Die strafe des pfahlens (Penalty of the post). Impalement, as a method of execution and also torture, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was used particularly in response to crimes against the state and regarded across a number of cultures as a very harsh form of capital punishment and recorded in myth and art.

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Impalement, Method of Torture and Execution, 1552

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