PILLORY

A medieval punishment and restraining device made of moveable and adjustable boards through which a prisoner's head or limbs were pinned. Pillories were often fixed to the ground in a city's main square and on market days, local criminals were exhibited. Citizens were given license to throw things at the prisoners. As such, this method of punishment was not just humiliating but often led to serious injury or death. For the government, this was a public statement serving to warn others of the consequences of crime. England abolished the pillory as a form of punishment in 1837.