4111 x 4273 px | 34,8 x 36,2 cm | 13,7 x 14,2 inches | 300dpi
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pillory was a device used in punishment by public humiliation and often additional, sometimes lethal, physical abuse. The word is documented in English since 1274 (attested in Anglo-Latin from c.1189), and stems from Old French pellori (1168; modern French pilori, see below), itself from Medieval Latin pilloria, of uncertain origin, perhaps a diminutive of Latin pila "pillar, stone barrier." Rather like the lesser punishment called the stocks, the pillory consisted of hinged wooden boards that formed holes through which the head and/or various limbs were inserted; then the boards were locked together to secure the captive. Pillories were set up in marketplaces and crossroads to hold petty criminals. Often a placard detailing the crime was placed nearby; these punishments generally lasted only a few hours. Time in the pillory was more dangerous than in the stocks, as the pillory forced the malfeasant to remain standing and exposed. A criminal in the stocks would expect to be abused but his or her life was not targeted. A prisoner in the pillory was presumed to have committed a more serious crime and, accordingly, usually triggered a more aggressive reaction from the crowd. With hands trapped, he or she could not avoid thrown objects, either mostly harmless items like rotten food or injurious ones such as heavy stones where blinding, permanent maiming or death could be the consequence. Sometimes a criminal's ears would be nailed to the pillory so that any movement of the head to avoid thrown objects would result in further injury. The criminal could also be sentenced to further punishments while in the pillory: humiliation by shaving of some or all hair or regular corporal punishment(s), notably flagellation (the pillory serving as the whipping post), birching, caning or even permanent mutilation such as branding or having an ear cut off. The pillory was formally abolished as a form of punishment in England and Wales in 1837 but the stocks remained in use, albeit ex
