Torture and Confession: The Dark History of Interrogation #crime #history #podcast
Torture and Confession: The Dark History of Interrogation Welcome to Ginny Greaves. For most of modern history, justice systems have relied on evidence — witnesses, forensic science, and careful investigation. But for centuries, the most powerful proof in a criminal trial was something much simpler. A confession. And if a suspect refused to confess, many authorities believed there was only one solution. Torture. Across medieval Europe and other parts of the world, torture was not merely tolerated in criminal investigations. In some cases, it was officially authorised by courts as a method of extracting the truth. What followed was one of the darkest chapters in the history of criminal justice. The belief that pain revealed truth In medieval legal systems, confession was often considered the strongest possible proof of guilt. But suspects did not always confess voluntarily. Authorities therefore developed systems designed to break resistance. Judges sometimes authorised what ...