The Martinet

 

The martinet we describe here is the instrument traditionally used for domestic punishments in France. It is also called fouet d'enfant, child's whip.

It is a light multitailed whip, with a wooden handle about 10 inches long, with 6 to 12 flat leather thongs slightly longer. The thongs could be also of soap-stiffened cord. We show the modern ones, made industrially in France⁽¹⁾.

They were sold, at least until recently, in pet stores or in the pet section of department stores and supermarkets, even when, curiously enough, there is no documentation that suggests that it was ever used for punishing pets. When somebody bought one, everybody knew what was it for.

Its name could come from "marteau" hammer, martinet being a diminutive, so a small hammer. Some sources relate its name to Jean Martinet, Inspector General of the Army of Louis XIV in the 17th century, an army officer known for the harsh discipline he imposed on the troops (who died, perhaps not accidentally, from friendly fire) and who inspired the English and French terms for “a strict disciplinarian”. But the child's martinet is too light for having ever been used for army punishments, even when the name was sometimes used for the cat o’nine tails, familiar in the French Army, as in most other in European armies, but a different instrument.

The martinet was used in the army in France  but not for punishment. It was provided to the troops as part of the regular military equipment as an instrument for dusting and removing mud from the uniforms. We found some references to it as being used at home for dusting carpets. Probably it was, as the rug beater, a domestic utensil adopted  for punishment because it was adequate and handy. But for a long time it has been used mainly to dust bratty children's legs.

According to the documentation, it was used in France for school punishments, as the cane or the birch were used in the rest of Europe. In the Jesuits' schools in the 1700s, the pupil had to bend over a chair, his breeches and underwear lowered and, while restrained by one man (“le teneur”, the restrainer), another (“le correcteur”, the corrector or “le fouetteur”, the whipper), flogged him with the martinet. The number of blows given was from 40 to 200 and even 300, being the normal punishment of 70 or 80 lashes, applied hard and slowly. The Jesuits’ martinet is described as being made of thin straps of string, parchment, eel skin or “corde de basse(¿?)”.

In the domestic environment it was used mainly for flogging the children on the legs, on the bare calves, as a quick correction. But it was used also on the buttocks, bared for adding humiliation to the pain, and because it is too light for being effective over clothing. It seems to have been used for punishing the maids’ faults. It was also used by  “père Fouettard” (Father flogger) as an alternative to the birch rod for punishing bad kids at St. Nicholas.

Most adults in France remember it because it was present in French homes to be used as a deterrent if not for actual punishments. For most kids that had a taste of it, seen it hanging on the wall or its sole mention by an angry parent and the anticipation of how it would feel on their bare legs was enough to stop the misbehavior.

The same instrument was called in German Klopfpeitsche and in Westfalia Siebenstriemer. I was also issued to the soldiers for dusting clothes. It is mentioned as used for children punishments in the rural areas.

 

 

In the Dutch speaking area there is the kleerklopper. Its main use was as a dust beater, for "dusting cushions". It was, as the others, provided to the soldiers for dusting the uniforms. The one depicted below was issued in WWII.

 

It is recorded as being used for threatening children. We believe that it had to be used for more than just threatening them as it would not have been threatening if it was never used.

 

It is probable that it existed in other countries, at least in Europe.

The name martinet is also used now, by analogy, in the French’s BDSM community for the multitailed whip designed for erotic floggings known as a flogger in English, even when the modern one has many more tails than the original.  The same happens in German with the term Klopfpeitsche.

⁽¹⁾ See Morvan Martinets. They say that "dont l'utilisation reste plutôt dissuasive" (which use remains rather as dissuasive). They also make nowadays instruments for BDSM. (back)

Published: 09/13/06

Rev: 12/06/06