The Mediaeval Masochist
England. The year of Our Lord 1462. Thomas Mickle, the local scallywag and petty thief, once again found himself languishing in the village stocks, surrounded by the good folk of the village, being mocked and pelted with rotting fruit and vegetables. Thrice before he had been confined thus in the wooden, kneeling stocks, and the patience of the local squire was wearing thin. Thomas had been informed he would sin no more, for this time, on his release from the stocks, he shall be sent to the dungeons – never to be free to steal again. He is therefore subdued and contrite as he observes, from his enforced kneeling and penitent position, the dirty bare feet of the numerous young, peasant women who surround him, tormenting him not just with their dirty, rancid, bare feet, but also with their rancid produce – the spoilt and rotten leftovers from their smallholdings, no longer fit for human consumption, but ideal for throwing at a helpless prisoner in the stocks! The young pe