Branding of the hand was supposedly the origin of ‘being caught red-handed’ and is the reason we raise our hand before swearing an oath in court so everyone could we you were not a convict previously branded.

This is the most fascinating channel I have found, and I can’t get enough! I did take a degree in English Literature too many years ago to share and since then I have wished I’d taken a second degree in British history. The fires are relit and I thank you! I may not be able to return to University but channels as erudite as yours are a gift I gladly accept.

Reminds me of “The Scarlet Letter”, where, of course, the woman was branded with the letter A and the man, the pastor or priest? was off scot free.

I just discovered your videos. I am fascinated. Thank you.

@ReadingthePast

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Glad you are enjoying them!

@caroleashworth1573

3 жыл бұрын

Hi uh huh uh huh huh y jk

I have just discovered your channel and I already love it. Thank you for your wonderful videos. You have got such a talent for explaning history.

@ReadingthePast

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! I'm really pleased you found me and that you are enjoying the channel!

@gibbersking6575

4 жыл бұрын

Agree with all you wrote. Especially the talent for explaining.

@annel736

3 жыл бұрын

Hear. Hear... I've been a frustrated history searcher for as long as I can remember. When I was a young child and read my recorded family history, I could tell the women were valued, however, it was their father's, brothers, husbands or sons stories that were told. This has led me on a merry life-long journey of discovery. My Chandler ancestors left Wiltshire for America in 1667. Would you please consider doing an episode on

@annel736

3 жыл бұрын

Hear. Hear!!! Would you consider doing a video on the Quaker influence in the 1660's? My Chandler ancestors left Wiltshire for America in 1667. Although there is little mentioned in the extensive family history (written in 1937) about religion, I recently learned that George Fox was arrested in Wells in 1665 for 'inciting' 1000 people. I am eager to know more. Many thanks again, for your splendid detective work. Louanne Lasdon

Isn't it odd that promiscuity seems to be aimed at women where men can do as they please? Not very much changes does it?

@MsKK909

4 жыл бұрын

@ Moon Wolf Not odd at all....Because back then, paternity could always be in question unless women were tightly controlled.... the transfer of property was a very big deal and men had to be very sure his children were really his children. There were no DNA tests to sort things out. If he went off and fathered children with another woman, there was no way he could be proven to be the farther. Women’s biology was a distinct detriment.

@nadiabishop5650

4 жыл бұрын

MsKK909 what’s the excuse in today’s society 😂

@alexburt6995

4 жыл бұрын

The catcher is always judged more harshly than the pitcher.

@MOONFIREmagess

4 жыл бұрын

@@MsKK909 i know, but still many things have not changed. Within pagan communities in history, women were seen in a distinctly different light to men but in some ways had a better position. Christianity brought about a distinct weakening of any power or status as a woman, unless noble and even then they were chattels. Christianity decided the only woman worth revering was the "virgin mother"...hmm quite a miraculous achievement that.

@poutinedream5066

4 жыл бұрын

@@MOONFIREmagess I'm with you on this. It would be reasonable to insist on chastity for the unmarried of both sexes. How can it be so common all over the world and all throughout history for sex to be permissible for men alone? Who do they reckon the men would be having sex with 🤷‍♀️

When I taught at university, I would cover these different punishments. I've always strived to keep my personal views out of the classroom. However, I did spend extra time on branding. Because, ironically, some African American fraternities use it as a sign of membership. The students are young and are viewing it like a tattoo, which it isn't.

Reminds me of the book"The Scarlett Letter."

This was fascinating. One of my paternal ancestors was a survivor of Dunbar battle 1650 who ended up indentured in New England. The colony records refer to him being in the stocks due to intemperance. A great uncle who was a genealogist published a book on it and I ponder how tough my ancestor must have been to survive the march to Durham and then the trip to the colony. The fact he still had enough spirit to make it through the public shaming of the stocks and finally buy his way out of servitude leaves me in awe of the human spirit.

Yes, Thomas Beckett's murder by Henry's knights was extremely, brutal, but Beckett by all accounts he stood as a man of God, and did not falter to fear, he's kind of inspirational figure in medieval, history a very interesting man.🤔 I know, I'm a little off subject but, the account of Thomas Beckett's murder is quite disturbing and intense.

