Do you sometimes feel that it serves some people right when they are pilloried<\/em> for their misdeeds? Or have you ever been put in the pillory<\/em> or tied to the whipping<\/em> post<\/em> by someone<\/em> and now feel branded<\/em> forever? Surely you would not give your right arm<\/em> for that person, would you?<\/p>\n These and many other similar metaphorical expressions have one thing in common: they can all be traced back in various respects to the punitive instrument of pillory or the punitive rituals associated with it.<\/p>\n Fig.1: Some examples of metaphorical expressions in connection with the pillory punishment in various European languages, \u00a9Gerlinde Gangl.<\/p><\/div>\n What motivated the entry of such linguistic expressions in different European languages including English, Danish, Islandic, Czech, and German and what did they originally mean in the truest sense of the words? To answer these questions, I will first scrutinize some etymological peculiarities and then I will discuss the ritual aspects of the pillory punishment and its symbolic functions.<\/p>\n The instrument of pillory leads us to the legal system and the punishment practices of the Middle Ages and beyond (executed in Europe until 1848).<\/p>\n Fig. 2: Depiction of a pillory in William Pyne\u2019s book The Costume of Great Britain in 1805. https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:William_Pyne-_The_Costume_of_Great_Britain_(1805)_-_The_Pillory.JPG?uselang=de<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n The earliest mention of the instrument of pillory in the German-speaking world is from the year 1270. It concerns a renewed privilege of the town Leobsch\u00fctz, or G\u0142ubczyce, under Ottokar II P\u0159emysl of Bohemia according to which the whipping post or pillar would be used for the pillory punishment: \u201cbey den Pranger (statua<\/em>) zal man en offinbar mit Rutten hawen\u201d. Fastened to this device of punishment, the condemned person could both be whipped and shamefully displayed to the public.<\/p>\n If we take a closer look at the etymological origin of the German word Pranger <\/em>(en. pillory<\/em>), we realize that the term has a similar, if not often the same, meaning in different Germanic languages:<\/p>\n – Middle Low German prangen<\/em> (\u2018constrict\u2019, \u2018wrestle\u2019, \u2018argue\u2019)<\/p>\n – Middle Dutch prangehen<\/em> (\u2018squash\u2019, \u2018squeeze\u2019)<\/p>\n – Dutch prangen<\/em> (\u2018press\u2019, \u2018squeeze\u2019)<\/p>\n – Gothic anapraggan<\/em> (\u2018press\u2019)<\/p>\n – Middle English prangle<\/em> (\u2018press\u2019)<\/p>\n – Middle High German phrengen<\/em> (\u2018press\u2019, \u2018urge\u2019, \u2018push\u2019)<\/p>\n – Middle High German noun phrange<\/em> or phrenge<\/em> (\u2018confinement\u2019, \u2018constriction\u2019, \u2018coercion\u2019, \u2018distress\u2019).<\/p>\n – Old High German noun phragina<\/em> (\u2018barrier\u2019, \u2018restriction\u2019)<\/p>\n – English prong<\/em> (\u2018prong\u2019, \u2018fork\u2019).<\/p>\n The Indo-European root is assumed to be *bronk-<\/em>, which means \u2018enclose\u2019 or \u2018constrict\u2019. But it must be said, that the exact origin of the German word Pranger<\/em> is not entirely clear. Gothic praggan <\/em>or Middle High German pranger, branger<\/em> (from the 2nd half of the 13th century) or early New High German pfrengen<\/em> are thought to be the origin of the word. As for the English form pillory<\/em>, it may have derived from the Old French word pilori<\/em>, which is related to Medieval Latin pilloria<\/em>, in the middle of the 12th century.<\/p>\n A variant Latin term (berlina<\/em>), which subsequently also coined the Italian equivalent, is probably documented in the Statutes of Trient<\/em> before 1307. The term is related to Germanic breitling<\/em> or bretling<\/em>, a diminutive of bret<\/em>, which means table<\/em> in the thieves\u2019 argot. While the Latin and Italian berlina<\/em> and the German breitling<\/em> rather suggest a literal stage for the display of shame, the French pilori <\/em>and the English pillory<\/em> etymologically suggest a pillar to which delinquents were tied and presented to the public. As indicated, there existed different types of pillories. On the one hand, there were pillories connected to buildings or standing freely, which were made of wood, stone, or brick. On the other hand, pillories could be one or two-storied. The upper section could appear in the shape of a stage, a cage, or a dovecote to increase visibility. Furthermore, there were also baskets or columns that served as pillories.