"My prisoner, or my guest?" (from Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale)

It's hard to believe how far we have come in the ways of criminal punishment! In Shakespeare's day, people were chained to walls, had to beg for food, and were kept beneath the streets of Southwark.  

That is just the beginning of the punishments we learned about at the Clink Prison Museum located near the Thames River in Southwark. During Shakespeare's time Southwark was an exciting but dangerous place where bear baiting was popular entertainment, criminals and river pirates roamed, and theatres like the Globe and the Swan were located.

We met with James, the Museum Director, after the Clink Prison Museum was closed for the day. It was damp and cold inside and made me think how cold it must have been for the prisoners kept here.

What surprised me most were the crimes that landed people in jail. I was shocked to hear how many people were imprisoned for their religious beliefs or for being recusants.

James told us all about the punishments including the boot and the chair. We even saw an executioner's block. It was interesting to learn about these things, but awful to think about the prisoners and the punishments given. Today, in the US, prisoners are usually taken care of in a much more civilized way, with confinement from the outside world being punishment enough. 

See you soon,

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