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In this article, Averie delves into the history of medieval shame masks.
Medieval Shame Masks: Silencing Women
Medieval Shame Masks: Silencing Women
By Averie Black
By Averie Black
From the 16th to 18th centuries, the Scold’s Bridle prospered across Northern Europe. Making appearances in Germany, Scotland, and America, shame masks played a critical role in women’s suffrage. Scold’s Bridle was a unique form of torture for women in the Middle Ages-- quite literally silencing them.
Image of Scold's Bridles by Wiki Commons
Going by many names, the Scold’s Bridle, Branks, Schandmaske, or Shame Mask, originated in Europe in the Middle Ages. Shame Masks were made of hard iron and fit like a cage over the head with a lock fastened around the neck, making it impossible for the caged woman to free herself. The design of the Shame Mask was based on a horse bridle, which is the leather wrap around a horse's head used to guide it. As if wearing a cage wasn’t bad enough, Shame Masks were often morphed into horrific faces such as donkeys, goblins, hogs, and rabbits to further humiliate the victim. An article from Atlas Obscura states, “Whether they knew the individual personally or not, the community would have instantly recognized the crime through the mask’s symbolism; even today, “cocky” refers to a swaggering, vainglorious man.” Depending on what act of indecency had been committed, the woman would get a coinciding mask. For example, if someone had been caught eavesdropping, then she may be given a rabbit mask with its ears perked up and long tongue sticking out.
These horrible masks were primarily used on women of the time. They would be put on by their husbands, government officials, or other male figures for any number of reasons. If a woman were to disobey her husband or speak her mind, then more often than not, she would be chained in the streets with a Scold’s Bridle placed over her head. According to an article from National Trust for Scotland, “A scold was defined as a type of public nuisance – a troublesome and angry person who broke the public peace by habitually chastising, arguing and quarrelling with their neighbours, or with a male authority figure. Women were most likely to be defined as scolds.” In some cases, the woman would even be led around town on a leash by her husband, allowing people to laugh and spit at her.
One strong aspect of the Shame Mask was social humiliation. Those placed in a Shame Mask would often be chained in the streets, unable to hide from the public. Passerbyers would harass them by kicking, screaming, and even throwing rotten tomatoes at the woman. These masks also included iron plates being placed atop the tongue of the victim, effectively silencing them. Bordering the line of torture, many of these plates were spiked, slicing up the mouth of the wearer. According to Kitty Ross, a writer for Leeds Museums & Galleries, “It had in front an iron plate which was either sharpened or covered with spikes, to be placed in the mouth of the victim so that she could not move her tongue without injury.” Despite the regular use of Shame Masks, they were illegal. Even so, law enforcement turned a blind eye to the punishment. As this law was not enforced, men continued to use this social punishment on women with no shame of their own. The use of Scold’s Bridle started naturally simmering out by the 18th century, not fully snuffed out until the late 1800s.
Drawing of a Woman in a Scold's Bridle by PICRYL
The Scold’s Bridle was not invented to hurt the wearer, but to shame them. The social humiliation and consequences were designed to degrade these women into behaving according to the time’s social standards, even going as far as to place spikes on the iron gag. Without help from law enforcement, Shame Masks went out of style in the late 1800s. Among whipping and branding, this is just one of many tactics men used to control women in the Middle Ages.
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