Punishments of the Middle Ages
By
Elizabeth Rose

Next time you have your child sit in the corner for doing something wrong, or ground your teenager for coming in late, let them know that they're getting off easy. If they lived in the middle ages, things would not be so easy.

Punishments for crime back then ranged anywhere from banishment to beheading. Depending on the crime, some of these punishments could be quite gruesome. For those of you who are squeamish, I caution you before you read this.

Banishment was used mainly for nobles. This was the verdict when the king didn't want the particular person hanging around his kingdom. Usually they were sent on a long pilgrimage, hoping they would never return.

This was a mild form of punishment, but those who were caught stealing didn't get away so easy, as they were punished by amputation. Usually thieves had their hand cut off, or possibly just a finger or two. A peeping Tom might have his eye gouged out, and I must mention that other body parts were also removed according to the crime or what the judge wanted.

The commonly known beheading was reserved for capital crimes. A person's head was severed with an ax or sword and usually placed on a pike and put on public display for a period of time.

And since I'm talking about medieval times, I find it necessary to mention the dreaded dungeon. The accused person would be placed there naked, or near naked, and only fed a scant amount of bread and water. They were deprived of light and often had a board and weight placed upon their chest.

For a more gruesome punishment, a criminal was placed in a large cauldron and boiled alive. But a more common punishment used for witches, heresy, treason and rape was being burned at the stake. And not just for westerns, we also find the punishment of branding in this time period, oftentimes the brand showing the crime of the accused.

Hanging was a very common form of punishment, and sometimes afterwards, while barely alive, the person was drawn, or disembowelled and quartered, or cut into four pieces and buried in four parts of the town. Ugh! Okay, I told you this was not for the squeamish. Times back then were pretty tough.

Flagellation or flogging was a punishment used to induce confession from a person. Whips were sometimes laced with steel spikes or shards of glass.

All right, this is a bit much to handle before breakfast. Let me mention a punishment or two that are not so gruesome. The stocks were a board with holes in it for the head and hands, and sometimes the feet. The board was split lengthwise and once the person was inside, it came down and locked so they couldn't get out. They were always placed on public display in the courtyard.

Water torture was also used, where they continuously dunked the person into water or had large amounts of it poured over their head. (Hmm. At least they got a bath - something people didn't do very often back then.)

This next one, I have to mention since we've all seen it in movies. The criminal, was pulled apart. This punishment was usually used for rapist, murderers and larger crimes. The accused had his four limbs tied to four horses and then the horses were made to run in four different directions. No need to tell the results on this one.

There are many other punishments, but some of them are just too horrible to even mention. (Yes, even worse than what I've already talked about.) What I will mention though, is that often one could pay a fine and get out of their punishment. This meant the rich were seldom punished, and the poor often felt the full brunt of the punishment. Then there was something devised by the church called excommunication. This form of punishment meant the person could not attend mass (very important back then) or while under excommunication, they could not get married, receive last rites or even confess their sins.

An event I must mention having to do with punishment is Trial by Combat. What this meant is that the accused would fight on foot or on horseback with determined weapons, and could even challenge those who accused him or testified against him. Sometimes this could mean going up against a lady or child. However, one having to fight this way could pay a champion to come in and fight for them. Being a champion was a risky job, as sometimes the champion had to share the punishment of the accused.

So, as we see, the middle ages were a very harsh time with cruel and unusual punishment. Or actually, it would seem that way today, but back then it was the norm.

So next time you punish your son or daughter, just remind them they should be glad they're not living back then. Life today is much easier!

Lady Elizabeth Rose

 

 

Writer's Niche |  Author Interviews |  Writing Articles |  Industry News
Chat |  Scribes World |  Email Webmaster

---

Page designed and Maintained by:	©2003 Web Design by Lisa Ramaglia
Web Design by Lisa Ramaglia ~Web Pages at Affordable Prices