this fate the most common form of giting were actually cages and they look like this it was an all steel cage that was shaped tightly to the form of a human body which was so tight that it would not allow the person inside to move they were then hung 30 ft or more off the floor usually on a public

road or water hole to ensure that the most amount of people could witness this monstrosity but I can only assume this was more annoying than anything since every time you get thirsty and needed to fill up your container of water you would have to deal with the dying man begging you for a sip over here but the annoyance and torture of the public didn't stop there because after the criminals would die in the cages the body would be left inside to rot for years and years on end with the locals complaining that the smell of

death was so pungent that they couldn't even sleep at night there's even been reports that some human remains stayed inside of these cages for over 20 years before a government official would finally remember to clean it out number two scaff ISM this was a form of punishment that was used by the ancient Persian Empire on anyone that would be convicted of murder first the criminal would be placed inside of a boat on their backs and tied down the boat had four holes cut out so that the person's arms and legs would be outside of the

boat and in the water they were then force-fed large quantities of honey and milk until their stomachs were visibly full they would then proceed to lather their entire body with the milk and honey as well after all these steps were completed he was then pushed out to the middle of the lake where he was completely exposed to the heat of the Sun but the sun would soon become the least of his worries you see the reason they fed him milk and honey was not because it was a great last meal but because this combination causes

the person to get extreme diarrhea which mixed with the sweet honey attracts rodents bugs wasps bees flies and whatever other animals live near the lake after being tormented by The Animals throughout the entire night you would think that the daytime maybe gets a little better no because as soon as the sun rises the following day the person inside of the boat gets another gigantic meal of milk and honey and an additional lathering this would be done on a daily basis to prolong the punishment for as long as possible it was also well documented that the

rodents would continuously attempt to burrow inside of the person through their back door they were probably trying to get a head start on their next meal a writer named John sares wrote in great detail about one of these incidents he would go on to say that it was one of the most horrid and cruel forms of punishment since it was terribly long and seemed to have no end in sight he wrote about a man who survived for an entire 17 days before he finally died from his wounds apparently the Man spent his last few days

with his entire face completely covered with wasp and his flesh rotting away filled with swarms of parasites and worms all while being covered in his own filth number one the oet oet simply means to forget in French this was a punishment that was used in many places throughout history including in the London Tower which had a small and confined room called little ease Not only was this room pitch black it was also so small that prisoners can not sit stand or lay down while inside it and they would be left in this uncomfortable position for

days on end one of the most famous ubets is not the one in the London Tower but in the neighboring District of Warwick inside of Warwick Castle here deep underground in the Castle's dungeons is a very small and and narrow cell completely made of stone which has a metal door to close it shut prisoners were tossed inside of the cell and forgotten about as the name implies The Prisoner would just have to sit there and wait for their inevitable death which usually came in a few days from dehydration or starvation now of course this would

be the best case scenario because in reality most of the time there would already be a rotting corpse inside of the cell to keep the new prisoner company the previous occupier of the cell would serve as a daily Remer of his upcoming fate but that's not the only companions that he will have since the underground dungeons are completely infested with rats that have developed a taste for human flesh but wait there's more these ubets existed in many of the castles throughout Europe and in recent times they have actually discovered these dungeons with dozens if not

hundreds of human remains inside of it as proof that they were hardly ever cleaned like in leap castle of Ireland where in 1900 during the Castle's renovation a worker found a small opening behind a wall inside of the chapel this hole had an 8ft drop that led to a large oblet and what the worker found inside shocked him since it was filled with so many skeletons that they needed multiple cartloads to clear it all out but just when you think the section is over it just keeps on giving you see there's been many stories of

men who have been placed inside one of these Dungeons and kept alive for years and years on end surviving of crumbs of food and minimal amounts of water prolonging their inevitable demise for as long as humanly possible these cells were sometimes even placed on ground level so they can hear the voices and laughter of the people outside an experience that they will never get again in this life [Music] time h