Historical References and Locations
The offender was tied to the pole and put on display for one or more hours. Our proverb ‘denounce something’ comes from this punishment. The pole stood in a public, highly visible place where many people were present. We find the ‘pelloryne’ or pillory of Poperinge, in our town archives for the first time in a text from the year 1543. We may assume that the ‘old pelloryne’ first stood roughly near the ‘proosdij’ (manse) - a place where people also held market. Shortly afterwards, it was already in a new place where it would remain and this was Poperinge's current Grand Place.
Despite being one of the lighter punishments, this public form of punishment was considered very degrading. The degrading punishment had to make such a deep impression on the convicts that they would refrain from committing any offence in the future. They usually had to spend several hours at the stake, sometimes a whole day. As a result, the whole town knew about the offence and the conviction in one fell swoop. The aim was thus to bring shame on the punished through open mockery by the people. The role of the public was very important. This was usually not limited to obediently watching what happened. The punished was lucky if the bystanders limited their participation to curses and jeers.
Symbol of Power and Warning
In quite a few cases, the pillory punishment was combined with another punishment. By far the most commonly imposed punishment was banishment from the town or village. The terms for this varied according to the nature of the offence: from six months to life banishment. Handmaid Mayken Liebaerts from Poperinge had crossed the line severely in 1639. She robbed her employer of a large sum of money. The court decided to punish her a an example for the population. Consequently, the verdict was excessive. She was tied to the ‘Pellorijn’ on the ‘Oude marckt’ (today's market) with the noose at her neck. She was then flogged with sharp rods and branded on the back. She was banned for life and had to leave the city within 24 hours after paying the court fees.
The most common type in the 17th and 18th centuries was a pillory in the form of a freestanding pillar or post in wood or stone. The wooden pillar was usually no more than a wooden post with a neck iron. The stone ones, on the other hand, were mostly fine monuments, sometimes fashionably carved in the common architectural style. On the stone post, the coat of arms of the local ruler was placed. This indicates that the monument was more than a mere instrument of punishment. It was also a symbol of the power of the local lord to pronounce justice on the villagers, thus deciding of life and death, body and soul.
From Criminal Justice to Street Lighting to Historical Heritage
After the French Revolution (1789), this pillory, like the one in Krombeke and so many other pillories, was taken down as a reckoning with the Ancien Regime but the punishment remained. The stake at Watou was then damaged. During the eighteenth century, the punishment was applied less and less and it disappeared from our criminal law for good in 1867.
Poperinge's pillory, made from a piece of sandstone, around three metres high, was placed on the corner of the Keer of the Ommegang in the 19th century and served as street lighting for some time. Veterinarian Hendrik Adriaen took care of the pillory afterwards. The piece of pillory was kept at Adriaen's house and it was grandson Johan who ensured that the pillory was given a place back in town in 2008 along the Switch Road. Finally, in September 2024, the pillory was moved to the Grote Markt near where it once stood. Johan Adriaen donated the missing piece to the city and it was made whole again by the city's engineering department.
