Execution
During the Middle Ages, pendulums were used as a method of torture by the Spanish Inquisition. Using the basic principle of the pendulum, the weight (bob) is replaced by an axe head. The victim is strapped to a table below, the device is activated, and the axe begins to swing back and forth through the air. With each pass, or return, the pendulum is lowered, gradually coming closer to the victim's torso, until finally cleaved. Because of the time required before the mortal action of the axe is complete, the pendulum is considered a method of torturing the victim before his or her demise.
Read more about this topic: Pendulum, Other Uses
Famous quotes containing the word execution:
“Some hours seem not to be occasion for any deed, but for resolves to draw breath in. We do not directly go about the execution of the purpose that thrills us, but shut our doors behind us and ramble with prepared mind, as if the half were already done. Our resolution is taking root or hold on the earth then, as seeds first send a shoot downward which is fed by their own albumen, ere they send one upward to the light.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I herewith commission you to carry out all preparations with regard to ... a total solution of the Jewish question in those territories of Europe which are under German influence.... I furthermore charge you to submit to me as soon as possible a draft showing the ... measures already taken for the execution of the intended final solution of the Jewish question.”
—Hermann Goering (1893–1946)
“If I were asked to chose between execution and life in prison I would, of course, chose the latter. It’s better to live somehow than not at all.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1860–1904)