Cross of Death

The Death Cross, also known as the Crux Mortis or "Whipping", was a popular form of entertainment during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. It was a spectacle that demonstrated the power and cruelty of the rulers and the church. While many such events were legal, formal acts carried out on criminals and heretics, others were simply for fun - including the infliction of violence on the participants or the execution of those who had angered their rulers and whom they wanted to get rid of.

It was this death cross that became one of the most cruel inventions of medieval Europe, where this practice became known after the famous and bloody “Crusades”. Criminals during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance were subjected to various types of violent torture, and could also be mutilated and nailed to crosses.

Let's see how this was presented in the medieval period. Initially, the death cross was used to show the power of government and the church. Undoubtedly, observers, including the commoner spectators (and the clergy who were the spectators), marveled at this climax, watching as the enemies of the church were maimed or killed. Usually the victims walked to the cross, chained, torn by the lashes and executions that had taken place before, and their bodies decorated or mutilated in preparation for the final physical demonstration of the power and piety of the faith of the time.

Criminals on the cross could be further mutilated by breaking joints, cutting out eyes and tongues, cutting off ears, arms, legs and genitals. They could also behead a person who was nailed to a cross. People who went through this often died from their injuries. They endured unbearable pain and suffered from thirst and other diseases. Some may have suffered from serious mental disorders during their punishments. Despite this, it was not uncommon to see victims struggling to survive without any means of easing their suffering.

And although such punishments were often necessary to ensure law and order and security, they also significantly influenced the formation of morality and ethics among the nobility of the time. These brutal spectacles were broadcast to the people as an alternative to the religious message of the value and importance of order and punishment. And these examples of cruelty and madness became the starting point for the formation of the personality of the rulers of that time and the formation of power relations in Medieval Europe.