Facts : 1 Spanish boot Spanish gaiter The Spanish boot was an iron casing for the leg and foot
Facts : 2 Wood or iron wedges were hammered in between the casing and the victim s flesh
Facts : 3 A similar device, commonly referred to as a shin crusher, squeezed the calf between two curved iron plates, studded with spikes, teeth, and knobs, to fracture the tibia and fibula
Facts : 4 Primitive forerunners of the archetype can be found dating back as far as a thousand years
Facts : 5 The first Scottish effort, also referred to as a buskin, made use of a vaguely boot-shaped rawhide garment that was soaked with water, drawn over the foot and lower leg, and bound in place with cords
Facts : 6 The contraption was slowly heated over a gentle fire, drastically contracting the rawhide and squeezing the foot until the bones were dislocated, though there would not have been sufficient pressure actually to crush the bones of the foot
Facts : 7 A more progressive variant, found in both the British Isles and France, consisted of a trio of upright wooden boards that splinted around and between the feet and were tied in place by cords
Facts : 8 Wedges were hammered between the boards and the feet to dislocate and crush the bones
Facts : 9 A prototype hailing from Autun, France, consisted of high boots of spongy, porous leather that were drawn over the feet and legs
Facts : 10 Boiling water was poured over the boots, eventually soaking through the leather and eating the flesh away from the entrapped limbs
Facts : 11 Lastly, oversized boots of iron or copper (often soldered in place on the floor) received the prisoner s bare feet as he lay helplessly bound and gagged in a chair
Facts : 12 The boots were slowly filled with boiling water or oil, or even molten lead, to consume the feet and legs
