During the Medieval period, it was common to punish criminals with various forms of
public humiliation or torture. One such torture devise or method was known as the stocks,
or the pillory. These devices were designed to aim to humiliate the petty criminal, and
hopefully the shame of being held in a structure in public, being shamed infant of a crowd
would put off the person re-offending. The stocks and pillory were used for a huge amount
of crimes, and were very popular. So join us as we take a look at the stocks and the
pillory, the medieval method of torture that aimed to humiliate a criminal into submission.
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Now firstly there is a difference between the pillory and the stocks. Most people consider
the stocks to be a device where the hands and head are placed into and trapped, and
then objects can be thrown at the person inside. Well the difference between the two is that
the pillory is the device that was used for securing the heads and hands, and the stocks
were the device that simply only restrained the feet. So the pillory held the heads and
hands with the offender standing, the stocks held only feet with the offender sitting.
The main aim as mentioned earlier to these punishments was humiliation, and to bring
shame upon an individual who had committed wrong. But there also was an element of pain
added to it, the public once someone was in the stocks or pillory would be encouraged
to shame and insult the captive. However things could turn rather nasty if the offender wasn’t
well liked by the local crowd. The local soldiers or guards were supposed to prevent a criminal
inside the pillory or stocks being severely harmed, there are accounts where objects such
as rocks were thrown at a criminal and subsequently that person then died from their injuries.
The most famous object that’s gone down in history that was thrown at people inside
the stocks or pillory are rotten tomatoes, however much else could be thrown at an individual.
They whilst being held there could be spat at, sworn at, but even be pelted by offal
from abbatoirs, dead animals, fruit, vegetables and much more. Particularly strongly disliked
prisoners and members of a town could even be pelted with broken glass or bricks which
could be fatal. Some kinder members of the public would simply just tickle an offenders
feet when they were held inside the stocks.
These punishments could last a long time. Those held inside the pillory could be kept
locked inside there for hours or even a full day, and it would be extremely uncomfortable.
Some prisoners however could even spend days or weeks inside the device. This would be
made even worse if bad weather struck a town, the convicted would be forced to spend a long
time inside there punishment device being pelted also by strong rain. There was a positive
of this though, if rain was rather heavy it would put off a crowd gathering and their
punishment would be less-public and possibly easier.
The stocks are even documented in the bible, and they were employed by civil and military
bodies from the medieval period, and they lasted even until the early modern times.
In England, the Statute of Labourers 1351 would state that the stocks were to be used
for unruly artisans, and it was required that every town and village would create a set
of stocks. The stock usually consisted of hinged wooden boards with openings for the
victims feet, with were then often chained and held in place to prevent escape.
It was usually made of two wooden planks which had the holes cut in the centre, it was incredibly
simple yet effective. Sometimes a wooden bench was added for the victim to sit down, but
this was rare. Stocks would be placed anywhere in the view of the public, such as in the
grounds of a castle, or in the middle of a medieval marketplace or town. During this
time period too, the stocks could even possibly be deployed by the church, and there was sometimes
a religious aspect to the punishment. Inside churches, stocks were rarely used as a way
of getting a person to confess their sins.
The sort of crimes that someone could end up in the stocks for was quite varied really.
Remember that more serious offences such as murder would be dealt with by the executioner,
and the stocks were there to humiliate people for committing minor offences. Examples of
these crimes were, begging, public drunkenness or inebriation, swearing, short changing someone,
cheating customers, selling poor quality merchandise for example. If a butcher was found to be
selling meat that was rotten, or if an alehouse was found to be selling watered down beer
they could be placed in the stocks. There were accounts of more serious crimes such
as witchcraft and heresy being dealt with by the stocks, in order to obtain a confession.
People who were punished in the stocks could come from different walks of lives, being
travelling musicians, fortune tellers, vagrants, wife-beaters, unruly servants, petty thieves,
gamblers, drunkerds or even those who broke the sabbath.
The pillory could also be used for these sort of crimes, and it was considered a rather
degrading punishment. The head and arms would be on displays and completely were vulnerable
for things being thrown. A paper sign could be hung around the offenders head outlining
their offence. For political offences, further punishment could be inflicted such as nailing
the offenders ears to the pillory instead of them being locked in. Sometimes too afterwards
the ears of the offender would be cut off leaving them on the pillory. This happened
in the case of William Prynne, who was a critic of Charles I, and the Anglican Church. He
was sentenced to stand in the pillory for seditious libel, and had his left ear cut
off. He was also branded with the initials SL on his cheek, matching his crimes. People
inside the pillory could also be branded or whipped, making their ordeal even more painful.
The pillory in 1816 after being around for centuries in England was restricted as punishment
for only perjury or subornation. It was formally abolished as a form of punishment in England
and Wales in 1837, however the stocks would remain in use and were used up until 1872.
The last person to suffer the pillory in England was Peter Bossy, who chose an hour inside
the pillory over 7 years transportation. The stocks and pillory would often be placed and
made as a symbol of the judicial system, and the fact they were left out in public in a
prominent spot also acted as a deterrent.
Being sentenced to the stocks or pillory was most probably a terrifying ordeal for many
of those people who were subject to the punishment. It could be extremely painful and dangerous,
and depending on your standing within the town, that could shape your experiences. Obviously
if you weren’t very well liked, you could be subject to extreme injury depending on
what was thrown from the crowd. The stocks and pillory were an effective deterrent, and
were a significant event in the weekly lives of a town. The sheer sight of seeing another
individual locked inside these devices would have been enough to have hopefully put you
off making the wrong decisions.
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