The scold’s bridle, also known as a brank, was a punitive device used primarily in Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries to publicly humiliate and silence women, accused of gossiping or speaking out of turn. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the offenses of being a scold, a whore, or a witch were considered equally severe. During this period, female speech was often disparaged as ‘yapping’ or ‘barking,’. The primary goal of the scold’s bridle was to suppress women’s speech and maintain societ