I love how getting the flesh ripped from your back is considered shaming. The shame would be the least of my concerns as I struggled to remain conscious.

@purdycat15

4 жыл бұрын

If that shaming .. Imagine what they would do to him if punished

You have been a Godsend, during lockdown, I’m so pleased to have found you & thoroughly enjoying binge watching all your previous videos!😍😍

Oh my God I'm so SO glad I discovered your videos! They are AMAZING, I enjoy them so much while I work, I think I'm learning more than in all my years in school! no joke, your content is so wholesome and addictive! Your storytelling style and your accent and just your ALL is so endearing! Thank you so much for every single minute you invest making these 💜 cheers from Paraguay, South America

Very interesting, very informative, I wish everyone had you as a history teacher ...bravo !

"Carting" in my part of the world (South Lancashire) was known as 'Riding the Stang'. Really enjoying your uploads, Dr . Kat.

I'm working my way through your videos after discovering your channel a couple of days ago, and really enjoying myself, so thank you for that! I feel as if punishment by humiliation is such an integral part of English culture, it didn't occur to me that it might not be a universally known subject until I read the discussion in the comments section that inspired this video. I grew up in a village with (refurbished, decorative!) stocks opposite the pub at a crossroads. The pub is named for the arms of the local noble landowner, and would have been on the main thoroughfare between two market towns, to really drive home the humiliation.

@poutinedream5066

4 жыл бұрын

Your town left them up (decorative, refurbished of course)? How dark.

@ellicooper2323

3 жыл бұрын

Just crying for a murder mystery book set in modern time using the stocks. Probably done.

The story of King Henry ii is fascinating. I had read he was betrayed by his best friend but there was no mention of him being whipped so brutally by the church. Thank you for that fascinating bit of history. I just found your channel and I subscribed. Keep going it's wonderful. 👩🏻‍🏫👏🏼

I'm glad Ralph knew that the brutally murdered martyr was placated. It's handy having that hotline to the deceased. Another cool posting, thanks!

Many thanks for those numerous precious details!

I very much enjoy your videos, thank you for all the time and effort!

What a gem I have found. Wonderful just fabulous. I learn so much.

Thank you for these videos. Interesting!!

Loved your video, found it on Twitter through Jen Luvs Reviews. This content is right up my alley.

Love this channel! Thank you, Dr. Kat! Public shaming has not disappeared; it happens on Facebook every day.

Brilliant channel ..... just the right amount of info that is entertaining and makes one both think and hunger for more. Cheers!

Silence, obedience, and submission are not in my vocabulary. I’ve always rebelled against all three.

@poutinedream5066

4 жыл бұрын

T'th stocks with ye then! Wait a minute, that's a pirate.

Another interesting video! I’m in the process of binge watching all your videos! Your knowledge is vast and honestly so much unknown information that dispels so many myths of that time. Keep them coming, Dr Kat ❤️❤️❤️🌹🌹🌹

Fascinating video! It was especially tough for women in the past in so many ways!

@jordansafe229

4 жыл бұрын

Tore

I was brought in the village of Poulton-le-Fylde which has a set of stocks, albeit rebuilt over the years due to vehicle damage and the wood deteriorating. There is also a whipping post also in the village square They had a powerful impact on me as a child

I've been absolutely loved these videos while I've been packing, moving house and cleaning! Amazing channel

Been binging your videos. They’re great

Hi! I just watched a couple of your vids, they are great! I've already subscribed and look forward to seeing them all. Thank you for making such informative and entertaining vids.

I love your videos! Thank you.

Always interesting n well -researched;, I learn a lot n gain new perspectives - invaluable. You also seem to have a finely- tuned editorial sense n not a re-enactment in sight. Thank you.

I absolutely love your work.

I love your videos, Dr. Kat. I love history and enjoy listening to your videos so very very much!

A friend sent me an article from Ireland where Subway baguettes had been judged to have too much sugar in them to be properly called bread. Where's them stocks...

