Questioning and punishments
This unfortunate young woman was made to marry an old man. Only after half year of the marriage, her husband died from the heart attack. His family, unwilling to let the young widow inherit significant part of the family's wealth and put up acquisitions that the man has died because he find out his wife was cheating him with a younger man.
Church magistrate, of course, had to start investigation and arrange questioning. After six lashes with the heavy switch to her naked buttocks, young widow still didn't seem cooperative. She kept claiming that she was just fulfilling her marital duties, trying to pleasure her husband when he just started to hold his chest.
Those six lashes stung really bad and have left red swelling welts. Inquisitor chose to continue with the thin bust nasty branch of the birch but move into much more tender regions of her body. Many times it has proven to be a good tactics since the number of lashes which could be delivered without significant damage would be vast and despite being light, it can really stung on the most sensitive areas. With more severe instruments right on her sight and sting of the switch fresh in her mind, of course.
The inquisitor could do nothing but a smile as he saw the young widow moistening after first tickling lashes of the birch. It sometimes happened with young women and could be really beneficial for his goals. He could play with her, maybe even make her climax under the birch and then, in her most sensitive state, pick up the notch with pain and intensity, letting humiliation and fear do they work.
Without letting her recover, some dozen lashes with a single tail all over her naked body, carefully avoiding area's she was the most terrified of, would most likely loose her tongue and make her confess. The punishment from her crime would be public flogging and then being sold as a slave.