The pear of anguish – also known as poire d’angoisser, the spanish mouth pear, the pope’s pears, the choke pear, the anal pear and oral pear – was an iron torture instrument shaped like a pear, which was inserted in the victim’s mouth, anus or vagina. It was used to rupture the sensitive membranes and tissues of these areas. Because it damaged the body only inside body cavities, it was sometimes used to extract “confessions” when there was a need to pass them off as freely given. Used during Medieval Times, the pear of anguish was an extremely painful device used to punish homosexuals, witches and women accused of inducing a miscarriage. The insertion of the pear depended on the crime the victim was accused of, while slanderers and blasphemers would have their mouths mutilated, homosexuals would suffer the same fate on their anus, and women who had induced a miscarriage, or been accused of witchcraft and carnal knowledge of demons would see their vaginas torn apart by it.
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