Peine forte et dure

1. c. 12], part of Statute of Westminster of 1275 of Edward I of England, sought to resolve this problem:[5] It is provided also, That notorious Felons, which openly be of evil name, and will not put themselves in Enquests of Felonies that Men shall charge them with before the Justices at the King's suit, shall have strong and hard Imprisonment (prison forte et dure), as they which refuse to stand to the common Law of the Land : But this is not to be understood of such prisoners as be taken of light suspicion.The words of the statute - prison forte et dure - meant a harsh regime and a meagre diet: in the worst place in the prison, upon the bare ground continually, night and day; that they eat only bread made of barley or bran, and that they drink not the day they eat ...[5] By the 1300s the words of the statute had been corrupted to peine forte et dure[6].

[5] The procedure was recorded by a 15th-century witness as follows:he will lie upon his back, with his head covered and his feet, and one arm will be drawn to one quarter of the house with a cord, and the other arm to another quarter, and in the same manner it will be done with his legs; and let there be laid upon his body iron and stone, as much as he can bear, or more ...[7]"Pressing to death" might take several days, and not necessarily with a continued increase in the load.

But, in case of High Treason, the Criminal's Estate is forfeited to the Sovereign, as in all capital Crimes, notwithstanding his being pressed to Death.Peine forte et dure was abolished in the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1772 by the Felony and Piracy Act 1772, with the last known actual use of the practice having been in 1741.

[11] In America, Giles Corey was pressed to death between 17 and 19 September 1692, during the Salem witch trials, after he refused to enter a plea in the judicial proceeding.

This is referred to in Arthur Miller's political drama The Crucible, where Giles Corey is pressed to death after refusing to plead "aye or nay" to the charge of witchcraft.