Did the punishment fit the crime? You be the judge. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the cruelest and most unusual punishments ever inflicted on individuals throughout history.
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00:00 When the person is placed inside this brazen bowl, it's just like cooking a turkey in your oven.
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for
00:07 the cruelest and most unusual punishments ever inflicted on individuals throughout history.
00:12 Please! What are you doing? Please stop! Please stop!
00:16 Peter Nierce was a prolific serial killer in 16th century Germany.
00:25 He was finally caught in 1581 and sentenced to be broken on the wheel after being convicted of 544
00:32 murders. The wheel was a fairly common method of execution in Europe during the Middle Ages
00:36 and early Renaissance. In addition to being made of hefty wood, these wheels were outfitted with
00:41 a metal rim, though sometimes they would be modified so that they could inflict further
00:45 damage with protruding iron blades. The punishment typically came in two acts. First, the condemned
00:51 would be tied down and then hit repeatedly with a large wheel, shattering their bones.
00:56 Another approach was to tie a person to the wheel and hit his or her limbs with iron hammers or bars
01:01 while the wheel was rotated. Afterwards, they would be staked to another wheel and either
01:06 decapitated or set ablaze. In the case of Nierce, he received 42 merciless blows after being tortured
01:12 for two days. He was then struck with the wheel from his ankles upward and ultimately slain by
01:18 quartering. 9. The Citizens of Kronstadt - Impalement
01:23 There is a reason why Vlad III, famously known as Vlad the Impaler, earned his grisly nickname.
01:29 Impalement was a somewhat common method of execution at the time, usually reserved for
01:44 crimes against the state. A penetrating object like a stake or hook was inserted into the victim,
01:50 and they'd be left to die. The method was inhuman but effective.
01:54 In 1459, the Saxon city of Kronstadt in Transylvania decided to throw political
02:04 support to one of Vlad's rivals. The cruel dictator responded with abject barbarity.
02:10 He impaled 30,000 of its citizens outside the city walls and burned Kronstadt to the ground.
02:16 According to legend, Vlad ate his dinner that day among his victims so he could watch them suffer.
02:21 8. Saint Bartholomew - Flaying
02:36 Saint Bartholomew was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus of Nazareth. According to Christian belief,
02:41 Bartholomew traveled east and eventually landed himself in Armenia. There, he managed to convert
02:46 the king to Christianity and was executed for his efforts. According to some traditions and
02:51 beliefs, Bartholomew was decapitated after getting flayed. Flaying, or skinning alive,
02:56 was a popular method of torture and execution in Mesopotamia.
03:04 The victim would suffer tremendously before dying from blood loss or infection.
03:09 Traditional depictions of the apostle often show him without his skin. This method of
03:13 execution inspired Christian leaders to make Bartholomew the patron saint of leather workers.
03:18 7. Yuan Chonghuan - Lingchi aka The Death by a Thousand Cuts
03:33 Yuan Chonghuan was field marshal of the Ming forces in northeastern China. In 1629, he repelled a
03:39 Jurchen invasion from the walls of Beijing. Despite his success, Yuan received intense
03:44 criticism from the imperial court. The pressure forced the Chongzhen emperor to sentence him to
03:49 execution via Lingchi, or Death by a Thousand Cuts. Yuan was tied to a post as bits of his
03:54 body were removed one piece at a time. During the Yuan dynasty, the Lingchi would last for about 100
04:00 cuts. In the Ming dynasty, however, the method could stretch as far as 3,000. While it was
04:07 normally a quick death taking around 20 minutes, Yuan's screams were allegedly heard for half a day.
