Stocks



Stocks were a type of punishment in medieval times and continued to be used until the idea of public humiliation became abhorrent - Stocks have become a staple in fiction and are often employed by unjust rulers to torment their citizens (since it doesn't outright kill them it may be seen as an alternative to mass execution).

Stocks worked by strapping a victim's arms and neck between two planks of wood, often with an iron-lock - the victim would be left for a prolonged period of time like this and were often pelted with rotten fruit or worse by crowds.

In particularly brutal examples victims would even be urinated on, spat and punched - authorities did little to stop this as it was seen as part of the punishment.

Stocks were not designed to be fatal however and once the victim had been humiliated sufficiently they would be released - often exhausted and broken, this would lead to the practice being banned as an example of "cruel and unusual" punishment.