which, in certain cases, constituted a distinct punishment, but which
generally was but the prelude to the torture itself. The _amende
honorable_ which was called _simple_ or _short_, took place without the
assistance of the executioner in the council chamber, where the condemned,
bareheaded and kneeling, had to state that "he had falsely said or done
something against the authority of the King or the honour of some person"
(Fig. 344). For the _amende honorable in figuris_--that is to say, in
public--the condemned, in his shirt, barefooted, the rope round his neck,
followed by the executioner, and holding in his hand a wax taper, with a
weight, which was definitely specified in the sentence which had been
passed upon him, but which was generally of two or four pounds,
prostrated himself at the door of a church, where in a loud voice he had
to confess his sin, and to beg the pardon of God and man.

When a criminal had been condemned to be burnt, a stake was erected on the
spot specially designed for the execution, and round it a pile was
prepared, composed of alternate layers of straw and wood, and rising to
about the height of a man. Care was taken to leave a free space round the
stake for the victim, and also a passage by which to lead him to it.
Having been stripped of his clothes, and dressed in a shirt smeared with
sulphur, he had to walk to the centre of the pile through a narrow
opening, and was then tightly bound to the stake with ropes and chains.
After this, faggots and straw were thrown into the empty space through
which he had passed to the stake, until he was entirely covered by them;
the pile was then fired on all sides at once (Fig. 345).

Sometimes, the sentence was that the culprit should only be delivered to
the flames after having been previously strangled. In this case, the dead
corpse was then immediately placed where the victim would otherwise have
been placed alive, and the punishment lost much of its horror. It often
happened that the executioner, in order to shorten the sufferings of the
condemned, whilst he prepared the pile, placed a large and pointed iron
bar amongst the faggots and opposite the stake breast high, so that,
directly the fire was lighted, the bar was quickly pushed against the
victim, giving a mortal blow to the unfortunate wretch, who would
otherwise have been slowly devoured by the flames. If, according to the
wording of the sentence, the ashes of the criminal were to be scatt