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Running the gauntlet (alternative spellings gantlet and rarely gantlope or gantelope) is a form of physical punishment by which a person is compelled to run through a double line of soldiers who attempt to strike him or her as they pass.
Roman predecessor
Fustuarium (a Latin abstraction from the Latin fustis, a branch or rod) was a Roman military form of execution by cudgeling, which was imitated by later armies. “Truncheon†redirects here. ...
Since laxness on guard duty or desertion could endanger the entire corps and even the Roman state, a slacking soldier was liable to be found as unworthy of the uniform, stripped, and beaten to death with sticks by his comrades, whose trust he had betrayed, as a collective exercise of ultimate discipline against what could be considered as passive equivalents of high treason. The excruciating effects on the condemned are comparable to running the gauntlet (see below); compare also to breaking on the wheel. It was also applied for such vilified crimes as theft (especially from comrades) and or to certain captured enemies. The breaking wheel (originally, the whele) was a torture and capital punishment device of the Middle Ages and early modern times. ...
It could also be applied to every tenth man of a whole unit as a mode of decimation, which was reportedly rather done by sword. Some sources claim it could also take the form of stoning. Decimation (Latin: decimatio) was a form of extreme military discipline used by officers in the Roman Army to punish mutinous or cowardly soldiers. ...
Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a form of capital punishment execution method carried out by an organized group throwing stones or rocks at the person they mean to execute. ...
Post-Roman usage
 Spiessgasse (Pike-alley), from the Frundsberger War Book of Jost Amman, 1525 A very similar military punishment found in later armies was known as "running the gauntlet." The condemned soldier was stripped to the waist and had to pass between a double row (hence also known as die Gasse, "the alley") of cudgeling or switching comrades, while stopped from running through by the blade of a subaltern walking in front of him. The condemned might sometimes also be dragged through by a rope around the hands or prodded along by a pursuer. Various rules might apply, such as banning edged weapons, requiring the group to keep one foot in place, or allowing the soldier to attempt to protect his head with his hands. The punishment was not necessarily continued until death (if so, he might be finished off when unable to walk), and actually considered far less dishonoring than a beating with exposure to ridicule on the pillory, pranger, or stocks, since one could 'take it like a man' upright among soldiers. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (748x922, 502 KB) Summary Spiessgasse (Pike-alley), from the Frudsberger Kriegsbuch (war-book) of Jost Ammann, 1525 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Fustuarium ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (748x922, 502 KB) Summary Spiessgasse (Pike-alley), from the Frudsberger Kriegsbuch (war-book) of Jost Ammann, 1525 Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Fustuarium ...
Jost Amman (1539–1591) was a Swiss artist, celebrated chiefly for his engravings on wood. ...
A subaltern is a military term for a junior officer. ...
Gothic pillory (early 16th century) in Schwäbisch Hall, Germany The pillory was a device used in punishment by public humiliation and often additional, sometimes lethal, physical abuse. ...
Pranger in Poznan in form of column. ...
For other uses, see stock (disambiguation). ...
In some traditions, if the condemned was able to finish the run and exit the gauntlet at the far end, his faults would be deemed paid, and he would rejoin his comrades with a clean slate (and serious injuries), elsewhere he was sent back until death followed.
- A Prussian cavalry variation was to beat the condemned with spurs instead of rods.
- It was also common practice in the French army, especially for thieves.
- Also used in training, notably on military cadets, as in a scene in the movie Oberst Redl.
- There was also a naval version, on deck, stopped from rushing by the master-at-arms with a cutlass and pushed forward by a corporal, notably for minor theft (hated by the shipmates) in the Royal navy, using rope yarns that were plaited into so-called knittles (a word for a string; possibly sound-associated with nettles), looking like an improvised mini-version of the cat o' nine tails (of which formal scourger the culprit got an excruciating dozen lashes in advance, guaranteeing any further hit to hurt his lacerated back badly), which was also used, sometimes with knots, worsening the sting, on severe theft charges by then immobilizing them with ropes.
- Mild forms, not intended to cause permanent damage, have also been used on or by children.
The word gauntlet, unrelated to the French-derived word gauntlet meaning a protective glove, was probably transferred from the Swedish gatlopp ("street run") to British troops in the Thirty Years' War. Variant terms include "gantlet" and the poetic "gantelope". Oberst Redl (Colonel Redl) is a 1985 movie by Hungarian director István Szabó about the life of military officer Alfred Redl (Klaus Maria Brandauer) who because of his homosexuality was blackmailed into espionage for the Russian secret service. ...
