Water-ordeal - Public domain dedication image

Miniature from the Lucerne chronicle of 1513, fol 80v. Note: In spite of the image title, this is not a "water ordeal" but simply an instance of corporeal punishment, called schwemmen. In 1470, the boy Hans Hegenheim was convicted for theft and as punishment was thrown into the Reuss River bound with a rope, and pulled behind a boat for a fixed distance (from Peterskapelle to Reusbrücke). He survived, and was considered to have atoned for his crime, and went on to live a long life.