The Middle Ages earned their nickname—the Dark Ages—for a reason. While modern historians argue the era wasn’t as bleak as it seems, a quick look at the torture devices of the time makes it easy to understand how the label stuck.
From humiliating punishments to brutal pain-inducing contraptions, these devices reveal just how far societies have gone in the name of justice, control, and confession. Some were real. Some were exaggerated. And some might have been created purely to scare.
Here are five of the most chilling Medieval torture devices from the pages of history—and from the Ripley’s collection.
Sometimes called the “scold’s bridle,” the Brank Mask was used to punish those—often women—accused of gossip, slander, or other “nuisance” behavior. The heavy iron mask clamped over the head often featured grotesque designs to reflect the accused’s supposed crime.
Wearing it wasn’t just uncomfortable—it was humiliating. The wearer would be paraded in public, a walking symbol of shame.
The pillory, or stocks, didn’t draw blood, but it did break spirits. Locked in place by wooden boards, victims had their heads and hands immobilized in public squares—free for passersby to mock, spit at, or pelt with food and trash.
Reserved for petty crimes, the real punishment was humiliation. Some unlucky offenders were left for days, rain or shine, as a warning to others.
A terrifying twist on prisoner transport, the spiked collar was a circular iron band lined with inward-facing spikes. As long as the wearer stayed still, they were relatively safe. But any sudden movement—like trying to run—meant the spikes would pierce deep into the neck or throat.
This device was less about restraint and more about control—built on the threat of pain rather than the act itself.
Used during the Inquisition, the torture glove was filled with burning coals and locked around a victim’s hand. If they confessed, the glove might come off. If they didn’t? The fire kept burning.
This device wasn’t just designed to hurt—it was intended to cleanse the accused of sin through suffering. Pain, after all, was seen as purifying.
Easily the most infamous of all torture devices, the Iron Maiden is a towering iron coffin lined with sharp spikes—positioned to pierce, but not kill... at least, not right away.
The most legendary version—the Iron Maiden of Nuremberg—is said to have been built around 1800, long after the medieval period had ended. Historians debate whether it was ever used or simply created to terrify and attract paying spectators. Regardless, the myth of the Iron Maiden looms large.
Some accounts say it was modeled after the Schandmantel, or "shame cloak," a barrel-like punishment device. Others link its origins to even older legends, like the Apega of Nabis—a spiked mechanical statue from Ancient Greece—and the gruesome Brazen Bull, which allegedly roasted victims alive inside a brass sculpture.
Believe It or Not!, Robert Ripley acquired an Iron Maiden during a trip to Germany and brought the eight-foot-tall device back for his collection. With 13 iron spikes and a legacy as mysterious as it is macabre, the Iron Maiden still haunts the halls of Ripley’s today.
Not every one of these tools may have been used as history tells it. Some may have been exaggerated, and others may never have been used at all. But the fact remains: the line between punishment and spectacle in the past was razor-thin.
These bizarre devices endure because they provoke a mix of horror, fascination, and curiosity—a perfect fit for the world of Ripley’s.
Want to come face-to-face with history’s most unsettling curiosities? Visit a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! near you and discover truths stranger than fiction.
