Listaholic has an interesting (though gruesome) article about the 12 most horrifying torture devices in history.
This one to the left is the Judas Chair [wiki]:
The Spanish Inquisition was said to have made use of, among other things, the Judas Chair, also known as the Judas Cradle. Victims were hoisted up by rope or chain and then made to sit on the pointed tip of the pyramid shaped device. You get the picture.
Yikes! Link
See also: This Won't Hurt a Bit: A Painlessly Short (and Incomplete) Evolution of Execution
Humans can be such perverse creatures.
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"Said to have made use of"? Hmmm. Either there's historical evidence for the use of this device or there isn't. If there were evidence for it, I suppose they wouldn't hedge with "said to have". Too many people get their notion of the Spanish Inquisition from Monty Python ...
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Verbatim from the quote, Mark.
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Ow!
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people can come up with some weird things.just by looking at the picture i say that that thing has got to hurt and it looks very uncomfy.
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Wow what nice peace loving Christians.
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