Impalement or impaling was a terrible form of a medieval execution used mostly in Ottoman empire but also in Europe.

Impalement or impaling was a terrible form of a medieval execution used mostly in Ottoman empire but also in Europe.

 Vlad III Dracula used impalement for 10000s of his enemies but impalement was used for eample during War of Roses in England and in other countries of the medieval Europe.

Following the multiple campaigns against the invading Ottoman Turks, Vlad Tepes would never show mercy to his prisoners of war. The road to the capital of Wallachia eventually became inundated in a “forest” of 20,000 impaled and decaying corpses, and it is reported that an invading army of Turks turned back after encountering thousands of impaled corpses along the Danube River.

 Woodblock prints from the era portray his victims impaled from either the frontal or the dorsal aspect, but not vertically.

Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, involves the body of a person being pierced with a long stake. The penetration could be through the sides, through the rectum, through the vagina, or through the mouth. This method leads to a painful death, sometimes taking days.

 When the impaling instrument was inserted into a lower orifice, it was necessary to secure the victim in the prone position; the stake would then be held in place by one of the executioners, while another would hammer the stake deeper using a sledgehammer. The stake was then planted in the ground, and the impaled victim hoisted up to a vertical position, where the victim would be left to die.

Impalement execution by Vlad Dracula

In some forms of impalement, the stake would be inserted so as to avoid immediate death and would function as a plug to prevent blood loss. After preparation of the victim, perhaps including public torture and rape, the victim was stripped, and an incision was made in the perineum between the genitals and rectum. A stout pole with a blunt end was inserted. A blunt end would push vital organs to the side, greatly slowing death.

Lucky victim died after a few minutes when his vessels were damaged but it could take even more than 24 hours to die by this terrible execution method.

Impalement was also used for convicts of vampyrism. They were often buried alive and their body was impaled later. The same punishment was used for mothers who killed their own children in central Europe.