For England’s much-hated King Edward II, a worse fate was in store. He was forcibly deposed and cast into a deep dungeon at Berkeley Castle in the west of England. His captors faced a dilemma. They could not let him live, but neither could they appear to kill their sovereign. They solved their problem by inventing a unique method of execution that left no visible marks. The king was seized and tightly bound. A red-hot iron was driven slowly upward through his anus until it penetrated his brain. It is said that his dying screams could be heard for miles across the Severn Valley.
