Tar and feathering was a punishment used in 12th century England that spread throughout feudal Europe and European colonies. The victim was stripped naked, painted with hot tar, and covered in feathers to intimidate and humiliate them. It was mainly practiced by mobs and vigilantes and could be violent and dangerous. The goal was humiliation, not death, but people were scarred for life and some died from lynchings. Variations included pitchcapping and tarred and feathered bodies. The practice lasted in the American West until the 1900s.
Tar and plumage is a form of punishment developed in 12th century England. It spread throughout feudal Europe and was also practiced in many European colonies once Europeans began to explore and colonize the globe. In this punishment, the victim was stripped naked, painted with hot tar, and then covered in feathers that stuck to the tar. The main focus was on physical intimidation and humiliation, with people being tarred and feathered in an attempt to drive them out of town. The term “tarred with the same brush” in reference to guilt by association appears to derive from this practice.
This practice appears to have been mainly practiced among mobs and vigilantes, rather than being an officially sanctioned form of punishment. Depending on the temperature of the tar and the attitude of the crowd, it could get quite violent at times and quite dangerous. The hot tar could cause significant burns, and removing the tar would tear off hair and chunks of skin, potentially putting the victim at risk for infection. In theory, covering the skin in tar would also prevent it from breathing, potentially causing death.
However, the goal of the tar and plumage was humiliation, not death, and not many deaths have been recorded as a result of this practice. Most commonly, people were scarred for life by the hot tar and the injuries resulting from the removal, marking them for other community members as victims. People also died from lynchings, in which they were tarred and feathered, marched through the city, and then hanged.
Several variations on tar and feathers have been recorded. In the British Army, for example, people once practiced pitchcapping, where a soldier’s head was covered in hot tar. Removing the tar meant being willing to lose much of the hair and scalp along with the tar, leaving ugly scars. Sometimes the bodies of people who had been hanged or beheaded were also tarred and feathered, to add to the humiliation and to hold the bodies together when they were hung on the gallows as a warning to other citizens.
Many people associate tar and feathering with the American West, where the practice lasted to a surprisingly late date, with recorded cases dating back to the 1900s. In fact, people have been tarred and feathered recently enough for examples to exist. photographs of tar and feathers, in which streaks of tar and feathers can clearly be seen, suggesting that the practice required less careful body painting, and more of streaking with lines of hot tar.
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