The historical existence of whipping-boys has taken quite a beating in recent years, but some scholars maintain they did exist.
And if they did, it was because of how people thought about status and theology. In many cultures around the world, kings at various times had absolute power, and most claimed their authority came directly from God, meaning no human could oppose or correct them. Severe punishment awaited anyone who laid a finger on a royal.
But that posed a dilemma for the tutors of untouchable princes because corporal punishment was the prevailing way of disciplining children. That’s where stories of the whipping-boy came in.
According to several sources, he was a lad — educated alongside a royal heir — who was supposedly beaten for the prince’s transgressions, while the real offender watched. It was thought that seeing a friend punished would stop the prince from repeating the infraction.
In the words of an old proverb, the practice amounted to “beating a dog in front of a lion.” At the time, tutors often used whipping to punish their youthful charges.
There are even references to how some families put forward their sons for the position of whipping-boy, because it led to greater opportunities and contact with the most powerful people in the kingdom.
Though some historians say whipping-boys were purely........