I have read many times (but in scant detail) that torture was illegal in England during the Middle Ages, without the King's permission. This is (apparently) one of the reasons that witch burnings were less common in England than other states. I'm interested in how this law/custom came about and when, and what it defined as torture (for example, did beatings count). I'm also interested in whether there were similar laws in other European states, or if this was a uniquely English rule. Also, did this apply to all of the King's holdings (ie Normandy, Wales, Ireland) or merely to the Kingdom of England? Finally, when discussing this with a friend, he mentioned he'd heard there was one English King who didn't allow any torture whatsoever. Does anyone know (if that's true) who it was?
A reply to /u/The_Manchurian
I'm obligated to say that "Medieval times" is a really really really really really really really long and ambiguously defined time period. If you can specialize your question in any way, that will be great.
But to give a partial answer, the Spanish Inquisition, founded in 1478, had strict rules about torture and the use of information gained from torture. This has been discussed several times so I recommend that you read through 1, 2, 3, 4.
What I'm primarily interested in, in the case of England, is the evolution of torture laws, which presumably happened over a very long, long time. I have no idea when torture was made illegal in England: 1066? 1400? Under the House of Wessex? Since the Romano-British period? So the question is unfortunately wide-ranging in terms of time. Other European states are just a secondary part of the question, but thankyou, I'm interested in that too.