
The breaking wheel, also known as the Catherine wheel (named for St. Catherine whom was to be executed in this fashion) 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.
- Frederick of Isenberg
- Gillette Banne
- Jacques Bertrault
- Jean Haudecoeur de Boucherville
- Jean-Baptiste Baudreau dit Graveline II
- Johann Reinhold von Patkul
- St. Catherine of Alexandria (she "miraculously" survived the breaking wheel, and was then beheaded)
- St. George (killed 3 times on the wheel, and resuscitated, then beheaded)
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