Pillory

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Pillory

The pillory is a punishment device once used in Europe during the medieval and Renaissance periods. It is a wooden or metal frame mounted on a post, with holes to hold a person’s head and hands. The offender would be left in the device in a public place, such as a marketplace, so passersby could see and mock them. It is related to the stocks, but the pillory emphasizes humiliation.

Etymology
The word pillory comes from Old French pellori/pilori and medieval Latin pilloria, probably from a word meaning pillar or pillar-like structure.

Description
The pillory consisted of hinged boards with holes for the head and/or hands. When locked, the person was forced to stand or bend forward, exposed to the crowd. A placard nearby would usually state the crime. In some places, the pillory sat on a platform to increase visibility. People watched to taunt and humiliate the offender, and crowds sometimes threw food, mud, or other objects.

Uses
Public humiliation was the main purpose of the pillory. In extreme cases, crowds could become violent, causing injury or death. The device could be used with additional punishments, such as shaving hair, flogging, branding, or cropping an ear. In Protestant areas, the pillory could be part of church punishment before the worldly punishment began.

Origins and variants
Many countries used similar devices. In France, it was called pilori; poteau (a simple post) and carcan (an iron neck ring) were two forms, with carcan later abolished. Spain used picota, and Portugal uses pelourinho, often as monuments. A “barrel pillory” (barrel shirt) punished drunks by trapping the body inside a barrel. Finger-pillories and combined pillory-and-whipping setups also existed.

Abolition and legacy
- England: The Pillory Abolition Act of 1837 ended pillory as a legal punishment; the last person to be pilloried in England was Peter James Bossy in 1830. Stocks continued to be used rarely until 1872.
- United States: Pillory use declined earlier; Delaware abolished pillory in 1905, while whipping posts lingered in some states until the 20th century (last whip in Delaware in 1952; abolition completed by 1972).
- Other places: France abolished pilori in 1832; the idea of public punishment faded as modern justice developed. In Portugal and its former colonies, pelourinhos became monuments rather than active punishments.
- Legacy: Today, to pillory means to expose someone to public ridicule or harsh criticism. The term remains a powerful metaphor in many languages.

Overall, the pillory was a public, humiliating punishment that declined as modern legal systems moved away from public shaming toward other penalties.