Heretic's fork

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Diagram of main components of a Heretic's Fork
Diagram of main components of a Heretic's Fork

The Heretic's Fork was a torture device, loosely consisting of a length of metal with two opposed bi-pronged "forks" as well as an attached belt or strap.

One end was pushed under the chin, and the other into the sternum, the strap fixing the device to the neck. This effectively immobilized the head at a total extension of the neck, and caused great pain.

Traditionally, the fork was engraved with the latin word abiuro (meaning "I recant"), and was used by the various Inquisitions.

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