I learned of the Ducking Stool and Stock and Pillory punishments as a 9-year-old American living in Bermuda (still part of the United Kingdom, though self-governing with its own parliament), birthplace of my grandfather and where he was raised. They still have replicas of the devices on display for the tourists. The Stock and Pillory replicas are made of cedar and tourists love to pose in them. I know that these punishments were used in what became the United States, but I first learned of them in Bermuda. Fascinating, Dr. Kat. One thing I love about history is that no matter how much you know, there is always more to learn! And everything and everybody is connected!

thankyou

I love your videos! I've just discovered your channel and it is amazing! Amazing! Grazie

@noellenn2122

4 жыл бұрын

Up ads ri Bob b in his I'm Dr.

Wow, I just discovered your videos a couple of weeks ago. So interesting. Thankyou very much.

adulterated bread? my imagination is running WILD right now edit: LMAO nevermind, ur just referring to bread with nasty/toxic fillers

@ReadingthePast

4 жыл бұрын

😂

@ellicooper2323

3 жыл бұрын

Gotta keep an eye on that naughty bread.

I enjoyed watching the video of shaming and punishments ! It was a great video !

You make history so interesting!

Dr. Kat, I really like the videos you have put out.

Love the way you present these topics. Can you please do one on the history of convict ships and treatments of people sent to Australia. My 2 ancestors came from Ireland.

@bythecameralens7147

4 жыл бұрын

I too will love that.

I am new to your channel which I have subscribed to. Your videos are excellent and I have learnt a lot from them. Thank You Dr Kat.

Thank you DK 💜 take care-Debbie

And also the witch trials for the docking stool.

love your channel!

In England, Wales and Ireland the pillory was also used to punish those found guilty of their first offence of witchcraft and cunning folk. For the first offence of this kind, a person could expect one years imprisonmet and four bouts of the pillory. This was the case for those aceussed of witchcraft in the Isle of Magee in Ireland.

I’m so happy I found your channel, you have no idea. Thank you so much for your hard work!

@ReadingthePast

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoy it!

Great video. It was particularly good to be reminded of King Henry and Thomas Becket. That has always been a story of faith that has intrigued me. Are there any other monarchs of the UK’s history that have been known to do a public shaming? Thanks again for such great content.

@ReadingthePast

4 жыл бұрын

Great question, I'm going to have to look into that. If I find one (or more) that would make an excellent topic for another video. I'm also open to pointers for such examples.

@christopherseton-smith7404

4 жыл бұрын

@@ReadingthePast : Isn't Richard I supposed to have done public penance in Sicily on his way to the Holy Land?

Have you done a discussion on the first crusade? I’ve not long found your channel and absolutely love it

Off topic, I know: but can you tell me when and what Elizabeth learned about Anne Boleyn.and when. ?

Hello from California! I love your videos! So informative and entertaining. Two fascinating women I would love to learn more about is Eleanor of Aquitaine and Aethelflaed of Mercia if you have any interest. Thank you again for the outstanding videos.

@MazMedazzaland

3 жыл бұрын

Definitely agree. Very interesting women - Isabella of France is another one. Margaret Beaufort and Margaret of Anjou are some others.

@annel736

3 жыл бұрын

Ditto!

Thank you for sharing your stories with us. I am so happy to have found your videos, I am fascinated with them. 😊

@ReadingthePast

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you, I'm so glad you are enjoying the channel!

Only just started watching these videos this week. I’m hooked now 🌸🌸

People suspected of being a Pirate in the seas controlled by the East India Company would be branded with a P on their right wrist. Not by the courts of England but on the orders of the East India Company. A formidable organisation that had its own army and navy and was largely outside the rule of Parliament and English law.

Really a praiseworthy effort at giving us so much information on medieval punishments. Henty II's flogging by the prelates of Canterbury Cathedral by his own command and then publicising the act before all his subjects raises doubts about his motive as to whether it was driven by a genuine desire for remorce or, was it just a sham ploy to show the world, the Church and the Pope, only to avoid his empire being placed under an Interdict and, he himself, excommunicated. A Papal Interdict then was, perhaps, quite equivalent to the international sanctions of today. I remember. having watched many years ago, Hal Wallis' excellent movie ' Becket'.. Now, you have given us so much information on the HUMAN or rather inhuman punishments of those times.But what about the punishments decreed to ANIMALS then by Courts of Law? Perhaps such a verdict was passed by a law court either in England or in the New World, when a poor pig was sentenced to imprisonment for an offence committed by a man who told the Court that he did it because of a pig, and that, he could do nothing else but to commit the crime! And the Court believed him and committed the poor pig to jail ! I would be grateful, Dr. Kat, if you could fish out from the archives some material on this topic as well, in your usual instructive way. Thank you.

