Violence in Shakespearian England

Wars, uprisings and plots:

• Irish Revolt
• Guy Fawkes Plot
• Spanish Armada and Anglo-Spanish civil war
• Ridolfi Plot
• Essex rebellion

As a result, anyone suspected of treason would be investigated, given a show trial, tortured and executed, with Elizabeth I's spymaster Walsingham proving very effective at rooting out traitors such as Mary Queen of Scots.


Torture instruments:

• The Rack
• The Scavenger's Daughter
• The Collar
• The Iron Maiden
• Branding Irons
• The Wheel
• Thumbscrews
• The Gossip's Bridle or the Brank
• The Drunkards Cloak
• Ducking stools
• The Pillory and the Stocks
• Assorted instruments designed to inflict intense pain
• Whipping
• Cutting
• Branding and Burning
• Pressing
• Boiling in oil water or lead (usually reserved for poisoners )
• Starvation in a public place
• Cutting off various items of the anatomy - hands, ears etc