History of Human Torture on Display at City’s Newest Museum
The displays inside the Medieval Torture Museum Chicago take visitors into a world of sadistic violence that humans have inflicted upon one another throughout time. This woman is confined to a torture table while her tormentor uses a rake to dig into the skin on her back and buttocks area. This technique was often used to extract information from those reluctant to talk and the victims often died from infection, not from the initial raking.
By J. Coyden Palmer November 3, 2021
One sign of a world-class city is the amount and quality of its museums. In a city like Chicago for example, the Museum of Science and Industry, DuSable, Field and Art of Institute are institutions that immediately come to mind. However, in the coming weeks, the city will be introducing a new and unique entry to its diverse museum landscape that could generate as much interest as the others.
Located at 177 N. State St., right next door to the iconic Chicago Theater, the Medieval Torture Museum Chicago will be unlike any other in the city. Only the second of its kind in the United States, the museum focuses on the historic ways in which criminals were punished, the sadistic ways humans have inflicted pain on others to extract information or attempt the justify the dehumanization of others. The Medieval Torture Museum’s mission is to educate the public in an attempt to not have history repeat itself.
The interactive museum allows customers the experience to see first-hand what it was like to be raked over the back with steel claws, while confined to a wooden torture table. If that’s not enough, you can get directly involved and try your hand at operating a guillotine as you play the role of the executioner, using the rope pulley before releasing a sharp blade that comes smashing down on a poor mannequin’s neck. Ever wanted to know if a woman was a witch or not, according to the laws of England? Well, you can try operating a ducking stool in which a female mannequin is dunked into a barrel of water. The museum also offers you the chance to step on a scale and find out if you are a witch, an angel, a knight based off of your sheer weight, as those who weighed more were viewed as a more noble person in society. Thankfully humanity has advanced in that most of these theories and devices are no longer used and only exist in museums like this one and in the homes of period collectors.
Paula Mason, serves as the museum’s director. She said public interest so far has been incredible, with many people anxiously awaiting the opening that should occur sometime this winter. Mason believes the museum at its core, documents and speaks to the atrocities of violent human behavior.
“I think the museum is important because people need to see the history of human cruelty,” Mason said. “In society, we need to remember how easy it was for people throughout history to lose their humanity and compassion for others so we don’t go back to that place.”
Shawn Sierra, co-owner of SportsZone Chicago and host of the podcast Shawn & Maya in the Mornings, tries his hand at what it was like to be an executioner while interacting with a display at the Medieval Torture Museum, located at 177 N. State St.
The eight-room interactive portion of the museum allows patrons the shocking experience in an up close and personal way like no other. The information placards and available audio tour, which includes 42 oral narratives on the museum’s dozens of exhibits, is where this museum educates the best. Each of its 75 or so displays on the second floor of the building have a placard that explains the history of the device or tool, how it was used, and who it was used on. What you will learn is that many of the victims were probably innocent of any real crime. In one case a woman was put in a cage and left to die in the dungeon of the castle simply because the husband of the queen had looked upon her fondly.
“The reviews and feedback we have gotten so far have been tremendous,” Mason said. “People walk out of here knowing they have learned more than when they came in.”
While exploring the torture chambers and seeing a detailed collection of confinement and torture devices, even the smallest instruments that were used to bring immense pain are explained. For example, a pair of crocodile forceps were used to cutoff the tongue of a person who may have been viewed as a gossiper or as someone who spread truth that those in power did not want the public to know about. Or perhaps those who didn’t speak fondly of their ruler were spared their tongue, only to have a spike driven through it. There are also piercing devices on display that were used on the genitalia, fingers, toes and other parts of the body. There is an entire section on male and female chastity devices as it was erroneously believed these devices would prevent premarital sexual intercourse and dull the impulse for masturbation.
The garrotte was used around the world as an execution device up until 1990. The country of Andorra was the last country to use it.
If you think that these exhibits have no relation to the modern world, think again. Some tactics were still being used by governments across the globe in recent years. There is a display on water torture, which shows the roots of the controversial waterboarding tactics that were used by the C.I.A. in the early 2000’s against suspected Al-Quadi terrorists in Cuba.
A device called a garrotte, which originated in Spain, was used as recently as 1990 in Andorra to execute a prisoner. The garrotte uses a stick that goes through a loop connected to a strap or rope, that when twisted, results in the strangulation of the person. Death by hanging is still a legal form of execution in New Hampshire, Washington and Delaware, although it is listed as a secondary option and all three states have abolished executions.
Although none of the exhibits are race-specific, one cannot help but think of the acts of violence and murderous lynching of thousands of Black citizens during the Jim Crow era and their ancestors who were forced into slavery. The treatment of Black people in America must also be noted when you tour the confinement devices that were used to meet out punishment: with iron shackles, wooden stocks, the Spanish boot, bullwhips and branding irons, all derived from devices used during medieval times and implemented against African captives in America.
Perhaps the most graphic exhibit in the museum is the Bloody Eagle display. This grotesque method of execution involved a person’s lungs being pulled out of their back on either side of the spine and the remaining skin and muscles in the back spread out like the wings of a bird. This form of execution was meant to instill fear in others while offering a sacrifice to the Nordic gods as this practice was used by Scandinavian warriors.
While the museum is not recommended for those under the age of 18, the curators have done a good job of limiting some of the graphicness of the displays, without sacrificing the reality of what these tools were used for and the damage they caused. The exhibits allow patrons to use their imagination to some extent.
Hired actors were used to help curators at the Medieval Torture Museum develop facial features that are used in the mannequins in each exhibit. This mannequin depicts a man whose tongue was impaled with a spike, possibly for “crimes against the state.”
The mannequins in the exhibits appear life-like. Intimate details in the eyes and facial expressions are professionally done throughout. Mason said the museum hired actors so the curators could get the proper human expressions for pain, humiliation, evil and fear.
It is not just the victims these exhibits give the backstory of. The museum often tells the stories of the tormentors themselves. Many of whom suffered anguish from dishing out the grueling punishments they were ordered to give. Some executioners were forced into their line of work, while others were second or third generation professional oppressors.
Admission to the Medieval Torture Museum Chicago is only $29.99 ($33.81 with taxes and fees) if you go online now during a special pre-sale where they are offering 25% off. That price includes admission to the museum, a ghost hunting experience and the audio guide.
This combination head vice and finger impalement device was designed to exert pain on the victims head, jaw and fingers. Oftentimes a victim’s eyes would pop out of socket.
The Medieval Torture Museum Chicago is one of the most unique and best experiences people can have in Chicago. For those who visit, it is sure to generate conversations within your social circle and the general public as a whole.
Shawn Sierra, who hosts a sports podcast show in Chicago three days a week, said he had a great time at the museum during a private tour.
“I came here thinking it would be all about gore and guts and don’t get me wrong there is some of that. But, you will learn a lot visiting this place,” Sierra said.
Mason said she believes the museum is going to be one of the most popular attractions in the city when it opens. She encourages people to get their tickets early to avoid the rush.
For more information, you can visit the Medieval Torture Museum Chicago online at: