Legal Definitions - brake

Definition: A torture rack in the Tower of London, named after the Duke of Exeter, Henry VI's minister who introduced it to England. It was used to extort confessions from criminals and was occasionally used as an engine of state, not of law, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

Example: The Duke of Exeter's Daughter was a torture device used in the Tower of London to extract confessions from prisoners. It was called "the rack" and was used to stretch a person's body until their bones were dislocated. This was a painful and cruel way to get information from someone.

Explanation: The example illustrates how the Duke of Exeter's Daughter was used as a torture device to extract information from prisoners. It was a cruel and inhumane way to get information and was not a legal method of obtaining confessions. The use of this device was eventually discontinued, but it remains a symbol of the brutal methods used in the past to extract information from prisoners.