The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death. It was used during the Middle Ages and was still in use into the 19th century.
Read more about Breaking Wheel: Description and Uses, Metaphorical Uses, Coats of Arms With Catherine Wheels, Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words breaking and/or wheel:
“What was he doing, the great god Pan,
Down in the reeds by the river?
Spreading ruin and scattering ban,
Splashing and paddling with hoofs of a goat,
And breaking the golden lilies afloat
With the dragon-fly on the river.”
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861)
“The wheel that squeaks the loudest
Is the one that gets the grease.”
—Josh Billings [Henry Wheeler Shaw] (1818–1885)