Breaking wheel

The breaking wheel (originally, the whele) was a torture and capital punishment device of the Middle Ages and early modern times used for a public cludgering to death - compare fustuarium.

Related Topics:
Torture - Capital punishment - Middle Ages - Fustuarium

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The wheel itself was similar to a large wooden wagon wheel, with many radial spokes. The victim's arms and legs were placed one by one over two sturdy wooden beams. A large hammer was then applied to the limb over the gap between the beams, breaking the bone. This process was repeated several times per limb.

Related Topics:
Wheel - Hammer - Bone

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Afterwards, the victim's shattered limbs were woven through the spokes of the wheel. The wheel was then hoisted onto a tall pole, so that birds could eat the still-living victim.

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Legend has it that Saint Catherine of Alexandria was to be executed on one of these devices, which thereafter became known as Catherine wheel.

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This was a cruel torment as well as a great dishonor. It is referred to in the Dutch expression opgroeien voor galg en rad ('to grow up into gallows and wheel', i.e. to come to no good at all, especially: ripe for a life of crime). The Finnish word for the breaking wheel is teiliratas and the verb for execution on the wheel is teilata; in Modern Finnish the word teilata refers to forceful and violent critique or rejection of performance, ideas or innovations.

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