engleski

The history of fire and torture - fire in crimes committed against the integrity of life and health

Fire often appears as an ambiguous element in the world symbolism. On one side fire represents the element that was vital to the development of civilization, the Holy Spirit and the guardian of the home, while on the other part it symbolizes the element that destroys and punishes: the hell, the thunder, and the volcano’ s lava. This negative perception of fire was also used in history as the representation of punishment and justice. Fire torture has a long history, common to many cultures and civilizations. Tortures in past were conducted for two main reasons: one was for investigation and to extract confessions (conducted in secret), the other were punishments and executions typically public. There are different explanations about the use of fire in torture practices: it was believed that fire has the property to purify by burning, it annuls and destroys the evil and it is able to erase every last remaining body part of witches and other demonic beings (the punishment and purification was also conducted on cadavers). The Catholicism describes the fire as the element that purifies the committed sins. The Church during official punishment for heresy preferred the use of fire as the fire allowed execution without spilling of blood (“ Ecclesia Abhorret a Sanguine” ). The fire was used in different ways during torture practices. The main and most known were: burning at the stake, foot roasting and fire branding. Many crimes were punished by fire (treason, heresy and witchcraft, vampirism) and most interesting to history of medicine are that committed against the integrity of life and primarily health.

history of torture; fire; Inquisition; witches; vampires

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