Torture, espionage and piracy...
The world began talking about these topics again after decades, even centuries.
The American way of torturing and the French way of combatting piracy...
Or how they deal with spies in the US, in Israel, in Iran or in Pakistan...
These are all fresh news, but I would like to tell you something from the Ottoman history now.
It is true that the Ottoman Empire was the most tolerant country of its hey-day, but it was also the harshest one when it comes to law enforcement. As the most centralized state of its time, maybe that's why the Ottoman Empire was the strongest of them all.
Espionage and piracy were two crimes with the harshest punishment. Here are how they were executing pirates and spies:
The Hook:
They built a wooden tower in Eminonu, Istanbul. There are hundreds of metal hooks, sticked into the walls of the tower. Each hook was as big as the ones that the butchers used. The spy or the pirate would be stripped naked and got binded. A simple crane would lift him/her several meters up. Then he/she would be released towards the hooks. A painful and slow death... And a strong message to the public.
The Cross:
Especially for the spies. He/she would be binded to the cross, facedown, stark naked, legs and arms wide open. Firstly, the punisher would carve his/her scapular and groin. Then he would put burning candles into the bloody cavities. Finally, they would mount the cross to a camel, riding through the city from dawn till dusk. If the spy is still alive, he will be hanged in the evening.
The Stake:
Especially for the pirates. The Ottomans probably learned a lot about this art during their battles against Vlad the Impaler. The details are like the cross execution, but there is an integral difference. Instead of nailing the criminal into a big pile, they were sitting him/her on a pale. The oily pale should be made of a strong tree and its diameter should be as wide as an arm.
I have learned today that an exciting high-tech renovation will soon take place in Istanbul's Topkapi Palace. Holographic janissaries (like the one above) will walk up and down the halls of the museum's weapons section and display their uniforms from different periods. Topkapi will be the first museum to use the hologram technology.
Here, I would like to tell you another anectode from the history: One of the sickest methods of execution had been practiced on the body of a janissary soldier. The Ottomans used this method, the artillery, only once.
In the end of 16th century, a janissary fell in love with the wife of an imam. The young lady also loved the soldier. So they decided to escape. In order to hide his lover, the janissary cut her hair like a boy. So they were going around together freely until they got arrested in Uskudar.
Ferhad Aga, then the Chief Executioner, invented the new punishment after he learned this story. He thought that neither the hook nor the cross nor the stake would be painful enough for this immoral janissary. So he ordered the executioners to strip the soldier naked and to break the joints of his wrists, elbows, knees and ankles by using iron hammers. It was done, but Ferhad Aga was still not satisfied. He wrapped up the janissary with oily rags, put the package into the barrel of an artillery, like a cannonball, and fired the fuse.
This innovative method was worse than any other Ottoman way of punishment or torture, including the hot cap, which was about putting a scorching iron pot on the head of the criminal, like a hat, until he dies. After the artillery execution, the history didn't record any other misbehaving janissaries.
I have learned today that an exciting high-tech renovation will soon take place in Istanbul's Topkapi Palace. Holographic janissaries (like the one above) will walk up and down the halls of the museum's weapons section and display their uniforms from different periods. Topkapi will be the first museum to use the hologram technology.
Here, I would like to tell you another anectode from the history: One of the sickest methods of execution had been practiced on the body of a janissary soldier. The Ottomans used this method, the artillery, only once.
In the end of 16th century, a janissary fell in love with the wife of an imam. The young lady also loved the soldier. So they decided to escape. In order to hide his lover, the janissary cut her hair like a boy. So they were going around together freely until they got arrested in Uskudar.
Ferhad Aga, then the Chief Executioner, invented the new punishment after he learned this story. He thought that neither the hook nor the cross nor the stake would be painful enough for this immoral janissary. So he ordered the executioners to strip the soldier naked and to break the joints of his wrists, elbows, knees and ankles by using iron hammers. It was done, but Ferhad Aga was still not satisfied. He wrapped up the janissary with oily rags, put the package into the barrel of an artillery, like a cannonball, and fired the fuse.
This innovative method was worse than any other Ottoman way of punishment or torture, including the hot cap, which was about putting a scorching iron pot on the head of the criminal, like a hat, until he dies. After the artillery execution, the history didn't record any other misbehaving janissaries.
