Algunas consideraciones sobre la pena de azotes durante los siglos XVI-XVIII

Abstract

Punishment by whipping, one of the corporal punishments with the longest history, was a singularly shameful fate for those who suffered it, as it was especially feared. A different form of this punishment was correction by lashing, the difference being essentially numerical. It cannot be considered an accessory to other punishments, being part of a combination of them. Also, it was not always imposed together with the punishment of being sent to the galleys, or of exile, in spite of the legal doctrine, since in practice, judicial discretion reduced its imposition. As a consequence of this, it represents a reduced percentage, at least, in the Real Audiencia de Galicia, of the total of imposed sanctions. The scope of the application of this punishment was very extensive, notably for theft and for those criminals that, in current terminology, would be called habitual. Its disappearance, from the end of the eighteenth century, was due as much to legal stipulations as to the disuse of its application.