The "stocks" were hinged timber devices used to lock someone's legs and/or arms in to a fixed position in order to hold them captive. The friendly locals would hurl abuse and often rotten animal parts at the offenders trapped in these devices in a spontaneous show of their "affection". In this article we'll be looking at how they were made and why they were used...

Submitted by Aubergine

In his play "King Lear", Shakespeare wrote:

"Fetch forth the stocks
You stubborn ancient knave!"

Although the stocks are o­ne of the most publicised and well known medieval punishments, most people get them confused with "the pillory". Stocks o­nly restrain the legs and sometimes the arms of the offender (the pillory also restrains the head).

The construction of most stocks was based around two timbers - the lower timber was in a fixed position and the upper timber could be raised and lowered. The offender would place his feet and/or hands in to semi-circular grooves in the lower timber while the upper timber was raised. The upper timber, which had corresponding semi-circular grooves, would then be lowered and locked in place trapping the offenders feet and/or hands in the circular holes formed by joining the semi-circular grooves in the timbers.

For the most part, the offender would be sat o­n the ground or o­n a wooden stool. Although modern recreations of stocks often result in people standing up, it was rare for the occupant of medieval stocks to be standing as that was mostly reserved for pillories.

Stocks were the medieval form of prisons and almost every village, town and city had at least o­ne set of stocks. They replaced the earlier and more complex iron "bilboes" and were seen as a very modern and easy to construct way of both restraining an offender (an early prison cell) and providing a form of public punishment for the offender.

Stocks became so popular that they were often o­ne of the first things built in new villages and towns and it was not uncommon for them to be built as a requirement for "restraining the devil" prior to building a church. Offenders would usually be forced to publically confess their sins in Church before being placed in the stocks.

Where Were They Located?

In large population areas, several stocks would be placed in the same public area (such as in or near a church porch) so that locals could jeer and torment several offenders as they passed.

Most stocks were fixed in position but there are reports of mobile stocks which were o­n wheels or could be moved o­n carts.

Who Was Punished?

Probably the most notable person to be placed in the stocks was Cardinal Wolsey. Around the year 1500 he was the incumbent at Lymington and foolishly got drunk at a village feast. Sir Amyas Poulett, a strict moralist and local justice of the peace, decided to humiliate him by placing him in the stocks.

"Each mode has served its turn, and played a part
For good or ill with man; but while the bane
Of drunkenness corrupts the nation's heart --
Discrediting our age -- methinks the reign
Of stocks, at least, were well revived again."

The stocks were rarely used for women - they were used for "plebeian" men such as thieves and vagrants. The most common offenders found in the stocks were:

• petty thieves
• unruly servants
• vagrants
• husbands
• traveling musicians

Women would sometimes be put in the stocks if they "swore like a man". The stocks were also used as a way of dealing with lazy, lawless and even lonely men. They would be put o­n show as "available servants" for prospective masters. This was particularly common in the United States in the late 1600's and 1700's.

• Sabbath-breaking (eg. working o­n a Sunday or not attending church)
• reviling
• gambling
• being drunk
• singing ballads
• fortune-telling
• wife-beating or having too many wives
• hedge-tearing (avoid shrubs at all costs!)
• derision
• scoffing
• contemptuous publicity
• personal obloquy
• oversleeping
• jesting

Most unexpectedly, there are several reports of offenders residence in the stocks being delayed until "seasonable weather" (pleasant weather in this case) was upon the land.

What Was the Punishment?

As well as verbally abusing people held in the stocks, a wide array of items would often be thrown at them:

• rotten eggs
• "filth" (toilets were rare) and dirt from the streets
• dead cats
• rats (dead or alive)
• "ordure" (animal innards) from the slaughter-house

There are reported cases of offenders being killed due to rocks and weapons being thrown at them, not to mention disease caused by animal parts and "filth".

It is fairly safe to assume that being in the stocks would not rank highly o­n your "things to do today" list!