Cucking stools were used in medieval Europe to punish and silence people — mostly women — who were accused of crimes like gossiping or talking too loudly.
Oxford UniversityA cucking stool from Sandwich , Kent , which resembles a stool .
We probably all know someone we consider a public pain : an outspoken , tempestuous individual who constantly dissent and argue with others . In Anglo - Saxon country from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century , multitude like them were called “ scolds . ” And many of these scolds — mostly women — were punished in appalling fashion with the cucking stool .
common scold , whether they were adult female accused of being high-risk wives or speaking out of turn , were affixed to cucking stools and march around the townspeople . This punishment was think of to be humiliating — so humiliating that the so - call scold would learn their lesson .
Oxford UniversityA cucking stool from Sandwich, Kent, which resembles a commode.
When The Cucking Stool Was Used And How It Worked
During the Middle Ages , outspoken women — and sometimes , but rarely , men — were in peril of being labeled “ scold . ” This term apply to anyone who vex the heartsease , defend loudly , gossiped , calumniate others , or spewed blasphemy .
Someone accused of being a scold could be correct in a number of ways but one prominent punishment was with a cucking stool . This BM — also call a scolding stool or a stool of penance — was basically a chair that they could be strapped into .
Sometimes commodes or toilets were used . Indeed , theLondonistnotes that the verb “ to cuck ” mean to “ void excrement . ” This , it seems , would be another bed of chagrin for the accused scold .
MiddelburyAn illustration of a cucking stool made in the 19th century.
MiddelburyAn exemplification of a cucking stool made in the 19th century .
Whether a mere chair or a toilet , the cucking throne had a simple purpose : to humiliate . The New York Timesrecounted the history of cucking stools in 1881 , claim that the twist was “ convenient ” and “ harmless ” and spell :
“ [ The nag ] was only placed in it … and exposed alfresco of her house or in some other stead , for a given time and so leave to the gibes and insolent remarks of the crowd . ”
Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesA woman being dragged toward a ducking stool in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, circa 1600.
The point was to apply ethical motive to silence scolds , The New York Timesexplained , and when bare stools were n’t enough , mediaeval multitude sum wheels and dragged them through town .
afterwards , cucking commode became oftentimes motley up with ducking fecal matter . But the two forms of punishment are really quite unlike .
Cucking Stools Vs. Ducking Stools
Though cucking stools were a popular form of penalization in the Middle Ages , duck potty come out later , probably during the Tudor Era . Like cucking stool , they penalise scolds . And like cucking pot , they involved strapping the offender into a professorship .
But that ’s where their law of similarity end .
Hulton Archive / Getty ImagesA char being puff toward a parry stool in Ipswich , Suffolk , England , circa 1600 .
Wikimedia CommonsIllustration of a ducking stool from an 18th century chapbook.
evade stools were like cucking stools with one important divergence . Rather than expose a scold to her fellow townspeople or parade her about , they affixed scolds to chairs at the terminal of a long perch , made of branding iron or Sir Henry Joseph Wood , and dunked him or her in the piss .
Those punish in cucking stool were often impel to have a bare point and feet , which could be cold and uncomfortable . But those penalize with ducking stools often suffered cushion or even drowned .
Wikimedia CommonsIllustration of a duck commode from an eighteenth century chapbook .
Wikimedia CommonsThe ducking stool at Leominster, Herefordshire, England — last used in 1809.
woman were punish with ducking stools in England , Scotland , and even colonial America , from the 17th century up until the 19th century . accord toSmithsonian powder store , hold out accounts of ducking ordure draw how adult female were punish for various offenses . One was punished in 1694 for “ daily making discord and discord amongst her neighbors . ”
The last woman known to be penalize with a ducking stool was Jenny Pipes . In 1809 , she was mount on a ducking stool in the townspeople of Leominster , England .
Pipes was punished for allegedly speaking ill of her hubby , but accord to an eyewitness , the evade faecal matter did n’t seem to deter her . Smithsonian Magazinewrites that Pipes “ spewed oaths and curses on the magistrates ” as the townsfolk gathered to watch her punishment .
Silencing Women With Torture And Public Humiliation
Punishing people — usually women — with cucking stools or ducking stool had more than one intent . It obviously stand for to punish scolds and discourage their demeanour , but it also attempt to move as a warning for others .
As Marion Gibson , a scholarly person of Renaissance and magical lit at the University of Exeter , toldSmithsonian Magazine : “ There ’s an element of frightening other women … It makes other women still , too : women who stand back , women who do n’t feel capable to say , ‘ This is wrong . ' ”
She tally : “ If you hush one fair sex in that very public way , you silence all women . ”
Wikimedia CommonsThe skirt stool at Leominster , Herefordshire , England — last used in 1809 .
As such , it ’s well-off to trace a melodic phrase between cucking and ducking stools and the tests and punishment that woman later faced as “ witches . ” However , Gibson and others take down that ducking stools should not be mixed up with swimming trial . Ducking stools penalise scolds ; swimming tests seek to test if someone was a enchantress by drop them in the water supply .
“ parry a common scold is a penalty . Swimming a suspected beldame is a tryout , ” Gibson toldSmithsonian Magazine . “ It ’s a different part of the process . ”
In the end , cucking BM , ducking potty — as well as the elbow room peopletested women to see if they were witch — all seem to have something in common . They targeted womanhood who did n’t toe the pedigree , women who dared speak loudly in a time when they were expected to be slavish .
After reading about cucking can — and douse stools — exploredifferent case of medieval executionsthat will make you glad you live in the innovative universe . Then , register more about the history ofthe rack , another torture gadget from the Middle Ages that will turn your tummy .
