The alternative story
Instead of being accused of witchcraft, Hildegard is 'only' caught in fornication and adultery – pillory and flogging are waiting for her (see notes past chapter XI).
I have decided on four changing pillory variants, this makes it more interesting and as many of your wishes / suggestions as possible can be taken into account...
Appendix I – My Sins and Punishments
Outside the morning is already dawning; I hardly slept, because restlessness and fear are eating away at me. This is the day I will be punished ... for fornication, adultery, and seduction. The charge of seduction is a lie, but fornication and adultery, I have admitted that.
I am Hildegard, a young widow. I was only married for a short time; then I experienced a terrible misfortune, my husband died in an accident. A little later I lost the child I was carrying from him. In my grief I drank and let myself be seduced with too much wine; then I reluctantly gave myself up to a strange man. We must have been seen. A little later they came to the barn where we made love.
There was no denying it ... It was a moment of weakness ... I knew I would be pilloried for it and maybe I even deserve the whip. But they also wanted to make a seductress and a whore out of me, but that's not true. I'm not a whore; I didn't seduce this man... It was he who got me drunk and seduced me. But that doesn't count, because testimony stands against testimony ... And the Bible says that Eve seduced Adam, so if in doubt you agree with the man. But I, the woman, am a seductress and must be punished more severely.
We both came before the judge, but he suggested a deal to me: "Confess to fornication, adultery
and seduction... So I'll give you a 'mild sentence' in return. You will only be spared a red-hot iron burned into your left breast with the mark of an adulteress if you confess and show yourself remorseful... And that includes the admission of your seduction."
That was unfair, but I had no choice. Perhaps my lover had bribed the judge to get away with it himself ... I didn't want to, and yet I reluctantly agreed to the judge's suggestion. I pleaded guilty to all charges. When I heard the verdict, I wanted to scream out loud and protest, but I was bitterly silent.
My punishment is: standing in the pillory four times for an hour, after which I’ll get also flogged. I receive three dozen blows in total. I don't know how these blows are divided between the pillory and the whip. I also don't know what other humiliations are awaiting me. Even as a confessed sinner, I will only be spared a branding iron if I 'voluntarily' face my punishment at the beginning of mass this Sunday.
The morning is coming and soon I'll have to pillory in front of the church, in front of everyone. I am already ashamed and very scared. Will I have to bare myself or even have to completely undress? Yesterday I witnessed my lover being punished. I didn't want to watch, but they asked me to.
He only had to stand bent over in the pillory for an hour, then he received 18 blows with the a cane on his bottom, but it remained a little protected by his underpants. Two guys took turns beating him from both sides. He groaned and twisted in pain. He didn't even look at me. Today I will be in the pillory four times for an hour, and I expect twice the number of lashes ... because I am a woman, I am the seductress and whore.
I don't like breakfast, my mouth is dry. I only put on a coarse skirt and shirt with it, nothing underneath, that's what I was ordered to do. Then I set off with a pounding heart, scared and anxious thoughts on the way to church. I wish I never get there...
Shame and pain in the pillory
Appendix II – The first Pillory
From afar I can see the people who are gathering in their Sunday clothes in front of the church for mass. Only I come barefoot as a penitent in gray linen. My steps are getting shorter and shorter and yet I am steadily approaching the place of my shame. A little to the side of the main entrance to the church, two cops and a court official are waiting for me. They coldly ask my name and lead me to the pillory that was set up here for me.
It's a low frame where I have to sit upright with my legs stretched out and apart. Wrists and ankles as well as my neck are enclosed in the pillory wood. I tremble when I see what to expect.
I am shocked by the words of the court official, “Undress completely!” “Why do I have to undress completely? Why am I not treated like my lover?" "Don't ask stupid questions. Just do what we tell you! You are the seductress and whore, not he…"
That is not true! But I grit my teeth and keep quiet. With trembling hands I pull my skirt up and let it fall; then I unbutton my shirt and pull it off. I stand completely naked in front of the people and the pillory. I am shivering in the cool air, but even more from embarrassment.
Now the churchgoers take notice of me, a crowd quickly forms around me while the cops lock me in the pillory. My beautifully rounded breasts are completely bare and attract most glances. But my legs are open too, as a woman I can't even hide my pussy. I sit humiliatingly on the floor with my torso straight and legs apart. People begin to insult and insult me as a whore and a sinner. Fortunately for me, there is some protection in front of the church from excessively bad words and from excrement and rubbish that they could throw at me. That does little to change my shame.
Hildegard expects pain and shame in her first pillory.
(Actually it’s Caprice as Barbaria who is waiting here…)
The bells of the tower clock strike, but I remain naked and freezing in the pillory. I have peace from the people, only the cops have stayed. But now the time is running all the slower. Sitting in the pillory soon becomes uncomfortable, my bum hurts on the hard wood and I can't move.
Finally the bells strike again and the mass ends. I almost served my hour here in the pillory. But the people who pour out of the church are filled with religious anger against me as a sinner and a whore. I get spat on from all sides, especially on my face, but also on my breasts, on my thighs, on my feet, on my back, and even on my pussy. It's so disgusting, so humiliating.
I close my eyes while the pious people keep spitting in my face, also on my eyes, in my ear, on my nose and on my mouth. I blow her mucus from my mouth and nose. But there are guys who just wait for me to open my lips a little to breathe and blow, then they spit straight into my mouth. It's too disgusting, so horrible...
Snot drips from my forehead, cheeks, chin and nose, also from my breasts. My whole body is covered in foreign saliva. Finally, the court official stops the disgusting goings-on. “Time to atone for you, sinner,” he says. Then I realize that in addition to severe humiliation, I also face corporal punishment in this pillory.
"Twelve blows to the outstretched feet," he announced. As soon as he said that, the two cops beat my feet brutally and very painfully with a double leather strap on a handle. Alternately, one beats from the left, the other torturer from the right. My feet fill with fire, I open my eyes and I have to scream, but the merciless beating continues.
“Now you are going to get hot feet, sinner girl! Be glad we don't beat your naughty boobs..."
Worst of all, sitting in the pillory, I can't move in any way. My suffering is cruel. When I finally got through the blows, I'm moaning and panting. Suddenly one of the cops pours a bucket of cold water over my body. I scare and I’m shivering from the cold, but at least I am cleansed of the coarsest slime.
They free me from the pillory, where I sat for almost 1 ½ hours - one hour is probably just the lower limit. Naked and freezing, they drag me on. With the soles of my bruised feet I have to hobble and can barely walk. But people laugh at my pain while I'm hobbling. Still, I'm worried about what to expect next.