If you thought il-bir tas-skieken - the well of knives - at the Inquisitor's Palace, in Vittoriosa was the worst form of torture it's time you reviewed your pain threshold.

Other forms of corporal punishment that were popular in Europe between the Mediaeval times and the 19th century would make even brave hearts sink. On July 5, the Inquisitor's Palace will be featuring over 100 instruments of torture ranging from the "Virgin of Nuremburg", which looked like a metal sarcophagus full of spikes, to a crucifix, a wooden cross which hid a 30cm dagger.

The exhibition, which has been touring the world for the past 20 years, belongs to The Torture Museum of San Gimignano in Siena, Italy, and is being organised by Heritage Malta. It will be on for a year.

The exhibits have been certified by the Italian ministry of culture.

The Torture Museum got interested in holding the spine-chilling display here after they came across the website of the Inquisitor's Palace.

Pierre Bonello, Heritage Malta's designer and coordinator of exhibitions, said the display of these horrific means of bodily harm is bound to create interest among the public because a lot of people harbour a morbid interest in such inhuman practices. "This is not meant to be a horror show but a means of advocating against the use of torture," Mr Bonello noted.

The exhibition has the blessing of Amnesty International which believes it will help generate public awareness against all forms of torture, said Kenneth Gambin, curator of the National Museum of Ethnography, which is the name given to the Inquisitor's Palace.

The instruments of torture were used in Western Europe by governments as well as by the Spanish and Medieaval Inquisitions, although one of the horrific torture instruments dates back to Roman times.

The Roman flavour used to be achieved by putting a person inside the belly of a life-size metal bull and "cooking" him inside by starting a fire under its belly. As the person died in excruciating pain, his or her yells and screams could be heard rambling out of the beast's nostrils.

The infamous guillotine set up in the main courtyard of the palace is bound to send visitors into a cold sweat, as one tends to hear the "slam" of the big blade as it severed the head from the body of the disconsolate victim.

Other forms of torture include Catherine's wheels, chastity belts and a contraption meant to keep the mouth of the accused wide open so that, by means of a pair of tongs, the person's tongue could be pulled out and cut of by a mezza luna, a knife shaped like half a moon.

Each of the means of torture are accompanied by a drawing taken from old manuscripts which depict in great detail how the torture was administered as well as a multi-lingual description.

There are various versions as to how the knife in the crucifix was used. One version says it could have been used by priests to put men who were fatally wounded out of their misery.

According to another version, the priest would finish off members of the enemy who agreed to be baptised because getting baptised under pressure was not considered to have been done honestly and, anyway, they were still considered as enemies.

The Roman Inquisition in Malta had three main means of inflicting physical harm.

One of the punishments was to tie a person's hands behind his back, lift him up in mid-air by means of a rope and pulley and leave him in that forlorn position for a maximum of 30 minutes.

Another form of inflicting excruciating pain was a kavallett which resembled a saddle in the form of a triangle made of wood on which the forsaken person was forced to sit.

The third form of causing violent pain was the stringitore, a form of wooden vice to crush one's ankles.

"Generally, the methods that were employed by the Inquisition in Malta were enough to cause fear and make the accused plead guilty often for more crimes than they actually committed.

"In the late 16th century, the Inquisition's main concern was heretical behaviour owing to the influence of Protestantism. Once the spread of that religion died out, the Inquisitors turned their attention to blasphemy, apostasy in Islam during a person's term under slavery, bigamy and witchcraft," Mr Gambin explained.

The Holy Office was officially set up in Malta in 1574 after Grand Master La Cassiere sought the assistance of the Vatican to set up an intermediary between himself and the bishop because each vehemently safeguarded their turf.

Of the 62 prelates of the Roman Catholic Church who served at the Maltese tribunal, 27 were elevated to the office of cardinal while two were elected to lead the Church as popes.

As for the well of knives, there is no evidence, archaeological or otherwise, that it actually existed, Mr Gambin said. It was merely a figment of the imagination, a metaphor used to instil the fear that whoever entered the Inquisitor's court would not see the light of day again.

But, in fact, by the time Inquisition came to an end in 1798, only two persons had lost their lives - and they were burnt alive.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/core/article.php?id=157980