There is not much that need be said after having examined
the accompanying illustrations. The saw here on view is antique but
cannot be associated specifically with the homonymous torture, a process
that can be carried out with any large-toothed, four-handed woodsman’s
saw. The present example is such a one, and certainly a couple of
centuries old, or more.
History abounds in martyrs –religious, lay and antireligious– who suffered this fate, one that may be worse even than being burnt at the stake with a slow, small fire, or being dipped into boiling oil. Owing to his inverted position, which assures ample oxygenation of the brain and impedes the general loss of blood, the victim does not lose consciousness until the saw reaches the navel –and even the breast, if one is to believe accounts of the early eighteen-hundreds.
The Bible tells us (II Samuel 12:31**) that David, Hebrew
king and Christian saint, exterminated the inhabitants of Rabbah and all
the other Ammonite cities by putting man, woman and child “under saws,
and under hatrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass
through the brick-kiln”. This species of just slightly less than
divine approbation has greatly contributed to the favor that the saw,
axe and stake have always enjoyed among the Righteous, so much so that
the saw was often meted out to homosexuals of both sexes, though
predominantly to men. In Spain la sierra was a means of execution
in the armed forces until the end of the eighteenth century, according
to contemporary references which however do not cite any factual data.
In Catalonia, during Napoleon’s and Wellington’s peninsular
campaigns in 1808-14, the Catalonian guerillas subjected tens and
perhaps hundreds of French, Spanish and British officers to the saw,
little caring for the alliances of the moment. In Lutheran Germany the
saw awaited the leaders of rebellious peasants, and in France witches
pregnant by Satan.
History abounds in martyrs--religious, lay and antireligious--who suffered this fate, one that may be worse even than being burnt at the stake with a slow, small fire, or being dipped into boiling oil. Owing to his inverted position, which assures ample oxygenation of the brain and impedes the general loss of blood, the victim does not lose consciousness until the saw reaches the navel--and even the breast, if one is to believe accounts of the early eighteen-hundreds.
Information and photographs in this virtual exhibition proceed from the book Torture instruments; a bilingual guide to the exhibition Torture Instruments form the Middle Ages to the Industrial Era presented in various cities in the world in 1983-2000.
**NOTE: From Brian Young All though I find your site fascinating, I must correct you on one misunderstanding under your "Saw" site. When you quote II Samuel 12:31, you take the words out of context. If you follow back to the original Greek words of the Bible, to put them under the saws and hatrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln is simply out of context. David put them to work, as slaves, "working" under the saws and hatrows. He even made them lay brick, defining the sense of the brick-kiln. I was using your site as a source for my research paper and have found it to be very helpful, I am glad someone has decent information on such a subject, but I just felt that I needed to make you aware of your misinterpretation.