Simulation shows grim rodent torture method that caused maximum suffering for prisoner

A new simulation has depicted what one of the most disturbing medieval torture methods might have looked like.

Some of the methods used in centuries past to get information out of people or to punish criminals are quite ghastly, to say the least.

Medieval minds were sick and twisted, with many creative ways being used to kill or injure people.

You've likely heard of the 'brazen bull', which involved placing a person in a bronze bull statue before lighting a fire beneath it to essentially roast them alive inside the device, with any screams converted into smoke and a bull noise which would come out of the sculpture's head.

It was a slow and painful way to die, reportedly dreamt up in the Ancient Greek period at first, before sticking around for centuries on end.

But there might be a method that's (believe it or not) far worse than that.

There's a gruesome way in which a rat can hurt a human (Getty Stock Image)

Rats are small creatures, so how would they be able to cause harm to an adult? Well, through heat, of course.

A new simulation by YouTube giant Zack D. Films graphically shows how a rat and a cage was actually used in the past to torture someone.

Simplicity was the name of the game, as hungry rats would simply be trapped in a cage or bucket strapped on an individual's body, while they are restrained and laid down.

The cage or bucket would then be heated with coals on top until the rat, with no other choice, was forced to eat its way out of the cage - by digging through the victim's skin and organs.

One of the slower, more pain-staking ways to go out, it might be up there with one of the cruellest ways to end someone's life, as they would slowly bleed out and die in agony.

It really wasn't a pleasant time to be alive, with the plague also lurking around the world.

That wasn't all though, as smaller methods such as 'the thumbscrew' also managed to get information out of victims.

This would involve using a small device which involved two metal plates that could be screwed together, and the person being forced to put their thumbs in said device.

The rat torture method was a slow and grisly way to go out (YouTube/ZackDFilms)

From here, the screw could be tightened to push the plates onto your fingers until your fingernails, and then bones, are broken.

You may not die from it, but you could easily lose the function of all 10 fingers if you were unlucky enough to be caught in one at the time.