The iron maiden legend is born

Name: The iron maiden legend is born
Start: 1793
Location: Nuremberg

1793 · Nuremberg · Europe · Culture

A 'medieval' torture device invented in the 18th century

The iron maiden legend is born — Lestat (Jan Mehlich) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In 1793 the German philosopher Johann Siebenkees described an execution in an 'iron maiden' at Nuremberg in 1515, without reliable sources. The famous museum specimens were assembled in the 19th century from unrelated old artefacts.

State: Kingdom of Prussia

Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 18th century

Did you know

The iron maiden is not medieval: it was dreamed up in the late 18th century. The first account appeared in 1793, and the museum examples were pieced together from unrelated old artefacts. Share →

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