Top 10 Most Ruthless Real Life Punishments

Top 10 Most Ruthless Punishments in History

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the cruelest and most unusual punishments ever inflicted on individuals throughout history.

#10: Peter Niers – The Breaking Wheel

1581
Peter Niers was a prolific serial killer in 16th century Germany. He was finally caught in 1581 and sentenced to be broken on the wheel after being convicted of 544 murders. The wheel was a fairly common method of execution in Europe during the middle ages and early Renaissance. The punishment typically came in two acts. First, the condemned would be tied down and then hit repeatedly with a large wheel, shattering their bones. Afterwards, they would be staked to another wheel and either decapitated or set ablaze. In the case of Niers, he received 42 merciless blows after being tortured for two days. He was then struck with the wheel from his ankles upward, and ultimately slain by quartering.

#9: The Citizens of Kronstadt – Impalement

1459
There is a reason why Vlad III, famously known as Vlad the Impaler, earned his grisly nickname. Impalement was a somewhat common method of execution at the time, usually reserved for crimes against the state. A penetrating object like a stake or hook was inserted into the victim, and they’d be left to die. The method was inhuman, but effective. In 1459, the Saxon city of Kronstadt in Transylvania decided to throw political support to one of Vlad’s rivals. The cruel dictator responded with abject barbarity. He impaled 30,000 of its citizens outside the city walls and burned Kronstadt to the ground. According to legend, Vlad ate his dinner that day among his victims so he could watch them suffer.

#8: Saint Bartholomew – Flaying

c. CE 69
Saint Bartholomew was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus of Nazareth. According to Christian belief, Bartholomew traveled east and eventually landed himself in Armenia. There, he managed to convert the king to Christianity and was executed for his efforts. According to some traditions and beliefs, Bartholomew was decapitated after getting flayed. Flaying, or skinning alive, was a popular method of torture and execution in Mesopotamia. The victim would suffer tremendously before dying from blood loss or infection. Traditional depictions of the apostle often show him without his skin. This method of execution inspired Christian leaders to make Bartholomew the patron saint of leatherworkers.

#7: Yuan Chonghuan – Lingchi a.k.a. The Death by a Thousand Cuts

1630
Yuan Chonghuan was field marshal of the Ming forces in northeastern China. In 1629, he repelled a Jurchen invasion from the walls of Beijing. Despite his success, Yuan received intense criticism from the imperial court. The pressure forced the Chongzhen Emperor to sentence him to execution via lingchi, or "death by a thousand cuts." Yuan was tied to a post as bits of his body were removed one piece at a time. During the Yuan Dynasty, the lingchi would last for about 100 cuts. In the Ming dynasty, however, the method could stretch as far as three thousand. While it was normally a quick death taking around twenty minutes, Yuan’s screams were allegedly heard for half a day.

#6: Ishikawa Goemon – Boiled Alive

1594
Ishikawa Goemon was a real-life Japanese Robin Hood. The legendary outlaw robbed from the rich and gave his loot to the poor. He also allegedly attempted several political assassinations of warlords, including the powerful Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Goemon was captured and sentenced to death by boiling along with his young son. Accounts of this event have varied over the years, but most agree on one detail: as they were immersed in a large cauldron, Goemon held his son above his head in an attempt to save him. The outcome of this remains disputed. Some claim that this action moved the executioner and the child was spared. Others say that both father and son ultimately met the same agonizing fate.

#5: The Prisoners of Diederik Sonoy – Rat Torture

16th Century
The Eighty Years’ War was the Dutch offshoot of the tension between Catholics and Protestants that spread throughout Europe during the Renaissance. Diederik Sonoy was one of the leaders of the Geuzen, a group of rebellious Calvinist nobles. His tactics were borderline savage, having been the first known individual to employ the rat torture. Sonoy would take some of his Catholic prisoners and tie them to a table, bare chested. He would then fill a large bowl with rats and place it upside down on the prisoner’s stomach. The bowl would get heated with white hot coals, panicking the rats inside. With no other routes of escape, the rats would eventually gnaw and claw their way through the victim.

#4: Jujhar Khan Bakshi – Execution by Elephant

16th Century
Death by a rampaging elephant was a mode of execution popular in parts of Asia and India. These were territories where elephants were bred to be used as weapons of war. During the back half of the 16th century, much of India was ruled by Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great. During one of his military campaigns, Akbar was traveling through the territory of Gujarat. There, a woman spoke to Akbar and accused military chief Jujhar Khan Bakshi of murdering her son. After an inquiry, Bakshi confessed. As punishment, he was thrown at the feet of a war elephant named Manmil and was trampled to death.

#3: Mithridates the Soldier – Scaphism

401 BCE
Mithridates was a Persian soldier who was executed after bragging about killing King Cyrus. He was sentenced to Scaphism, a barbaric Persian method of torture. The victim was strung up between two boats or a hollowed out log and force-fed milk and honey. The supposed sweetness of this mixture would then attract flies, wasps and bees that would attack the victim for days. In addition, the milk and honey would cause the individual’s bowels to rebel, resulting in terrible diarrhea, which would in turn, breed worms. The combination of all these horrible effects would eventually lead to the victim dying a prolonged and miserable death. In the case of Mithridates, it allegedly took him 17 days to give up the ghost.

#2: Saint Eustace – The Brazen Bull

CE 118
Say what you will about ancient civilizations: they were nothing if not inventive when it came to execution. The Brazen Bull was a device supposedly invented during ancient Greece. From a distance, it appeared to be merely a life-sized bronze statue of a bull. However, this structure was hollow and fitted with a door on one side. Underneath, a large fire would be lit as victims were shoved inside the belly of the bull. They were then essentially roasted. In Rome, St. Eustace was a pagan general who converted to Christianity. As punishment for not submitting to the Roman gods, Emperor Hadrian sentenced Eustace and his family to death by Brazen Bull.

#1: Jesus of Nazareth – Crucifixion

CE 30 or 33
Anyone with a passing familiarity with Christianity knows that the Romans were fond of crucifixion. After stirring up unrest and potential rebellion, Jesus of Nazareth was arrested by Roman Governor Pontius Pilate. He was stripped of his clothing and then nailed to a large wooden cross. While contemporary portrayals show wounds in Jesus' hands, he may actually have been nailed through his wrists, as well as his feet. Victims of crucifixion would often endure agonizing pain for hours or days until they died by asphyxiation from the strain of the weight. According to biblical accounts, Jesus suffered for around six hours before ultimately succumbing.

Human beings have spent centuries devising cruel and horrific ways to hurt one another. If you’re a history buff with insight into other torturous methods, sound off in the comments below.