Neck violin
A neck violin (also known as a shameful collar , shameful violin , Spanish violin or squabble board ) is a mostly wooden shackle that was used in Europe from the Middle Ages to the early modern period . The neck violin was used to carry out honorary sentences . The condemned person was thrown the neck violin, whereupon he was led around the city with it or put in the pillory so that he was exposed to the ridicule of fellow citizens and should be humiliated. The neck violin was only used for minor offenses; it was mainly (but not only) women and young girls who were killed. The reasons for the punishment were, for example, quarrels (English: shrew's fiddle ) or light thefts.
The neck violin encloses the neck and the wrists of the person to be tied, with the hands one behind the other in front of or on the side of the body. The neck violin usually consists of two symmetrically arranged parts, which used to be made of wood, more rarely of iron or steel. There is a hinge at the back and a lock at the front. For the restraint, the neck violin is unfolded and the neck and hands are brought into the appropriate position. The neck violin is then closed and locked. A chain or rope can usually be attached to the neck violin, with which the tied person is led or tied.
A special form was the double-neck violin, in which two women who had quarreled were locked in at the same time. The double-necked violin was constructed in such a way that the two convicts had to stand face to face.
See also
literature
- JJ Blumer: State and legal history of the Swiss democracies St. Gallen, 1858 p. 58.
- D. Blüm: If stones could tell ... Publisher of the weekly newspaper "Der Bensemer" p. 154.
- R. Dürr: Maids in the city: The example of Schwäbisch Hall in the early modern period. Campus Verlag, ISBN 3-593-35389-X , p. 238.