04:12 6. Ishikawa Goemon - Boiled Alive
04:17 Ishikawa Goemon was a real-life Japanese Robin Hood. The legendary outlaw robbed from the rich
04:22 and gave his loot to the poor. He also allegedly attempted several political assassinations of
04:27 warlords, including the powerful Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Goemon was captured and sentenced
04:32 to death by boiling along with his young son. Accounts of this event have varied over the years,
04:38 but most agree on one detail. As they were immersed in a large cauldron, Goemon held his son above his
04:44 head in an attempt to save him. The outcome of this remains disputed. Some claim that this action
04:50 moved the executioner and the child was spared. Others say that both father and son ultimately
04:55 met the same agonizing fate. 5. The Prisoners of Diederik Sonoy - Rat Torture
05:01 The Eighty Years' War was the Dutch offshoot of the tension between Catholics and Protestants
05:12 that spread throughout Europe during the Renaissance. Diederik Sonoy was one of the
05:16 leaders of the Gerschen, a group of rebellious Calvinist nobles. His tactics were borderline
05:21 savage, having been the first known individual to employ the rat torture. Sonoy would take some of
05:26 his Catholic prisoners and tie them to a table bare-chested. He would then fill a large bowl
05:31 with rats and place it upside down on the prisoner's stomach. The bowl would get heated
05:36 with white-hot coals, panicking the rats inside. With no other routes of escape, the rats would
05:46 eventually gnaw and claw their way through the victim. 4. Jajar Khan Bakshi - Execution by
05:57 Elephant Death by rampaging elephant was a mode of execution popular in parts of Asia and India.
06:02 These were territories where elephants were bred to be used as weapons of war.
06:12 During the back half of the 16th century, much of India was ruled by Mughal Emperor Akbar the
06:18 Great. During one of his military campaigns, Akbar was traveling through the territory of
06:22 Gujarat. There, a woman spoke to Akbar and accused military chief Jajar Khan Bakshi of
06:28 murdering her son. After an inquiry, Bakshi confessed. As punishment, he was thrown at the
06:33 feet of a war elephant named Manmil and was trampled to death. The Europeans that watched
06:38 the feat sometimes compared it to being broken on the wheel since the Mahout made the bashing
06:43 last so long. 3. Mithridates the Soldier - Scaphism
06:47 Mithridates was a Persian soldier who was executed after bragging about killing King Cyrus. He was
06:53 sentenced to scaphism, a Persian method of torture. The victim was strung up between two boats or a
06:58 hollowed-out log and force-fed milk and honey. The supposed sweetness of this mixture would then
07:03 attract flies, wasps, and bees that would then attack the victim for days. In addition, the milk
07:14 and honey would cause the individual's bowels to rebel, resulting in terrible diarrhea, which would
07:20 in turn breed worms. The combination of all these horrible effects would eventually lead to the
07:24 victim dying a prolonged and miserable death. In the
07:33 case of Mithridates, it allegedly took him 17 days to give up the ghost.
07:38 2. St. Eustace the Brazen Bull - Ancient Civilizations
07:45 Say what you will about ancient civilizations, they were nothing if not inventive when it came
07:50 to execution. The brazen bull was a device supposedly invented during ancient Greece.
07:55 From a distance, it appeared to be merely a life-sized bronze statue of a bull. However,
08:00 the structure was hollow and fitted with a door on one side. Underneath, a large fire would be lit
08:06 as victims were shoved inside the belly of the bull. They were then essentially roasted.
08:11 In Rome, St. Eustace was a pagan general who converted to Christianity. As punishment for
08:20 not submitting to the Roman gods, Emperor Hadrian sentenced Eustace and his family to
08:25 death by brazen bull. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to
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08:49 Number 1. Jesus of Nazareth - Crucifixion
08:53 Anyone with a passing familiarity with Christianity knows that the Romans were
08:57 fond of crucifixion. After stirring up unrest and potential rebellion, Jesus of Nazareth was
09:09 arrested by Roman governor Pontius Pilate. He was stripped of his clothing and then nailed to a large
09:14 wooden cross. While contemporary portrayals show wounds in Jesus' hands, he may actually have been
09:20 nailed through his wrists as well as his feet. Victims of crucifixion would often endure agonizing
09:26 pain for hours or days until they died by asphyxiation from the strain of the weight.
09:31 According to biblical accounts, Jesus suffered for around six hours before ultimately succumbing.
09:37 Human beings have spent centuries devising cruel and horrific ways to hurt one another.
09:42 If you're a history buff with insight into other torturous methods, sound off in the comments below.
09:47 "This is for posterity, so be honest. How do you feel?"
09:51 "Interesting."
09:58 "I'm not sure."
10:05 "I'm not sure."