The Pressing reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Pressing

Pressing, also called peine fort et dure (French for pain strong and hard) was a method of torture and/or execution formerly popular in Europe, especially in England, and early colonial America. A victim was placed flat on their back, and large flat stones were added one by one to the victim's chest until the victim confessed. Eventually, the weight of the stones on the chest became too great for the victim to breathe, and the victim would suffocate.

Giles Corey was famously pressed to death on September 19, 1692, during the Salem Witch Trials, after he refused to enter a plea in the judicial proceedings.

Related topics

• Crushing by elephant

This article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This is the "Pressing" reference article from the English Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.