Greetings from Pittsburgh, PA USA! First, thank you for the videos. Me and the cats watch your videos after work every day. The Defoe story was great! Would you ever considering covering Pasolini’s Canterbury Tales? You can skip the trip to hell if you are worried about the KZread algorithms seeing it as unacceptable 🙀 PS Uh, may have been the cause? Your majesty, that’s like saying NyQuil may cause drowsiness.

I have a question about Mary Stuart. I do not understand how she was excited for teason. She was not an English subject, so how would their law apply to her. She was a Queen of France and deposed Queen of Scotland, and escaped to England for help. So how was she beheaded for teason, if she was only trying to escape from a prison. I understand about the spies, and letters, and the idea she felt she was the rightful Queen of England. But treason, I don't quite understand.

I'd love to know more about the other punishments, like dismemberment and mutilation. I had no idea that cropping of the ears was worse then boxing of the ears. I just found out about it yesterday.

Dunking stool...possible origin for phrase “in need of a cold shower”?

Hey there Dr. Kat, love all of your videos, glad I discovered you a while ago, How do you think these shaming practices went out of style so speak? I think they were still happening in the late Victorian era, right? Love to know if you know how they stopped. Thank you, noel.

There are still stocks in Belstone Dartmoor....

Have you done a podcast on Lettiece Knolly?

Some Catholic nuns were pretty good at public shaming too with their straps. In Grade 2, after the first spelling test, those who dn study well enough, were lined up on their knees facing the wall in the corridor. This was back in the 70's during elementary school in Canada. It worked very well to keep the discipline/peace. We were like little Catholic soldiers.

What a time to be alive! 😮

I sometimes wonder if we should consider bringing the stocks/pillary back...there'd be no need for the ASBO!

I am always saddened by the way people have been treated and abused through out history. Whether it was torture, beheading, or humiliating. I can only imagine how terrifying it had to have been for the victims. That's not saying that no one deserved punishment. I think of Anne Bolyn and Lady Jane Gray. Knowing that they would be waiting in their cell for their keepers to retrieve them and take them to their death. And in the case of hanging, drawing and quartering, knowing what they were going to face. I am so glad I live now! Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I am an American with a lot of British ancestry. I look forward to the day that I can visit your country and explore!

Got to admit I'm very addicted to your channel..

Thank you, Dr Kat. I know history is history but I feel when it comes to English history, when a Brit presents it, it holds more weight. Is that rational? Probably not 🙂

😊

Jane Shore’s penance was reported to not go down quite the way they planned. But since we weren’t there, who knows?

I can’t imagine having to wear that contraption on my head because someone thought I talked too much. I would have been in such trouble if I lived back then.

I've exhausted the Dr. Kat video catalog, what do I watch now?

In germanic countries "Schlitzohr" meaning slit ear is still used to describe a cheeky child or person or pet who is a tricster, a persone you have to be cafegull cuz they will play tricks on you. It is now used in a loving way now, but has a dark past. The tradition of carpenters, farmers, working man with a union or zumpft, having one golden earing, pirced the day of their entrence in to the Zumpft. If they disobeyed the rules of saied Zumpft, the master would rip the earing out, leaving a slit earlobe behinde. This sounds like not much, but these earings where the payment for a proooer christian funeral. There for the loss of saied earing, ment you woulden't be having a proper burial, and possibly not go to heaven avter death, and be shamed, expelled and marked for life. The tradition is still used for carpenters today. (All though the earing dosen't pay a funeral anymore)

Seeing these items, particularly as a female, I am so happy to be alive in modern in times.

I had a photo with my brother where we as children sat on such bench for punishment . For that time it was funny .

