Breaking Wheel

The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel or simply the wheel, was a torture device used for capital punishment in the Middle Ages and early modern times for public execution by bludgeoning to death. It was used during the Middle Ages and was still in use into the 19th century.

Read more about Breaking Wheel:  Description and Uses, Metaphorical Uses, Coats of Arms With Catherine Wheels, Gallery

Famous quotes containing the words breaking and/or wheel:

    “Be known to us in breaking bread,
    But do not then depart;
    Saviour, abide with us, and spread
    Thy table in our heart.”
    —James Montgomery (1771–1854)

    “Let go thy hold when a great wheel runs down a hill lest it break thy neck with following; but the great one that goes upward, let him draw thee after.”
    —William Shakespeare (1564–1616)