crux simplex

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A single beam or pole without a cross bar.
• noun The style of pole (simple) that common criminals were impaled on, typically including a block for the feet, thus using only one nail through the hands (below the palm), and reducing the cost of materials involved, and hastening death by asphyxia most often following the breaking of the legs.