How about Queen Victoria's half sister?

In the US during our 1776 revolution, tar and feathering was not uncommon and usually done to British tax collectors by our rebellious patriots. Do you have information of this in Britain’s history? Thank you.

@ellicooper2323

3 жыл бұрын

I remember hearing that tarring and feathering, if done on naked skin, which was usual, was a death sentence due to the skin not being able to breathe. Don’t know if that was true. Also the skin would peel when attempting to remove the tar.

@joannedavis1991

3 жыл бұрын

@@ellicooper2323 yes it’s true but it also caused serious infections when they tried to remove the tar.

Interesting video. In Sweden the stock often was placed outside the village church.So everyone could see them. on Sundays

Anyone else think that Ben Johnson looks like Dr Who actor Tom Baker?

It's really horrible how they treated vagrants, who were essentially homeless people. They were assumed to be lazy, but many were former serfs who were the victims of enclosure, the process of the wealthy forcibly evicting tenants from their less lucrative farmland to make grazing land (this was especially bad in Scotland). One's hometown was where a person found their credit, and towns were deeply distrustful of strangers so it could be hard to find profitable work in a new town. The longer they were vagrants, the harder it would be to escape from their position as their clothes wore away to rags and they grew sickly from hunger and exposure, making them less desirable as an employee or servant. Other vagrants suffered from mental illness. At first the church would provide respite for some of these figures (though they would be prone to help locals first) but after the dissolution of the monasteries this aid became rarer and it would be centuries before there was state sponsored poor relief. So essentially they cruelly punished the most vulnerable.

Though to be fair to the nobility, they could find themselves in the Tower of London for looking at the King the wrong way.

During this time too there were acts of penitence that were done by people who want to repent of a sin of some sort. I think French King Henry IV did penance to the Pope at the time, wanting to be accepted back into the Roman Catholic fold (so to speak.) Physical punishment was always part of penance, as were shaming punishments of various types. It was a very normal part of life, physical punishments and shaming. Of course now it's sexting and revenge porn, pepper spray and rubber bullets and tear gas. And indeed someone's reputation and livelihood can be destroyed within hours on social media. The more things change the more they stay the same....

William Wallace, was put through several of these, was he not? Though death, came before the chance of shame.

Did they actually work or is there evidence that the crimes they were convicted of repeated

Didn't Henry VIII have a ring left at a statue by Thomas Beckett?

We're not far off bringing such things back. I hear from friends in the UK that they feel compelled to take part in the Thursday public clapping in lieu of being shamed. Anyone in the street who doesn't appear and clap is noted. I suspect many of the most ardent clappers would like to put the transgressors in stocks. A new English religion: The Clappers.

How about homosexuality in king's and queens and such

This comment is not related to your topic...I saw in one of your previous 'tubes' a stack of books by Richard Castle. Thinking well she is a well read woman I will check them out. They are wonderful. Thanks for leaving them laying about!

I think we've gone back to this, with the online shaming of racists etc.

That is where the F word came about. If a man was caught raping a woman or molesting a child. He was then branded with the letters FUCK on his forehead. For Using Carnal Knowledge. I think men caught and found guilty of such crimes today should the same punishment, maybe then these horrid crimes will come to an end.

The murder of Thomas Beckett was a great loss.Maybe you can do a podcast on him?

Hi. I'm serious you remind me of a beautiful Cat. Beautiful eyes. No disrespect. I think eyes are the most attractive feature on a Woman. Lucky you. I look like Peter Lorre with constipation! Drum row. Speaking of drum row that's what my wifes doing with her eyes right now! She a new suber cause as she says You got more brains in your pinky then most have in their entire body. We enjoy your channel. Theres a saying here in the USA that listening to English people speak increases the IQ by 10 points !! I'm not kidding !! Be safe and have a great day !

I wish we could use some of these for people who won’t wear masks!

People and their punishments were appallingly screwed up.

@poutinedream5066

4 жыл бұрын

I forget who said it but I hear it from time to time that the measure of any society's level of civilization can be found in how it treats its lawbreakers/prisoners

Wish we could hold our leaders accountable over here in the States..... *sigh