In “A Book Of Remarkable Criminals” by Henry Brodribb Irving, writing of M. Derues it says ‘The doctors declared him too delicate to undergo the torture of pouring cold water into him, …[instead] he was to endure the less severe torture of the “boot.”’ It describes this boot process as "His legs were tightly encased in wood, and wedges were then hammered in until the flesh was crushed and the bones broken. " “Four wedges constituting the ordinary torture he endured; at the third of the extraordinary he fainted away.”
Okay this boot is “less severe” so that makes me wonder just what is the more severe “pouring cold water into him”??
I have heard of medievil tortures which were designed to leave the target apparently unhalmed. The victims stomach and possibly intestines are bloated by forcing in water, and then the victim is squashed under weights, causing great pain and internal rupturing. Such would probably be more likely to cause immediate death than mutilating the targets legs. Since the torturers want a confession and not the death of the target the book’s quote makes sense.
It’s sort of like a very, very weak iced tea. Not quite as bad as the “Comfy Chair” torture that made the Spanish Inquisition famous.
The book mentions a Mme. de Brinvilliers who received the cold water treatment. And, thanks to project Gutenberg, you can get all the grisly details:
http://unityspot.com/arthurs/dumas/brinv10.html
Start reading about here:
"[Note: The torture with the water was thus administered. There were eight vessels, each containing 2 pints of water. Four of these were given for the ordinary, and eight for the extraordinary. The executioner inserted a horn into the patient’s mouth, and if he shut his teeth, forced him to open them by pinching his nose with the finger and thumb.] "