Torture was used in the medieval period as a way to extract confessions and punish criminals. The ingenuity that people brought toward torture in the medieval period was also extended to execution methods. While some criminals and traitors were killed in relatively quick, painless ways (with machines that resemble the guillotine, for example), others were subject to methods designed to create as much pain as possible and prolong the dying process.
The Black Death, one of the most destructive pandemics in human history, came to Europe in the mid-1340s. The plague was extremely contagious and fast-acting. Victims would develop blood and pus-filled boils, as well as fever, vomiting, and other symptoms, and would usually die within a few days.
Insane medical practices
Doctors of the period understood the human body in terms of the four humors (phlegm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile) and believed that good health depended on a proper balance of these properties. They also relied heavily on astrology to explain physical ailments and illnesses, and turned toward both the medieval church and occult healing practices for aid. Common treatments for a variety of illness included bloodletting (pictured above) and cupping. Trepanning, a process in which a hole is drilled into a skull, was used to treat mental illness.
