Trial of Guy Fawkes began on January 27th 1606, and the execution of the plotters took place on January 30th.
Order to torture given by King James I
Torture on the rack
The infamous rack - modern reproduction opposite top
“Ropes ran to the other rollers at the head and the foot of the rack, making them turn in the opposite directions. The central roller also had an iron ratchet and teeth, holding it in position and keeping the victim stretched.”
Mattias Tanr, 17th century Jesuit priest
Confession of Guido Fawkes after torture
“By pulling hard on wooden levers,
the torturers can lift the wretched prisoner’s body off the ground using the ropes ---- and then pull apart all the joints of the body”Robert Owen
Guy Fawke’s signature after torture
Torture of Owen with manacles
“The normal torture they employ is to hang a man up by his hands and for this purpose they use a piece of iron with two holes ......
The iron is tied in the middle by a rope to a beam and the victim is thus left hanging sometimes for five or six hours.
Sometimes the iron with the holes is rounded off and polished at the part where it touches the hands. This makes the pain more bearable.
Some irons have what resembles a cutting edge that draws blood ...”
Owen, the constructor of hiding places for catholics, tortured in the Tower of London
Torture helpers of catholics!
Below: a modern reproduction, in the Tower of London
Modern reproduction, in the Tower of London