During the Middle Ages, punishment was the solution to every criminal or social offense ranging from stealing to adultery to heresy. All these areas of medieval punishment had there own means of justice, however the most interesting and most controversial would have to be, the use of torture. Torture is the use of physical or mental pain to obtain information, to punish a person, or to control the members of a group to which the tortured person belongs. Although torture was the usual frame of punishment in medieval Times, torture today would never be acceptable by our civilized society. One of the better punishments that would better fit our society would be public humiliation. One of the forms of public humiliation in medieval times was to convict the person who committed the crime was to wear a mask or hood depending on the type of crime they committed. This form of punishment in today's society would be more acceptable than physical torture and might have a better impact then just imprisonment. .
When a person comments a crime the punishment today is to lock them in jail. If we used the form of public humiliation like the medieval times, the criminal would be noticed and the public would be aware of the criminal and the type of crime they commented by the design of the mask. California alone pays over $32,000.00 a year to house one criminal in jail. The cost of having a metal mask made would be significantly lower and the mask could be worn over and over again. Having the mask or hood has a punishment of crime would lower costs of housing criminals. If the punishment was having to wear the mask, the criminal would still be responsible for their meals, and housing which would not made taxpayers responsible for their accompanies. The embarrassment of wearing a mask or hood would socially affect the criminals because they would be noticed and the public would be aware they committed a crime.
