Stocks, Pillories & Whipping Posts | A Very Embarrassing & Painful Medieval Punishment

Public humiliation was a major part of both corporal and capital punishment during the Middle Ages. In small communities, those being admonished would be well known to everyone else, and having the accused person put on view, usually in the center of a town or village was all part of the punishment. Audience involvement was a key part of the success of the judgment because it only increased the victim’s shame.