<\/p>\n Fig. 3: Illumination of a dovecote that serves as a pillory, Hamburger Stadtrecht 1497, Tafel 17, https:\/\/gams.uni-graz.at\/o:rehi.1606<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n Regardless of its form or material, a pillory was expected to allow the attaching of the condemned. This was done by using neck irons, chains, or rings through which a rope could be pulled. But how precisely was the pillory punishment enacted? What were its ritual aspects? How are all these connected to the metaphorical expressions we use today?<\/p>\n In cases of theft, counterfeit of money and goods including food, adultery, fornication and other moral offenses, compulsive gambling, violation of law and order, breach of the peace, defamation, blasphemy, swearing, perjury or child abandonment, the pillory penalty was imposed primarily within the context of the lower courts. The condemned person was fixed to a pillory construction and was exposed to the public \u2013 before the eyes of town or village people. Originally, the pillory could also be combined with other corporal punishments, expulsion from town or court, and loss of honour. The loss of honour involved not only social, but also legal consequences, such as loss of feudal capacity or exclusion from the oath. In the Middle Ages, the latter affected the entire family of the condemned and subsequent generations.<\/p>\n Regarding the ritual aspects of punishments, Lars Ostwaldt (2006) defines a legal ritual as \u2018a formalistic action (or chain of actions) with often (but not necessarily) legal symbolic content, which takes place according to fixed rules and is constitutive for bringing about a certain legal consequence\u2019. The pillory punishment, as I would suggest in what follows, reveals ritual aspects that are linked to figurative idioms.<\/p>\n The chain of actions begins after the sentencing of the delinquent by chaining, fastening, or placing them in the pillory. As attested by legal sources, the duration of the pillory sentence, while often fixed, appears to vary from case to case. Frequently, an accused person\u2019s crimes were read out loud in public as soon as he or she was attached to the pillory. In connection with plates, pieces of sheet metal, or pieces of paper, these offenses could be officially written down and attached to the offender (pinned to clothing or hung around the neck) for reasons of humiliation. From this act derives the now figurative expression to pin something on somebody<\/em>, which has still a negative meaning reflecting badly on the individual to whom it is addressed.<\/p>\n Nefarious or disgraceful devices, such as masks and the shrew\u2019s fiddle, could be also included in the ritual to underscore the offender\u2019s crime. Let\u2019s have a look at the German expression eine (andere\/n\u00e4chste\/neue) Sau durchs Dorf treiben<\/em>, for instance, which in its literal English translation means \u2018to drive another or new sow through the village\u2019. Its metaphorical meaning is \u2018to attack\/expose\/show up somebody or something publicly but dishonestly\u2019. The phrase derives from the scold\u2019s bridle in the shape of a pig\u2019s head. It was put on the delinquent person at the pillory from where he or she was subsequently driven through the village. The aspect of harassment, which is also associated with today\u2019s corresponding expression, is particularly palpable here.<\/p>\n Furthermore, the pillory punishment could be combined with expulsion from the city, as well as with various forms of corporal punishment, including the cutting off body parts such as ears, hands, and arms. For symbolic communication, the chopped off body parts were sometimes nailed to the pillory to have a deterrent, preventive effect for potential offenders. The extent to which such practices are etched in the cultural memory is evidenced by the German phrase sich f\u00fcr jemanden keine\/eine Hand abhacken lassen<\/em>, which literally means \u2018to have one\u2019s hand chopped off for someone\u2019 or \u2018not to have one\u2019s hand chopped off\u2019, that is to stake one\u2019s life on someone or something<\/em> or to give or to not give your right arm for someone<\/em>.<\/p>\n Fig. 4: Symbolic representation of the chopping off the hand on a stone relief that is part of a 16th century pillory in Villach, Austria, Neumann, Dieter, Neues aus Alt-Villach: Beitr\u00e4ge zur Stadtgeschichte, ed. by Museum der Stadt Villach, (Villach: 2010), 7, https:\/\/villach.at\/getmedia\/8c31a3fa-26fd-4f76-86fa-9678afbc8698\/23_MJ2010_Pranger_Galgen_Schwert.pdf.aspx.