The Boots

The Boots

Also known as bootikens or as cashielaws in Scotland, the boots were cruel implements of torture. They consisted of

wedges that fitted the legs from ankles to knees. The torturer used a large, heavy hammer to pound the wedges, driving them closer together. At each strike, the inquisitor repeated the question. The wedges lacerated flesh and crushed bone, sometimes so thoroughly that marrow gushed out and the legs were rendered useless (Guiley 1989 342).

The picture to the left shows the torture of Urbain Grandier. The torture was described as follows:

[They put] the legs of the patient between two planks of wood, which they bind with cords, between which they put wedges, and make them enter by blows of a hammer to squeeze the legs...[and] the bones of the legs do crack and fall in pieces when they are unloosed; and those who have undergone this torture, die a little time after (Sidky 164).

The torture was very severe. Marrow and blood flowed from Grandier's legs, and whenever he cried out to God, hist tormentors announced he was really calling out for Satan. Crippled by the torture, Grandier was dragged to his place of execution (Sidky 165, 166).

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Punishment, Torture, and Ordeal copyrighted 1996-1998 to Shantell Powell.