20 Brutal Forms of Public Humiliation Throughout History

The pillory was one of the best-known forms of public punishment in medieval Europe and the early modern period. Simply put, it involved securing a person’s head and hands in a raised wooden frame. While some famous writers were subjected to it, for many lesser-known offenders, this ordeal meant being publicly exposed while neighbors insulted them, threw trash at them, or continued to remind them of their disgrace long after the punishment had officially “ended.”

No, we’re not talking about a stock market crash. In the 14th century, “stocks” were actually used to restrain a person’s ankles, forcing them to remain seated or lying down in a public place where passersby could stare at them and mock them. They were so common in England that laws such as the Statute of Laborers of 1351 helped associate them with the punishment of people accused of violating labor regulations after the Black Death. 

Make no mistake: public flogging was intended as much to inflict physical punishment as to humiliate those who were subjected to it. In Great Britain and its colonies, whipping posts were set up in prominent locations, and slaves, servants, thieves, and other alleged offenders could be punished there to serve as a lesson to others. 

In England during the early modern period, the “drowning chair” was used against people accused of being “harpies”—in other words, a charge often leveled against women deemed noisy or disruptive. It was also used against women who had illegitimate children or who engaged in prostitution.

Although it is often mistakenly used interchangeably with the “ducking stool,” the “cucking stool” was somewhat different. It was essentially a seat of humiliation used in England before the “ducking stool” became more commonly associated with water-based punishments. Unlike paying a fine, being placed on this stool exposed the accused’s name and person to the entire community, which watched as he was paraded through the town.

The “scold’s bridle,” also known as “branks,” was an iron helmet used to silence and humiliate people accused of using abusive language. But what was considered “disrespectful” speech at the time was quite different from what we hear today; in 1567, Bessie Tailiefeir, in Edinburgh, was sentenced to be “branked” and tied to the city cross after allegedly slandering a local official. 

The “drunkard’s cloak” seems simple enough, but it was far more humiliating than its name suggests. It was a form of punishment that involved carrying a barrel—particularly common in Newcastle in the 17th century—where the offender was, so to speak, forced to walk through the city carrying a wooden barrel instead of wearing normal clothes.

You’ve no doubt heard of “tar and feathers”—and for good reason. This punishment was undoubtedly one of the most brutal of its time, and it became infamous in the British colonies of North America during the 1760s and 1770s. It was a punishment meted out by the mob, not a court-ordered sentence, which involved stripping the victim naked, restraining them, coating them with hot tar, then covering them with feathers before parading them through the streets. 

The charivari, known in England as “rough music,” was a noisy ritual of public mockery intended to humiliate people accused of violating community norms. In 19th-century English villages, crowds would bang on pots and pans, hurl insults, or simply stage a humiliating procession in front of the person’s home.

Some punishments imposed in colonial America required offenders to wear letters or labels that publicly revealed their crime. Think of The Scarlet Letter: red letters sewn onto clothing. This distinctive mark also turned daily life into a prolonged punishment; every errand, every religious service, and every public gathering only served to reopen the wound.

In England, ecclesiastical courts once had the power to compel people accused of moral offenses to do penance before the congregation. You were sometimes required to wear a white sheet or hold a candle while repeating your confession in front of everyone, who were then made aware of your private sins.

Don’t be fooled by appearances: the “public penance” was anything but honorable. It was a French ritual of public apology practiced within ecclesiastical and judicial contexts. You were brought before the church in a deliberately humiliating state—often barefoot and bareheaded, and sometimes with a rope around your neck. You were then required to confess, ask for forgiveness, and accept the shame.

Branding was used to mark the body so that everyone would remember what the person had done. Under Roman law, slaves and criminals could be branded for identification purposes, and later European legal systems also employed this practice to mark convicted offenders. England continued to practice branding on the hand for certain crimes in the 18th century, and it was not until 1822 that Parliament abolished this practice.

The “shrew violin,” also known as the “neck violin,” was used in certain regions of Germany and Austria during the Middle Ages and early modern period. It was essentially a device that immobilized the neck and wrists within a wooden or metal frame, sometimes equipped with a bell so that people could hear you coming. It is particularly shocking to note that this instrument was used primarily on women accused of arguing or bickering.

"Yokes" were iron collars attached by a chain to a church wall or a tree; they were used primarily in Scotland to punish both civil and religious offenses. Parish churches and town centers ensured that this spectacle was clearly visible, thereby exposing the offender in the very heart of the community. 

The sanbenito was a penitential garment used by the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, particularly during autos-da-fé. The Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478, and these garments were used from the institution’s earliest years as a visible sign of religious disgrace, typically adorned with symbols indicating the person’s alleged offense.

Forced head-shaving was one of the most common ways to publicly humiliate people. One of the most infamous contemporary examples dates back to the Liberation of France, when thousands of women accused of collaborating with the Germans had their heads shaved in public between 1943 and 1946. 

The gallows may seem innocuous at first glance, but it was actually a particularly heinous practice. In practice, it involved displaying the body of an executed person—either in a cage or in chains—to serve as a warning to others. The worst part is that these bodies could remain on display on poles or in public for several years.

The dunce cap became a form of punishment in schools across Europe and the United States, and even though people tend to laugh about it today, it was a notorious ritual of humiliation in the 19th and early 20th centuries. No one wants to be remembered as “the kid with the dunce cap.” 

Exile was often more than just an order to leave: it could be staged in such a way that the entire community witnessed your downfall. In early modern cities, expulsion could result from accusations of religious dissent, immoral conduct, vagrancy, or repeated disturbances. In any case, the humiliation stemmed from being publicly ostracized and having everyone watch as you packed your bags.