History’s Most Bizarre Punishments

In this modern age, breaking the law means getting fined or thrown into the pound. However in the old days, criminals weren’t so lucky; many of them were sentenced to really bizarre and even cruel punishments, no matter the nature of the crime. You didn’t even have to be caught red-handed—simply being accused is enough for you to be subjected to these five bizarre punishments found throughout history.\r \r 1. Shame Mask\r \r This one goes all the way back to medieval Europe and was reserved solely for women, it seems. Back then, a woman could have been forced to wear the shame mask for the craziest reasons, such as not “obeying” her husband or accusations of practicing witchcraft. So basically not going along with the society’s rigid and oppressive rules. These masks were said to be made of iron and often included grotesque caricatures which depicted the so-called wrongdoing of the “offenders.” In Scotland and Austria, women were forced to wear these masks for up to 24 hours, all while dealing with public ridicule and even sometimes being chained captive.\r \r 2. Drunkard’s Cloaks\r \r Back in historic England and America, acting a fool after drinking way too much was something that was often looked down on. So to teach them a lesson, drunkards were made to wearing a cloak that was not actually made of cloth but was instead a large barrel with holes for their head and legs. As taken from an 1862 American account, the person wearing the drunkard cloak is described as “a wretched delinquent was gratuitously framed in oak, his head being thrust through a hole cut in one end of the barrel… looking for all the world like a half-hatched chicken.”\r \r 3. White Sheet Confessions\r \r The white sheet confession was reserved for those who were caught in the act of committing a wide array of illegal acts ranging from serious crimes to everyday social offenses, misdeeds and sins such as drunkenness, gambling or adultery. As the name implies, offenders had to drape themselves with a white sheet and, while barefoot, had to confess their wrongdoings before asking for permission. It’s fair to say that they most likely resembled the typical cartoon depiction of a ghost.\r \r 4. The Cangue\r \r During the 17th century, the Chinese invented a punishment known as the Cangue that forced people to wear a ramshackle set of boards that was held together by cross pieces of square wood flats that resemble shipping pallets. There was also a hole in the middle which the prisoner’s head was fitted through. But it didn’t stop there: part of the punishment involves the prisoner begging strangers for food or water which they would have to be fed directly to the mouth as the cangue gets in the way. The crime was also written on the board for everyone to see.\r \r 5. Immurement\r \r What makes immurement far more disturbing than the other punishments on this list was that it was meant to make offenders physically uncomfortable, not just mentally or emotionally. The name immurement is of Latin origin and it’s translated as “being walled in,” which indicates the nature of this punishment where offenders are forced to stand or sit in a tiny room, barely able to move around. As a result many of the victims die a slow, drawn-out death due to thirst, starvation and changing temperatures.