TORTOSA, COUNCIL OF 498
TOSAPHOTH
Water-tortoise of Palestine {hmys Cwpica).
these, several marsh-tortoises {Emys, etc.) are common in tlic lr<v;h waters of tliose regions, and are particular- ly iniiil)lesomo to iiorses wadingc or drinking (see Wood, hibk A iiiinals, p. 507 sq.). See Zoology.
Tortosa, Council of {Concilium Derfusense). This comicil was licl<I in Tortosa, a cathedral city of Catalo- nia, Spain, in 14l".I. by I'eter, cardinal de Foix. All the prelates and many ecclesiastics of tiie kingdoms of Ar- agon and Valencia, and of the principality of Catalo- nia, attended. The king's letters-patent confirming the liberties and immnnities of the Church were read, and at the end of the fourth session twenty canons were ap- proved and i)ublislied.
4. Orders tliMt ;UI beneficed clerks and ecclesiastics in holy orders shall keep breviaries, in order that they may
• f^ay the office privately when hindered from attending iu the choir.
5. Forbids the elevation of unworthy persons to holy orders.
' 6. Orders curates every Sunday to teach by catechising pome part of the thin<rs necessary to be known by Chri;^- tians in order to salvation, which it declares to be as fol- lows: (1.) What they <ui'_'ht to believe, contained in the ar- ticles of the faith. (•-'.) What they ought to prai/for, cuu- tained iu the Lord's Prayer. (;-i.) What they ou^-^ht to keep, contained in the ten comuiaudnients. (4.) What they ought to avoid, viz. the seven mortal sins. (.5 ) What they ought to (tesjcf, viz. the joys of Paradise. (6.) What they ought to/ear, viz. the pains of hell.
!t. Orders neophytes to bring their children to church within eiuht days after their birth, iu order that they may receive ba|)tism".
15. Forbids the delegates of the holy see to go heyond their commission.
See Maiisi, Condi, xii, 406. — Landon, Manual of Coun- cils, s. V.
Torture (Lat. torquere, to twist) is pain inflicted as a judicial instrument for extracting evidence from un- willing witnesses or confessions from accused persons. The practice is an ancient one. In ancient Athens slaves were always examined by torture, and their evi- dence seems on this accoimt to have been deemed inore valuable than that of freemen. Any one might give up his slave to torture, or demand that of his opponent, and a refusal to do so was considered as a strong pre- sumption against a person. No free Athenian could be examined by torture, and it was not inflicted upon Ro- man freemen or citizens until the time of the emperors. Then it was sometimes inflicted upon even freemen to extract evidence of the crime of /rr.svf inajestas, and thus it became a part of the Code of .lustinian. Hence it was adopted during the ^liddle Ages by all European states in which the Roman law was made the basis of legis- lation. It was adopted early and extensivelv by the Italian municipalities. In (iermany elaborate appara- tus for its infliction existed, not merely in the dungeons of the feudal castles, but in the vaults beneath the town- halls of Nuremberg and Katisbon, where the various implements used are yet to be seen. It continued to be practiced in the prisons of (iermany until they were visited by Howard, in 1770. It ceased to be a part of the judicial system in France in 1789; and in Scotland it was still in freiiuent use after the Restoration, and was only abolished by 7 Anne, c. 21, sec. 5. In Russia it was done away with in 1801. In the United States it has never been reckoned an adjunct of judicial ex- amination.
The first instance we have of its use in England is in 1310, in aitt of the ecclesiastical law, during the strug- gle between pope Clement V and the Templars. Ed-
ward II, when requested to sanction the infliction of torture by the inipiisitors in the case of certain Tem- plars accused of lieresy and apostasy, at first refused, Imt, on a remonstrance by Clement, be referred the mat- ter to the council, and on the recommendation of the council the inquisitors were authorized to put the ac- cused to torture, but without mutilation or serious in- jury to the person or effusion of blood. During the Tudor period, the council assumed the power of direct- ing torture-warrants to the lieutenants of the Tower and other officers against state-prisoners, and occasion- ally also against jjersons accused of other .serious crimes. Under James I and Charles I torture was less resorted to, and only in state-trials. It was inflicted for the last time in May, 1(340. The worst application of torture was found in the hands of the Inquisition. In 1282 pope Innocent IV called on the secidar powers to put to the torture persons accused of lieresy in order to extract confessions against themselves aiut others. The neces- sit}' of secrecy in the proceedings led to its e.xtensive adoption, and to refinements of cruelty in its use before unknown. See Inquisition.
The instruments of torture have been many and va- rious. The scourge was the usual instrument of torture among the Romans, who also made use of the equulevn, a sort of upright rack, with pincers added to tear the flesh, etc. The most celebrated instrument was the "rack," known in the south of Europe as early as the 2d centurj-, but introduced into the Tower by the duke of Exeter, constable of the Tower. The "boot" was the favorite French instrument of torture. In this rings of iron were passed around the legs, ai_id wooden wedges driven between them and the flesh until the muscles were reduced to jelly. Among other means of torture were the "thumb-screw;"' "iron gauntlets;" the "little ease," a narrow cell in which the prisoner was conflned for several days, and in which the only position possible was one which cramped every muscle; the "scavenger's (properly Skevington's) daughter," the invention of Sir William Skevington.an instrument which compressed the body so as to start the blood from the nostrils and often from the hands. The torture by water, cruciflxion, the fastening of limbs to trees which were forced into proximity to each other and then suf- fered to fly apart, and pouring melted leail into the ears, are a few of the means by which punishment has been inflicted.