From impaling to trampling by elephants: 5 of the most brutal executions in the history of mankind

You would not wish anyone to be in the place of criminals in ancient and medieval times. The accused were subjected to terrible tortures, during which a slow, painful death awaited them. Read about the most brutal executions in our material.

The terrible torture that was practiced in the Middle Ages in South and Southeast Asia is amazing. This punishment was especially popular in India, where huge animals trampled criminals until the XIX century. The animals simply crushed the unfortunate victim, stepping on the head or torso of the condemned to death with their paws. There are versions that elephants were even taught to cut open the bodies of criminals with sharp blades tied to tusks.

The ancient Greeks punished criminals by roasting them in a huge bronze bull. The unfortunate was closed inside the statue and a bonfire was lit under it. The gruesome execution was entertainment for the public. Small tubes were inserted into the nose of the iron bull: when the victim screamed from pain shock, the sound passing through them resembled an animal roar.

The infamous Count Dracula was a lover of this method of execution, very popular in the XV century. Vlad III Tepes ruled Wallachia (modern Romania) and became the prototype of the legendary vampire. The images of that time demonstrate how a person is pierced with a long pole through the stomach. Historians claim that the process was much more shocking.The victim was impaled through the vaginal or anal opening. Under the weight of the body, the instrument of torture began to move and pierce the criminal further, passing through the insides. Eventually, the stake came out in the shoulder, neck or throat area.

This torture has been used in many cultures around the world. The condemned man was turned upside down, and the executioner sawed him into two parts, starting from the genital area. Since the man was in an inverted position, blood flowed to the brain, and he remained alive until the end of the execution. Especially often mentions of this execution are found in medieval European history. In Buddhism, sawing is considered one of the punishments of sinners in hell.

Skinning or skinning is a slow and painful execution, which was resorted to in different nations. The victim was tied up and skinned. Several people took part in the process. Death occurred due to blood loss, pain shock, infections and hypothermia. The demise could last from a few hours to several weeks.Torture, which may seem like a fictional nightmare, was actually a cruel reality until almost the XIX century. Nowadays, executions of this kind are regarded as a crime, but in the ancient and medieval world they were quite adequate punishment for non-compliance with the law. Maybe that's why there were much fewer crimes then than now.

In 1881, the artist Vasily Surikov completed the painting "The Morning of the Streltsy execution". It depicts Tsar Peter I taking part in the execution of soldiers who rebelled against his innovations. The scale of the violence of that fateful morning horrified the Muscovites of that time, who were surprised by blood and death was difficult.