952 – Thumbscrews

Physical description:

Iron thumbscrews used in torture. Suspended on a long chain of thirteen narrow oval links, joined to the thumbscrews by two linked rings, and with an ingenious link halfway made from a nail that allows them to rotate. A further larger ring is attached to the end of the last oval link of the chain. The thumbscrew apparatus consists of a bar mounted on a simple screw, and which travels upwards or downwards operated by a rotating wing nut on a W-shaped frame.

Museum classification:

Persecution

Size:

90 x 75 x 20

Information:

Johannes Junius writes to his daughter whilst in prison accused of witchcraft. Bamberg, Germany 1628:
'.....God in heaven have mercy!-the executioner put the thumscrews on me, both hands bound together, so that the blood spurted from the nails and everywhere, so that for four weeks I could not use my hand.....'

This object was on loan to the 'Wicked Spirits?' exhibition at Colchester Castle Museum in 2022.

Also loaned to Canada Sept 2024 - May 2025

Resource:

Object

Materials:

Iron

Copyright ownership:

MWM

This object was on loan to the 'Wicked Spirits?' exhibition at Colchester Castle Museum in 2022.

Also loaned to Canada Sept 2024 - May 2025

4075 – Printer’s Wood Block

A printer's wood block for a woodcut illustration of women offering images (or perhaps dedicating their children) to the Devil. The block has been inked.

164 – Neck Shackle

An iron neck shackle, constructed simply from metal rods. Two rods have been bent in a forge to form loops which join them together in a kind of hinge, and wider loops at the other end which would have been joined to a chain once the shackle was around the prisoner's neck.

167 – Ankle Shackle

A shackle hand-forged in two sections: a curved section with one end bent to form a loop, and a hollow rectangular tube-like section, bent to form a flat end with a hole that the loop passes through to join them together. There is another hole at the end of the curved section that is pushed into a hole in the side of the rectangular section, and would have been held in place with a peg (now missing).