![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/spanish-donkeydevice.jpg\")
What was the Spanish Donkey?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nQuite simply, the Spanish Donkey was the most painful method of execution ever devised. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was originally designed with women in mind. The offender would be stripped of all of their clothes and then made to straddle what was essentially a triangular piece of metal with a board placed over it to form a sawhorse-type shape.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Often, the victim would then have restraints or weights tied to their ankles in order to make the experience even more painful. Depending on how long a victim was made to sit on the Spanish Donkey, they could experience anything from intense discomfort to agonizing pain to disfigurement and death. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given enough time, a victim could theoretically be cleaved completely in half, as the weight of their body would cause the metal edge of the device to slice into their lower half and cut them straight down the middle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes, the torturers would even tickle or hold a flame up to the bottom of the victim\u2019s feet. This forced them to wriggle about while atop the device, causing even more pain and suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Spanish Donkey in the Colonial Period<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWe often associate brutal methods of torture and punishment<\/a> with the Medieval period. But as horrific as this torture method sounds, it was also used centuries later.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nOne of the founding fathers, George Washington himself, used the Spanish Donkey<\/a> as a method for instilling discipline in the unruly colonial army. When George Washington took over command of the Continental Army, it was a rag-tag group of men who had little combat experience and who struggled to adapt to the rigors of army life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo limit insubordination, drunkenness, and desertion, George Washington employed a number of deterrents that today may seem surprisingly cruel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the most severe cases \u2013 such as desertion or treason \u2013 a soldier could be hung or put before the firing squad. For minor offenses, lashing was probably the most widely administered punishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.historydefined.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/spanish-donkey-1024x538.png\")
Illustration by Poul Steffensen from the Danish novel Gj\u00f8ngeh\u00f8vdingen by Carit Etlar, 1890s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTheft, drunkenness, or tardiness were all sufficient offenses to warrant lashes. Although, the number and method of administering them was up to the officer in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Spanish Donkey, also known as the \u201cWooden Horse\u201d or \u201cThe Mule\u201d was also used for minor offenses. For example, on July 10, 1775, George Washington\u2019s orders for the day were as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cThe General Court Martial of which Colonel William Prescott was president having tried William Pattin of Colonel Gridley\u2019s regiment, and found him guilty of \u2018threatening and abusing a number of persons, when prisoner in the Quarter Guard.\u2019 The Court sentence the prisoner to ride the wooden horse, fifteen minutes. The General [Washington] approves the sentence and orders it to be put in execution at the head of the regiment.\u201d<\/p>\nOrder of the General Court Martial, 1775<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\nOf course, a 15-minute ride on the \u201cWooden Horse\u201d is a far different experience than being forced to spend hours or days on it. Nevertheless, it couldn\u2019t have been a pleasant experience for the unfortunate soldier. It would have no doubt made him think twice before stepping out of line again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In other areas of colonial North America, however, the \u201cSpanish Donkey\u201d was indeed applied to its fullest extent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, when French Jesuits settled in what is now Canada in the 17th century, they recorded instances of using this terrifying chair to cause lasting damage. Such as when one Frenchman mounted the device until \u201che was ruptured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In modern armies, torture is no longer used to instill discipline. However, it is still used in militaries around the world, just not against a nation\u2019s own soldiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, it is controversially used as a way to get valuable information from those deemed to be enemies. And although the methods may have changed, this use of torture goes back<\/a> at least as far as the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy Was Torture Used?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nTorture has historically (and currently), been used as a tool for extracting information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the Inquisitions, despite the wide variety of wickedly inventive ways to inflict pain and suffering on a person, they all had the same purpose. The Spanish Donkey was just one tool among many that a torturer would use in order to break a victim down both physically and psychologically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But despite the depictions of people being killed in droves on the rack, the pulley, and similarly heinous devices, torture was often meted out in a very planned, even bureaucratic way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We often associate brutal methods of torture and punishment<\/a> with the Medieval period. But as horrific as this torture method sounds, it was also used centuries later.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the founding fathers, George Washington himself, used the Spanish Donkey<\/a> as a method for instilling discipline in the unruly colonial army. When George Washington took over command of the Continental Army, it was a rag-tag group of men who had little combat experience and who struggled to adapt to the rigors of army life.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n To limit insubordination, drunkenness, and desertion, George Washington employed a number of deterrents that today may seem surprisingly cruel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For the most severe cases \u2013 such as desertion or treason \u2013 a soldier could be hung or put before the firing squad. For minor offenses, lashing was probably the most widely administered punishment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Theft, drunkenness, or tardiness were all sufficient offenses to warrant lashes. Although, the number and method of administering them was up to the officer in charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the Spanish Donkey, also known as the \u201cWooden Horse\u201d or \u201cThe Mule\u201d was also used for minor offenses. For example, on July 10, 1775, George Washington\u2019s orders for the day were as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe General Court Martial of which Colonel William Prescott was president having tried William Pattin of Colonel Gridley\u2019s regiment, and found him guilty of \u2018threatening and abusing a number of persons, when prisoner in the Quarter Guard.\u2019 The Court sentence the prisoner to ride the wooden horse, fifteen minutes. The General [Washington] approves the sentence and orders it to be put in execution at the head of the regiment.\u201d<\/p>\nOrder of the General Court Martial, 1775<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Of course, a 15-minute ride on the \u201cWooden Horse\u201d is a far different experience than being forced to spend hours or days on it. Nevertheless, it couldn\u2019t have been a pleasant experience for the unfortunate soldier. It would have no doubt made him think twice before stepping out of line again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In other areas of colonial North America, however, the \u201cSpanish Donkey\u201d was indeed applied to its fullest extent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, when French Jesuits settled in what is now Canada in the 17th century, they recorded instances of using this terrifying chair to cause lasting damage. Such as when one Frenchman mounted the device until \u201che was ruptured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In modern armies, torture is no longer used to instill discipline. However, it is still used in militaries around the world, just not against a nation\u2019s own soldiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, it is controversially used as a way to get valuable information from those deemed to be enemies. And although the methods may have changed, this use of torture goes back<\/a> at least as far as the Middle Ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Torture has historically (and currently), been used as a tool for extracting information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During the Inquisitions, despite the wide variety of wickedly inventive ways to inflict pain and suffering on a person, they all had the same purpose. The Spanish Donkey was just one tool among many that a torturer would use in order to break a victim down both physically and psychologically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But despite the depictions of people being killed in droves on the rack, the pulley, and similarly heinous devices, torture was often meted out in a very planned, even bureaucratic way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Why Was Torture Used?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n