Shrew's fiddle
{{Short description|Early modern form of public punishment}}
File:Fomfr single fiddle.jpg|italic=no}}]]
{{Multiple image
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|image1 = Fomfr double fiddle.jpg
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|caption1 = A shrew's fiddle for two at the torture museum in {{lang|de|Freiburg im Breisgau|italic=no}}
|image2 = OHM - Schandgeige.jpg
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|caption2 = A shrew's fiddle being worn by a dummy at the {{lang|de|Oberhausmuseum|italic=no}} in {{lang|de|Passau|italic=no}}
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A shrew's fiddle or neck violin is a variation of the yoke, pillory, or rigid irons whereby the wrists are locked in front of the bound person by a hinged board, or steel bar. It was originally used in the Middle Ages as a way of punishing those who were caught bickering or fighting.{{cite web |url=http://www.vienna.cc/english/folterm03.htm |title=Halsgeige (neck-viola) and Shame-mask |publisher=Museum of Medieval Legal History |accessdate=2008-05-04 }}
History
The shrew's fiddle was used in medieval Germany and Austria, where it was known as a {{lang|de|Halsgeige}}, meaning "neck viola" or "neck violin".{{cite book |last=Rublack |first=Ulinka |title=The Crimes of Women in Early Modern Germany |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1999 |pages=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FF6y3poQ4AYC&dq=neck+violin+punish&pg=PA75 |isbn=0-19-820637-2 }} It was originally made out of two pieces of wood fitted with a hinge and a lock at the front. The shrew's fiddle had three holes: one was a large hole for the neck, and the other two were smaller holes which fastened the wrists in front of the face.
A bell was sometimes attached to this portable pillory, to alert townspeople that the victim was approaching so that they might be mocked and otherwise humiliated. Another version was a "double fiddle," by which two people could be attached together face-to-face, forcing them to talk to each other. They were not released until the argument had been resolved.{{cite web |url=http://www.cs.hmc.edu/~geoff/adventures/karlsruhe/rothenburg/ |title=Rothenburg: Torture 101 |work=Adventures in Karlsruhe |first=Geoff |last=Kuenning |publisher=Harvey Mudd College |date=2005 |accessdate=2008-05-04 }}