...marketplace by horse? Hi
I remember reading at a museum I visited with my mum that on the day of their punishment, petty criminals in the middle ages were sometimes taken to the marketplace on a horse! I tried riding a horse when I was younger but found the whole experience absolutely terrifying, and I just wondered what would have happened in the middle ages if a criminal who wasn't able to ride a horse had been sentenced to a public flogging or a day in the stocks. I imagined that the stocks would have been in the marketplace, and so I thought it quite likely that the criminal would have needed to be transported from the lock-up to the middle of town. What would have happened, though, if he were unable to ride a horse? Were there any alternative ways of transporting petty criminals to the stocks or the whipping post?
I was also really curious to read that criminals who were being taken to the marketplace by horse sometimes had to sit facing backwards! I found it really difficult to sit still on the horse I rode even with my feet in the stirrups and reigns to hold; how on earth would anyone be able to sit on a horse back to front, with nothing to hold on to and no stirrups in which to place his feet? Perhaps a really experienced jockey could manage to stay upright in such a position, but surely most petty criminals who were on their way to the marketplace would not have managed to stay on their horses very long if they had been forced to sit facing backwards!
Is it really true that miscreants used to have to sit back to front when they were taken into town by horse, and, if it is, how did the constable ensure that they did not have any accidents on the way? Was there any particular reason why people were taken to the place of their punishment by horse, and why did they have to sit facing backwards?!
Thank you for any help you can give me!
I remember reading at a museum I visited with my mum that on the day of their punishment, petty criminals in the middle ages were sometimes taken to the marketplace on a horse! I tried riding a horse when I was younger but found the whole experience absolutely terrifying, and I just wondered what would have happened in the middle ages if a criminal who wasn't able to ride a horse had been sentenced to a public flogging or a day in the stocks. I imagined that the stocks would have been in the marketplace, and so I thought it quite likely that the criminal would have needed to be transported from the lock-up to the middle of town. What would have happened, though, if he were unable to ride a horse? Were there any alternative ways of transporting petty criminals to the stocks or the whipping post?
I was also really curious to read that criminals who were being taken to the marketplace by horse sometimes had to sit facing backwards! I found it really difficult to sit still on the horse I rode even with my feet in the stirrups and reigns to hold; how on earth would anyone be able to sit on a horse back to front, with nothing to hold on to and no stirrups in which to place his feet? Perhaps a really experienced jockey could manage to stay upright in such a position, but surely most petty criminals who were on their way to the marketplace would not have managed to stay on their horses very long if they had been forced to sit facing backwards!
Is it really true that miscreants used to have to sit back to front when they were taken into town by horse, and, if it is, how did the constable ensure that they did not have any accidents on the way? Was there any particular reason why people were taken to the place of their punishment by horse, and why did they have to sit facing backwards?!
Thank you for any help you can give me!