15 Gruesome Torture Devices You Won't Believe Actually Existed

12. The Breaking Wheel

Also known as the Catherine Wheel - the second odd thing about celebrating an attempted assassination of the King - alas, the Breaking Wheel was not a pleasant event to witness and they even performed it on children. The person is 'broken' around the Breaking Wheel, so they are tied to this wheel whilst they are spun and once spinning, their limbs are hammered into position to be bent around the device. With their bones broken, they are left on the wheel to die, either by dehydration or they are eaten alive by animals. And when that's birds, the process could be devilishly slow. If the executioner was in a good mood that day, they would give the victim a mercy killing by hammering their chest or head until dead.