I think most of us are aware that through the 'dark ages' there were many customs that would make us shudder today.
One of the things that I read of was the act of nailing an ear to a post as punishment. these ears were sometimes still attached to a the head of the guilty party, or worse....cut off and nailed to the post or Pillory next to the guilty party. Woah!!
Firstly the post I'm referring to is usually a pillory. Perhaps you have seen these in movies of the day. They were wooden slats that would hold the perpetrators head and hands in place where they would be publicly humiliated and punished for their crimes. Public punishment was a norm those days and the affected parties could sit in the stocks or pillory for hours or eve a day or 2.
The body position made it very uncomfortable even after a short period of time.
Now imagine that while you are sitting like this you have you ear nailed to the stock so you cant move, then you pelted with all sorts of things to the point where you are bleeding from the head, stinking, perhaps ripped your ear to pieces trying to dodge the stones and poo....slipping on whatever is on the ground from the pelting....terrible stuff.
"Offenders were sentenced to the pillory for treason, sedition, arson, blasphemy, witchcraft, perjury, wife beating, adultery, forgery, coin clipping, dice cogging, slandering, conjuring, fortune-telling and drunkenness, among other offenses."
In Jamestown 2 people were in the pillory for the below reasons:
- Verity Rutter is sentenced to the pillory for mocking and disrespecting her husband.
- Meredith Rutter, the tavern’s keeper, is sentenced by Marshal Redwick to have his ear nailed to the pillory for blasphemy and drunkenness.
Verity Rutter is mocking her husband, Meredith, as a “babe after the tit” at the tavern for his drunkenness while Nicholas Farlow is passing by. The next morning, she is taken before the court and sentence to spend the day at the pillory as punishment for ridiculing and not showing obedience to her husband. Marshal Redwick also pours pig excrements over her head.
There was a first hand account of a Mr Savill that was found guilty of sexual abuse of his 6 year old daughter. He was imprisoned for a month with a day in the pillory in the court in Dover (a little light for a sentence for this crime in my opinion).
Here are his words of the experience:
"...fixed up against the side of a building, facing the spectators (supposed to be between three and four thousand), and could not move round in the manner pillories commonly do. I was pelted at in a most shameful manner, and afterwards was informed that Mantell [Mayor of Dover] and King [Deputy Mayor] stood and laughed at the sight. I had no other reason but to believe that Mayor and King were determined that I should be murdered, if they could have done it genteelly, and afterwards brought it in accidental, having upwards of forty constables under a kind cloak of deception. About eight or ten of the ignorant seafaring, and blackguard ruffians, who knew not what they were about, were admitted into the circle, close to the pillory, to pelt me with stones and all manner of filth; and one of the villains even came up and took the filth from under my feet several times, without any interruption by the magistrates or constables, when they might have been prevented with ease. I was used in such a manner, that I expected nothing but death; many of the spectators thinking the same, cried out open shame, and said that I should be a murdered man. One man, to a certainty, fainted away at the sight; others said it was worse than murder, and if the corporation wished to murder me, why did they not blow my brains out at once. My face and head were cut in a most shocking manner. The blood flow'd from my head and temples as though I had been stuck with a knife, through which I was quite blind of one eye for several days, and my friends who saw me did not expect my recovery. I cannot express bad enough the cruelty I experienced..."
Boo hoo!! I can think of something else that needed nailing....just saying!
Taking things a little further, some had their ears cut off and nailed to the pillory next to them. Essentially this was similar to having them branded, yes literally branded as a thief or traitor etc.
It was called cropping!
Rather that than have a hand removed though.
I knew a good guy from the US that was born with a single ear....poor guy would have gotten a lot of judgmental stares in the 14th century!
But it wasn't just the ear or branding...it was anything that would be noticed....tongues, noses split or cut off, hands removed.....its all quite barbaric.
On a more positive note
There was another tradition that included nailing an ear to a post that was more positive (however I'm sure a simple contract would have worked just as well).
This was even mentioned in the bible(in the Jewish Torah as well):
Deut 15:17 "Then thou shalt take an aul, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise"
When a bond-slave has served his or her master for the 6 year period, they will be set free in the 7th year. They will also be blessed with goods that you have been blessed with during that period for the start of their free lives.
However many servants loved their masters and their families, and did NOT want to leave their servitude/service.
In that case they would then go through the symbolic nailing of the ear to the door frame.....and this clearly is in reference to the prophecies of their Lord that would be nailed to the cross.
The whole process is symbolic of many things...ponder quickly the ears being used, the nails, the door, the service....
When you have nutters doing things like the below these days, then perhaps this form of punishment and servitude is something that would not affect everyone :).
But for the most of us that are not into pain and disfigurement, I'm sure the above information can strike a chord somewhere within us. Perhaps in revulsion, or fascination.
For me it is interesting to remember the past, and what took place there.
[Image and info credit jamestown-series.wikia.com, history.org, oneforisreal.org, lovethispic.com]