A Master-at-Arms (MAA) is a rating responsible for discipline aboard a naval ship. ...
French naval cutlass of the 19th Century A cutlass is a short, thick saber or slashing sword, with a straight or slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard. ...
Species See text Nettles are members of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae. ...
A leather cat o nine tails This article discusses an implement of punishment. ...
Pair of gauntlets, Germany, end of the 16th century Gauntlet is a name for several different styles of glove. ...
Combatants Sweden Bohemia Denmark-Norway (Until 1643) Dutch Republic France Scotland England Saxony Holy Roman Empire ( Catholic League) Spain Austria Bavaria Commanders Frederick V Buckingham Leven Gustav II Adolf †Johan Baner Cardinal Richelieu Louis II de Bourbon Turenne Christian IV of Denmark Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar Johann Georg I of...
The practice persisted in parts of Germany (mainly Prussia) and Austria as the Spießrutenlaufen, or pike-run, and also in Russia, until the 19th century.
In Sweden, running the gauntlet was also a civilian punishment for certain crimes until the 18th century.
Native American usage A number of Native American tribes of the Eastern Woodlands culture area forced prisoners to run the gauntlet. The Jesuit Isaac Jogues was subject to this treatment while a prisoner of the Iroquois in 1641. He described the ordeal in a letter that appears in the book "The Jesuit Martyrs of North America" (c 1925, The Universal Knowledge Foundation, p. 163): "Before arriving (at the Iroquois Village) we met the young men of the country, in a line armed with sticks..." and that he and his fellow Frenchmen were made to walk slowly past them "for the sake of giving time to anyone who struck us." Native Americans redirects here. ...
The Eastern Woodlands was a cultural area of the indigenous peoples of North America. ...
Dariante Jogues was a blood in compton back in the day of ice cube and snoop dizzle and Dr. Dre. ...
For other uses, see Iroquois (disambiguation). ...
Other European-Americans captured by Native Americans and made to run the gauntlet included John Stark, Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. General John Stark John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was a general who served in the American Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. ...
This article is about the American pioneer. ...
Simon Kenton Statue at Simon Kentons grave in Urbana, Ohio Simon Kenton (April 3, 1755 - April 29, 1836) was a famous United States frontiersman and friend of Daniel Boone. ...
See Bruce Beresford's 1991 film of Brian Moore's novel, Black Robe. Bruce Beresford (born 16 August 1940) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian film director, writer, and producer. ...
Brian Moore (August 25, 1921 - January 11, 1999) was a novelist. ...
Black Robe is a 1991 movie directed by Bruce Beresford. ...
Modern use The expression "(to run) the gauntlet" is now applied to various punishments or tests consisting of consecutive blows or tasks endured sequentially and delivered collectively, especially by colleagues such as roommates.
Thus a fraternity paddling during hazing and/or as a punishment by all present brothers can follow this mise-en-scène. Common variants include having to crawl through on all fours, being made to halt in front of every paddle in exposed (bended) position, wearing only undergarments or ridiculous costume, or being smeared and soiled before and/or during. This article is about the use of spanking as discipline. ...
Hazing is an often ritualistic test and a task, which may constitute harassment, abuse or humiliation with requirements to perform random, often meaningless tasks, sometimes as a way of initiation into a social group. ...
Similar practices are used in other initiations and rites of passage, as on pollywogs (those passing the equator for the first time[1] includes a paddling version), in aviation when a new pilot gets his first license, or in mountaineering when reaching a certain summit for the first time. As these do not cause serious injuries, only bearable pain, they are sometimes eagerly anticipated by the initiate as a sign of acceptance into a more prestigious group. For other uses, see Crossing the Line. ...
It is also used to express the idea of a public but painless, merely ritual humiliation such as the walk of shame.
In pro-wrestling, a gauntlet match is one where a wrestler faces multiple opponents, one after another until they lose a fall. Professional wrestling is a form of performance entertainment where the participants engage in simulated sporting matches. ...
Many types of matches can be found in professional wrestling. ...
- In certain team sports such as lacrosse, hockey and forms of football, "the gauntlet" is also a common name for a type of drill whereby players are blocked or checked by the entire team in sequence.
For other uses, see Lacrosse (disambiguation). ...
Hockey is any of a family of sports in which two teams compete by trying to maneuver a ball, or a hard, round disc called a puck, into the opponents net or goal, using a hockey stick. ...
Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
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