Legal Definitions - faggot

The term faggot, in its historical legal context, refers to practices associated with the punishment and public identification of individuals accused of heresy.

• Historically, a faggot referred to a bundle of sticks or firewood specifically gathered and used for the execution by burning of those convicted of heresy. This was a severe form of capital punishment, often carried out by religious or secular authorities in historical periods.

• It also referred to a symbolic representation, often an embroidered or sewn figure of a bundle of sticks, which individuals who had recanted their heretical beliefs were compelled to wear publicly. This served as a visible mark of their penance and a warning to others, signifying their narrow escape from the ultimate punishment.

Here are some examples illustrating the historical legal use of the term:

• Imagine a historical trial in 15th-century England where a person is found guilty of heresy for challenging established church doctrine. The court sentences them to be burned at the stake. The wood gathered for this execution, specifically for igniting the pyre, would have been referred to as faggots.

  This example illustrates the first historical meaning, where "faggot" refers to the actual firewood used in the capital punishment of a heretic.

• Consider a scenario in 16th-century Spain where an individual is accused of holding beliefs contrary to the established church. After intense pressure, they publicly recant their views to avoid execution. As part of their penance, they are ordered to wear a distinctive badge on their clothing, perhaps an embroidered image of a bundle of sticks, for a specified period. This badge, signifying their past heresy and subsequent recantation, would have been known as a faggot.

  This example demonstrates the second historical meaning, where "faggot" represents a symbolic marker of public penance worn by a recanted heretic.

• In researching historical legal documents from the Inquisition, a historian might find records detailing the "provision of faggots" for an upcoming execution, or decrees mandating that "recanted heretics wear the faggot" as a sign of their repentance.

  This example shows how the term would appear in historical legal or administrative records, encompassing both uses within the context of legal proceedings against heresy.