The Royal Whipping BoyHow courts punished princes without touching them

From the show

History of Phrases

Tutors in the 16th century were forbidden from physically striking princes due to the sacred nature of their bodies. Instead, courts appointed a whipping boy—a companion beaten whenever the royal misbehaved. This system relied on the future monarch's capacity for guilt to correct behavior, betting that watching a friend suffer was a harsher lesson than personal pain.