Crime and punishment

Elizabeth’s top torturer had ways of making you talk

Richard Topcliffe was born into a very well connected family, with links to Anne Boleyn and Katherine Parr. When his father died young, he found himself in charge of a large and wealthy estate. A close companion of the queen, he was employed to extract ‘confessions’ through interrogation and often torture. Bashed by some as an inhumane beast capable of unimaginable cruelty, he would often attend the execution of his victims as a kind of master of ceremonies. Described as a “veteran in evil”, Topcliffe made no attempts to hide his methods but instead was immensely proud of his work.

Manacles

Prisoners were hung by the wrists in metal manacles. This procedure would last for hours at a time without any break and could cause permanent internal injury and death.

Torture machine

Somewhat of a mystery, Topcliffe was known to have his own torture chamber created in his London home. There he claimed to have a torture machine designed by himself that was apparently far more efficient at eliciting confessions.

The rack

An Elizabethan classic, a man was fastened to the contraption and very slowly and painfully stretched, causing bones to become dislocated. Topcliffe put his own spin on this by placing a large stone under the victim’s spine.

Mental torture

Not all of Topcliffe’s abuse was physical — he would also talk to and scream at his victims to break their spirit along with their body. He would lie to and berate them until they no longer knew the truth from their dark prison cell.

Rape

Although not a legal form of torture, at least one confirmed case of rape occurred during Topcliffe’s torture sessions. Either himself or one of his men raped Anne Bellamy to extract a suspect’s location. She became pregnant and was forced to marry Topcliffe’s servant to cover up the crime.