<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n Another possible corporal punishment carried out at the place of pillory was branding in which symbols such as wheels, gallows, or coins could be burned on the back of the condemned persons and even on their face to symbolically highlight the severity of their offense and to make it visible to everyone. There were cases in which pillory punishment was accompanied by branding during which instruments, such as wheels, gallows, and coins, were at times burned on the back of the condemned or on their face to symbolically highlight the severity of their offenses rendering them thus widely observable. From this procedure, the metaphorical phrase to brand someone<\/em>, meaning \u2018to stigmatize someone\u2019, has survived until today.<\/p>\n The people that were present during these ritual punishments did not only undertook the witnesses\u2019 role, but they were also warned not to commit any similar crimes. Additionally, they took an active role in the punishment rituals. They were requested to address swear words to the persons condemned to the pillory and to throw dung or excrement at them.<\/p>\n In conclusion, it can be said that apart from the punitive instrument of pillory and its associated rituals, the pillory\u2019s location, and the employment of different types of symbolic elements initiated the formation of metaphorical phrases still used in a wide variety of languages today. Reinforced by the ritual character, the honour-reducing and cruel punishment scenes, which were executed right in front of all participants and bystanders, imprinted themselves on cultural memory in a traumatizing and lasting way. The results are metaphors and figurative idioms that, as \u2018Sprachrelikte\u2019 (\u2018linguistic relics\u2019), as I define them, preserved these historical practices, and are used today to express something in a hyperbolic manner. The fact that contemporary figurative expressions are still associated with harassment, exposure, public criticism, or stigmatization reveals that our language is still enriched with aspects of this type of historical form of degrading punishment and its rituals. In short, contemporary European languages are to a certain extent \u2018Languages of Shame\u2019.<\/p>\n Sources<\/strong><\/p>\n Gangl, Gerlinde, \u2018Deutsche Rechts-WortSch\u00e4tze: Belegdatenbank\u2019, Projekt Deutsche Wortsch\u00e4tze<\/em>, ed. by Wernfried Hofmeister, (Graz: Universit\u00e4t Graz, 2022), https:\/\/wortschaetze.uni-graz.at\/de\/wortschaetze\/recht\/belegdatenbank\/<\/a>, 30.06.2023.<\/p>\n Grimm, Jacob, Grimm, Wilhelm, \u2018bretling\u2019, Deutsches W\u00f6rterbuch<\/em>, ed. by Digitales W\u00f6rterbuch der deutschen Sprache, (Berlin: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1993), https:\/\/www.dwds.de\/wb\/etymwb\/bretling<\/a>, 30.06.2023<\/p>\n Gulczy\u0144ski, Andrzej, \u2018Pranger\u2019, Handw\u00f6rterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte (HRG)<\/em>, ed. by Albrecht Cordes et al, (Berlin: Schmidt, 2017), 72\u2013728, www.HRGdigital.de\/HRG.pranger<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kocher, Gernot, Rechtsikonographische Datenbank<\/em>, ed. by Geisteswissenschaftliches Asset Management System (GAMS) der Universit\u00e4t Graz, (Graz: 2007), http:\/\/gams.uni-graz.at\/rehi<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kocher, Gernot, Zeichen und Symbole des Rechts: Eine historische Ikonographie<\/em>, (M\u00fcnchen: Beck, 1992), 126\u2013138.<\/p>\n Ostwaldt, Lars, \u2018Was ist ein Rechtsritual?\u2019, Symbolische Kommunikation vor Gericht in der Fr\u00fchen Neuzeit<\/em>, ed. by Reiner Schulze, (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2006), 125\u2013153.<\/p>\n Ottokar II P\u0159emysl, Privileg an die Stadt Leobsch\u00fctz 1270<\/em>, ed. by Gustav Tzschoppe, Gustav Adolf Harald Stenzel, (Hamburg: Perthes 1832), 380, https:\/\/www.monasterium.net\/mom\/UrkundenSchlesienOberlausitz\/ba09b4f4-0493-49c8-92d7-32176d1c09a0\/charter<\/a>, 30.06.2023.<\/p>\n Pfeifer, Wolfgang et al., \u2018Pranger\u2019, Etymologisches W\u00f6rterbuch des Deutschen<\/em>, ed. by Digitales W\u00f6rterbuch der deutschen Sprache (Berlin: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1993), https:\/\/www.dwds.de\/wb\/etymwb\/Pranger,<\/a> 30.06.2023.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.ucy.ac.cy\/netmar\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/173\/2023\/09\/fig1.png\")
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