Brodequin Torture

The brodequin torture, a method of torture involving the infliction of pain on the condemned's legs. The person in question would be placed in a seated position on a large bench, and well-built, narrow, wooden boards were attached on both the inside and the outside of their legs. The boards were fixed to the legs with sturdy rope.

Subsequently, wedges were pushed into the wooden boards by use of a mallet. In the ordinary form of this torture, used for lesser felonies, four wedges were used; on the other hand, in the extreme version of this torture, eight were used. It was quite common, in fact, that that during the extraordinary form of the brodequin torture, the bones of the victim's legs burst. For ordinary torture, the brodequins themselves were made out of stockings of parchment, so it was only possible to get in and out of them when they were moist. When held near a fire or other source of heat, the brodequins shrunk to the extent that the wearer of the brodequins were put into unbearable pain.