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. It might be featured in multiple torture museums, but did the iron maiden exist?