Pillory

The pillory (from the French pilori, see below; presumed to derive from the Latin pila 'pillar') was a device used in punishment by public humiliation and often additional, sometimes physically painful, abuse.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rather like the lesser punishment called the stocks (see that article), it consisted of hinged wooden boards which articulated to form holes through which the head and/or various limbs, were inserted: once the boards locked together these could not be withdrawn. They were set up in marketplaces and crossroads: petty criminals would be imprisoned by them by having one or more limbs inserted through holes in the stocks, which were then closed and locked. Often a placard detailing the crime was placed nearby: these punishments generally lasted only one or more hours.

Punishment: Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant on a wrongdoer as a response to something unwanted that the wrongdoer has done. In psychological terms this is known as "positive punishment". "Negative punishment", on the other hand, is when something is removed from or denied to the pun...

Public humiliation: Public humiliation was often used by local communities to punish minor and petty criminals before the age of large, modern prisons (imprisonment was long unusual as a punishment, rather a method of coercion)....

Pillory related Images and Photos (experimental)

Daniel Defoe in the Pillory London 1702 for Publishing a Seditious Pamphlet