Did The Iron Maiden Actually Exist?

What was the iron maiden, and how did the iron maiden work? The medieval torture device, a human-sized sarcophagus filled with spikes, seems almost too gruesome to be true. According to 19th-century scholars, the iron maiden caused a slow, painful end, as people bled from shallow wounds while their torturers opened and closed the contraption's doors to impale them. Sharp spikes lined up with the eyes, causing blinding pain.