Stocks are devices used since medieval times for public humiliation, corporal punishment, and torture. Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it Hans Sebald Beham (1500 &ndash 1550 was a German printmaker who did his best work as an engraver, and was also a designer of Woodcuts and 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 Corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain intended to Punish a person or change his/her behavior Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental is intentionally The stocks are similar to the pillory and the pranger, as each consists of large, hinged, wooden boards; the difference, however, is that when a person is placed in the stocks, their feet are locked in place, and sometimes as well their hands or head, or these may be chained. The Pranger (the Middle Low German word means 'which pinches badly' is a Physical punishment device invented in Germany. Also, some versions have small strings to hold the toes in place. Toes are the digits of the Foot of an animal Many animal species such as Cats walk on their toes and are described as being Digitigrade The victim is in a sitting position.

With stocks, boards are placed around the legs or the wrists, whereas in the pillory they are placed around the arms and neck and fixed to a pole, and the victim stands. However, the terms can be confused, and many people refer to the pillory as the stocks.

The practice of using stocks continues to be cited as an example of cruel and unusual punishment.

Contents 1 Historical uses 2 Current uses 3 Examples 4 See also 5 References

Historical uses

The stocks were popular in medieval times as a mild restraining device for minor offenders. In the stocks, an offender's hands and head, or sometimes their ankles would be placed and locked through two or three holes in the center of a board. Either before or after this the wrongdoer might have his or her footwear removed, exposing their bare feet. The foot is an Anatomical structure found in many Animals It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows Locomotion. Exhibiting an offender's bare feet was considered a form of humiliation. Humiliation (also called stultification) is the abasement of pride mortification Offenders were forced to carry out their punishments in the rain, during the heat of summer, or in freezing weather, and generally would receive only bread and water, plus anything brought by their friends. Public stocks were typically positioned in the most public place available, as public humiliation was a critical aspect of such punishment. Typically, a person condemned to the stocks was subjected to a variety of abuses, ranging from having refuse thrown at them, paddling, and tickling, to whipping and roasting of the unprotected, extremely sensitive bare feet, a now illegal action called bastinado. Spanking is a form of Corporal punishment that generally consists of striking the Buttocks of a Child or Teenager, usually by the parents Tickling is the act of touching a part of the body so as to cause involuntary twitching movements or Laughter. Foot whipping, variously known as bastinado, falanga ( phalanga) and falaka ( falaqa) is a form of Torture wherein the

The stocks were used in Elizabethan England, and by the Puritans in the colonial period of American history. Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland A Puritan of 16th and 17th century England was an associate of any number of religious groups advocating for more "purity" of Worship and Doctrine, Their last recorded use in the United Kingdom was in 1872 at Adpar, west Wales ^[1]

Finger pillories often went by the name of finger stocks

Stocks were also used as punishment for military deserters, or for dereliction of military duty. Year 1872 ( MDCCCLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year

Current uses

The stocks have also taken on a lighter image, as they are often found at Renaissance Fairs where the public can experience a form of "stocks entertainment" by watching actors locked in the stocks. A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering usually held in the United States, open to the public and

Examples

An excellent example of stocks can be seen in Dromore, County Down, in Northern Ireland. Dromore ( is a small Market town in the Lagan Valley, in County Down, Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of

Locations of examples in England include:

• Aldbury
• Chapel en le Frith
• Chapeltown, Lancashire
• Lymm, Cheshire
• Nottingham
• Prestbury, Cheshire
• Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

See also

• Barrel pillory
• Stock (cage)

References

1. ^ John May, Reference Wales (1994)

England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Aldbury is a Village in Hertfordshire, England, near the borders of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, in a valley close to Ashridge Chapel-en-le-Frith (ˌtʃæpl ɒn lə ˈfrɪθ often abbreviated to Chapel, is a small Derbyshire town on the edge of the Peak District, part of the Chapeltown is a village of the Civil parish of North Turton, in the Blackburn with Darwen Unitary authority, in the north west of England Nottingham ( is a city in the Ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire, England. Prestbury is a Village, Civil parish and Ecclesiastical parish in Cheshire, England. Stow-on-the-Wold is a Market town and Civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar)

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