The 1500s and 1600s in England and Europe were anything but gentle times. People were routinely burned at the stake for religious heresy, a practice that began in the twelfth century and continued through 1612. Torture was an official instrument of the English government until 1640. The famous Tower of London was, in part, a huge torture chamber.
Indeed, during much of the Dark Middle Ages (roughly 500 A.D. to 1500 A.D.)in England, torture wasn’t just wildly popular; it was a spectator sport. As historian Sean McGlynn notes, “Throughout the whole medieval period there was popular demand for malefactors to receive punishment that was both harsh and purposefully terrifying….Mutilations sent out a message of warning and deterrence….with few prisons and no police force, severe punishment was deemed invaluable as a deterrent to crime.”