(no subject)

[oiran]

Late-breaking GIPs:

I received both of these icons for my birthday and am only just remembering I hadn't debuted them properly. I b&w'ed the one from Kiki because I'm like that, but it remains lovely nonetheless ;)

from bastian1967


from lapetite_kiki


And I finally made myself an avatar icon (so, suzycat, you aren't actually the very last one)


pointless poll talk: Now that Pointless Poll Day is over, and since there is no useful information to garner from analyzing the results, I thought I'd offer up some fairly useless information in follow-up. I already explained what the deviant activities were in the comments following the first pointless poll, but if you're curious about the torture devices…


branks: This icon is a branks, otherwise known as a scold's bridle. If you sassed your husband or talked back to a magistrate or were "guilty" of some other terrible crime, you could be shut up in a branks. This one looks like a donkey. Most looked like some sort of animal believed to be stupid or crude. They frequently constricted breath, and some also incorporated gags and/or blades or spikes to injure the wearer's tongue.

heretic's fork: Nasty, nasty thing. A double-ended fork fitted onto a collar. One end of the fork would pierce the underside of the wearer's chin, and the other would be fitted behind and between the knobs of the collarbones. It was of a length that the wearer could not bring his or her chin down at all, plus of course the piercing would hurt like fuck. However, despite being terribly uncomfortable, the fork would not poke anything that would kill a person any time soon.

judas' cradle: I used to have nightmares about this sort of death when I was a kid and first learned what this was. It's a fairly narrow pyramid-shaped "seat." The accused/condemned would be stripped and set upon it, with the tip situated within the anus or vagina. The person's upper body would be secured with chains from the ceiling to keep them upright and there would be weights placed on the feet. With increased weight, the person would be eventually split apart over the pointy seat. Totally disgusting.

pear: This sounds innocent, but it's really awful. A bulb-shaped device that cranks open, the pear shape splitting into leaves that would spread/tear the tissues of whatever orifice it was crammed into. Some would have spikes or blades attached, as well. This was not only terribly painful, but the effects of the device would not necessarily show on the outside, and thus the torturers could claim a leniency they had actually not shown.

All of these, and many other horrible devices, were staples in the repertoire of the Spanish Catholic inquisitors. I find the history of the Catholic Church fascinating--gore, pageantry, hypocrisy, greed, and incredible contributions to art, music and architecture.

All you people with your damn jobs to get up for in the morning! I am bursting with energy and full of nonsense to share! Perhaps I should go drink a quantity of wine and eat some popcorn while watching bad TV as a substandard entertainment...

Comments

[miella]

To the first three icons: Mm, yummy. I really like the avatar in black and white.

To the torture devices: Ow, ow, and more ow. And? *OW* some more. I'm rather glad I didn't live during the Inquisition (at least, not that I remember), since I'm sure I would've gotten myself into lots of very bad, icky trouble. Ow.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Thank you--I liked the avatar thing, but I wasn't going to do it until I realized I could, in fact, make it match the rest of my LJ ;)

The torture stuff is indeed horrible. The attitude towards individual lives was so different back then--the emphasis being on saving souls and let the bodies fall as they may. I do wonder how many of these religious men were actual sadists, or if they were also disgusted/horrified at the things they "had" to do. But, yeah, I think I would have been in trouble, myself ;)

[ravenluvslex.livejournal.com]

dude those are just wrong, the torture devices i mean

the icons are quite right :P

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Yes, they're pretty much disgusting. The names are peculiar, so I thought they'd make a good pointless poll because it was unlikely most people would know what they were...but then I started feeling like maybe I shouldn't have used them, for fear people might think I thought torture was "cool" in some way. Fascinating, yes; cool, no.

The icons, however...I agree. Very right.

[allpurposegirl.livejournal.com]

The last icon is sooooooo cute.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

So's yours ;)

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

Interesting, that last one reminds me of how they killed Charles the second, so they could show his body in state without marks on it.

I'll be some more not Catholic now. *shudder* Witchcraft is wayyyy less scary.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Ooh, do tell! I don't know anything about Charles II.

Catholicism seems to incorporate all the best and worst elements of human history and impulse.

[porntestpilot.livejournal.com]

Well my book on English Kings and Queens is in the other room, and I can't get to it right now, so from memory:

Edward II was gay, he favored a man named Piers Gaveston, and gave him over a vast fortune, influence, etc...and was eventually overthrown by Isabella, his wife, and her lover, Roger Mortimer. They deposed him, then had him killed by shoving a hot metal poker up him.

I've heard people speculate that this was in punishment for him being gay, but in the history books I've read, it is stated that a more likely reason is the one I've said, it didn't leave any marks.

I was raised Catholic, so I have trouble moving beyond the serious bitterness to look at the religion the same way, I say, look at Judaism, and find interesting parts of it to admire. Christianity as a whole bothers me. I really wish it did not. But I agree, that it combines the best and worst elements of all mankind.

It struck me today, while reading a book on Samhaim, when they were mentioning the witch burnings, that all those martyrs that died for their religion? Lead to the same damn thing down only a few centuries down the line. Humans don't learn.

[justblue0162.livejournal.com]

Is that you saying "wow" at the end of misterglove's message?

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

Heh. No. He's in Kansas City right now. If he had a girl in his room saying "wow," that's...interesting.

Hehehehe. He's in so much (fake) trouble...

[justblue0162.livejournal.com]

well...shit. maybe it was the tv? it didn't really sound like "wow", i was just guessing. didn't exactly sound quite human, either. dammit. *hides*

[misterglove.livejournal.com]

Um.

No. I did not have anyone in my room.

Thanks a lot.

Great.

OK, maybe I need to confess.

Thanks a fucking lot.

[justblue0162.livejournal.com]

Well played, Uncle Monkey. Well played, indeed.

I won't be forgetting this anytime soon. Just fyi.

[misterglove.livejournal.com]

I will have two buxom lasses in my room this weekend, and a guy too! You can bet there will be a lot of "Wow" going on in St. Louis!

[tehomet.livejournal.com]

Ew.

And: I once saw a rack (in the museum at Warwick Castle, England) and it looked quite innocent, kind of like some obscure type of agricultural equipment, until I figured out what it was for. Whereupon I exited, stage left, with all speed. I mean, leaving aside what kind of scum uses/used these things, who thinks/thought them up?

'The more I see of men, the more I like dogs,' as somebody famous once said.

But thanks for the information, anyway.

[velvetglove.livejournal.com]

I've never seen any of these items in RL, but I agree--most of them don't look like anything too malignant until you realize that they're intended for human applications.

My understanding of a lot of the instruments, at least as applies to the Inquisition, was that they were designed to specifically address behaviors of the body that would taint the soul. So you'd injure tongues to prevent lying, destroy body cavities to prevent congress with the devil, etc. And I don't think there's any way to know for certain, but I'm curious how many of the torturers were actually sadists vs. people who thought they were doing God's work and were very disturbed by it. I think I need to do some more reading...