Agnès: Suffering in the Name of Justice

They said this punishment was worse than death. It didn’t kill you but made you wish it would.

In the 15th century, it was used in only one small European village and only on women.

That day, the accused was Agnès, a young woman. They claimed she

had committed a sinful act with a convent guard. She swore she was innocent but the

judge didn’t hesitate: “Those who break their vows must pay through suffering.” At dawn,

soldiers dragged a wooden structure into the crowd and forced Agnès to sit on it balanced

on a sharp wooden ridge like a blade. The crowd laughed, watched and waited but agnès didn’t

scream. She whispered through the pain: “My God.. forgive me for a sin I never committed.”