| − | The modern concept of the inquisition torture-chamber as a place of deviously refined cruelty is "''an error due to sensationalist writers who have exploited credulity.''"<ref>Henry Charles Lea, quoted in '''Kamen''', ''op cit.''</ref> The historian Henry Charles Lea estimated that between 1575 and 1610 only around 32% of those prisoners whose offences made them liable for torture were actually tortured. | + | The modern concept of the inquisition torture-chamber as a place of deviously refined cruelty is "''an error due to sensationalist writers who have exploited credulity.''"<ref>Henry Charles Lea, quoted in '''Kamen''', ''op cit.''</ref> The historian Henry Charles Lea estimated that between 1575 and 1610 only around 32% of those prisoners whose offenses made them liable for torture were actually tortured. |
| − | The Spanish Inquisition's use of torture was subject to strict rules laid down long before by [[Clement V]] - but these were usually bent. For example, a prisoner could only be tortured once, so the Inquisitor would state clearly at the end of session that torture was being "suspended", not ended, so that the records would show the continuation of a single application of torture rather than a second session. | + | Moreover, the use of torture was a common part of legal procedure throughout Europe at the time, to promote truthful testimony by witnesses. It was the medieval approach to discouraging perjury, and not invented or limited to the Spanish Inquisition. |
| | + | The Spanish Inquisition's use of torture was subject to strict rules laid down long before by Clement V - but these were usually bent. For example, a prisoner could only be tortured once, so the Inquisitor would state clearly at the end of session that torture was being "suspended", not ended, so that the records would show the continuation of a single application of torture rather than a second session. |
| | Torture was applied by a public executioner in the presence of an Inquisitor, a representative of the local bishop, and usually a doctor. Few victims appear to have died under torture, and cases of permanent injury or loss of a limb were, comparatively, rare. The three most common methods were the ''garrucha'', similar to the strappado; the ''toca'', or ordeal of water; and the ''potro'', a form of the rack. The use and number of torture implements was much smaller than is imagined, and usually a free confession in the chamber was sufficient to avoid torture altogether. | | Torture was applied by a public executioner in the presence of an Inquisitor, a representative of the local bishop, and usually a doctor. Few victims appear to have died under torture, and cases of permanent injury or loss of a limb were, comparatively, rare. The three most common methods were the ''garrucha'', similar to the strappado; the ''toca'', or ordeal of water; and the ''potro'', a form of the rack. The use and number of torture implements was much smaller than is imagined, and usually a free confession in the chamber was sufficient to avoid torture altogether. |