The Stocks
Facts and interesting information
about Medieval Torture and Punishment, specifically the Stocks,
during the era
Torture and Punishment - Stocks
During the Medieval times
inflicting pain and torture was an accepted form of punishment or
interrogation. The cruel and pitiless torturers were induced to inflict the
horrors of torture or punishment, including the Stocks, on the pitiful
prisoners. Different types of torture or methods of punishment were
inflicted, depending on the crime and the social status of the victim, using
various methods and various types of devices or instruments.
The Law, Crime, Torture and
Punishment - Stocks
There were no laws or rules to
protect the treatment of prisoners who faced torture or punishment, such as
the Stocks. No matter what the type of torture or punishment was used it was
seen as a totally legitimate means for justice to extract confessions,
obtain the names of accomplices, obtain testimonies or confessions or to
impose a penalty, sanctioned by law for a wrong committed. The following
description provides facts and information about the Stocks.
Facts and Information about the
Stocks
The Stocks were a wooden structure
formerly in use both on the continent of Europe and in Great Britain as a
method of punishment for petty offences. The culprit sat on a wooden bench
with his ankles, and sometimes his wrists or even neck, thrust through holes
in movable boards. Punishment in the stocks generally lasted for at least
several hours. During this time passers-by would throw all forms of
disgusting waste at the hapless culprit. It is known that the stocks were
used by the Anglo-Saxons by their often figuring in drawings of the time.
The second Statute of Labourers (1350) ordered the punishment of the stocks
for unruly artisans. It further ordered that stocks should be made in every
town and village in England.Though never expressly abolished, the punishment
of the stocks began to die out in England during the early part of the 19th
century, though there is a recorded case of its use so late as 1865 at
Rugby. In many of the villages in the country may still be seen
well-preserved examples of stocks, in some cases with whipping posts
attached.
Medieval Torture and Punishment -
The Stocks
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