The martinet () is a punitive device traditionally used in France and other parts of Europe. The word also has other usages, described below.
Object
A martinet is a short,
scourge
A scourge is a whip or lash, especially a multi-thong type, used to inflict severe corporal punishment or self-mortification. It is usually made of leather.
Etymology
The word is most commonly considered to be derived from Old French ''escorgie ...
-like (multi-tail) type of
whip
A whip is a blunt weapon or implement used in a striking motion to create sound or pain. Whips can be used for flagellation against humans or animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain, or be used as an audible cue thro ...
made of a wooden handle of about in length and about 10 lashes of equal, relatively short length. The lashes are usually made of
leather
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...
, but sometimes
soap
Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...
-stiffened cords are used in place of leather. It was a traditional instrument of
physical punishment
A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or paddling. When ...
in France and other European countries. In French, it also refers to a similar dusting implement; the type for chastisement was also known as ''fouet d'enfant'', meaning ''child's whip''. The lashes are light, so they are ineffective unless the child is whipped naked. The advantage is they give a stinging pain on bare skin, but will not cause an injury.
The martinet was often applied on the calves, so that the children did not have to disrobe. Otherwise it was usually applied on the bare buttocks, adding humiliation to the physical pain, like the English and Commonwealth
caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits (known as "strokes" or "cuts") with a single Stick-fighting, cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks (see spanking) or han ...
,
birching
Birching is a form of corporal punishment with a birch rod, typically used to strike the recipient's bare buttocks, although occasionally the back and/or shoulders.
Implement
A birch rod (often shortened to "birch") is a bundle of leafless t ...
, naval
cat o' nine tails
The cat o' nine tails, commonly shortened to the cat, is a type of multi-tailed whip or flail. It originated as an implement for physical punishment, particularly in the Royal Navy and British Army, and as a judicial punishment in Britain and ...
, American
paddling
Paddling, in regard to waterborne transport, is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using at least one hand-held paddle. The paddle, which consists of one or two blades joined to a shaft, is also used to steer the vessel via generatin ...
, et cetera.
Around 1962, annual production in France was estimated at 300,000 per year. Approximately 33-50% of French households were estimated to currently or formerly own a martinet.
It is now considered
abusive
Abuse is the act of improper usage or treatment of a person or thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, ...
to use a martinet to
punish children. However, martinets were still sold in the
pet
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive/ cute appearances, inte ...
section of French
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. Strictly speaking, a supermarket is larger and has a wider selecti ...
s. Many believe that a large share of those sold are meant for use on children, not pets, or at least to threaten them. Nowadays, however, many supermarkets in France have stopped selling the martinet, even in the pet section.
The martinet is also used as an implement in
erotic spanking
Erotic spanking is the act of spanking another person for the sexual arousal or gratification of either or both parties. The intensity of the act can vary in both its duration and severity, and may include the use of one or more spanking impleme ...
scenes, hard to distinguish from the
flogger, but which is usually lighter.
Person
In French
The term was used for an external pupil of a ''collège'' (i.e., a kind of French high school, especially Catholic).
Jean Bodin
Jean Bodin (; ; – 1596) was a French jurist and political philosopher, member of the Parlement of Paris and professor of law in Toulouse. Bodin lived during the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation and wrote against the background of reli ...
, quoting the examination of three witches by
Paolo Grillandi Paolo Grillandi (born c. 1490) was an Italian jurist, from Abruzzo, active as a papal judge in witch trials, from 1517. He was an influential observer of confessions. His book ''Tractatus de hereticis et sortilegiis'' (1536), based substantially on ...
of Castiglione at the Castello San Paolo,
Spoleto
Spoleto (, also , , ; ) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is south of Trevi, north of Terni, southeast of Perugia; southeast of Florence; and north of Rome.
H ...
, in his
writings about demonology records that the witches referred to the Devil as ''Master Martinet'' (''Maître Martinet''), or the ''Little Master'' (''Petit maître'').}
In English
In English, the term ''martinet'' usually refers not to the whip but to those who might use it: those who demand strict adherence to set
rules
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Human activity
* The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power
* Business rule, a rule pertaining to the structure or behavior internal to a business
* School rule, a rule tha ...
and mete out punishment for failing to follow them. This sense of the word is reputedly
derived from the name of Jean Martinet
Jean Martinet (d. 1672) was a French lieutenant colonel and Inspector General from 1667 to 1672, and one of the first great drill masters of modern times. Martinet served during the reign of Louis XIV, helping to instill discipline in th ...
, Inspector General of the army of
Louis XIV
LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
, such that its relationship to the word's earlier sense is merely coincidental.
In an extended sense, a martinet is any person who believes strict adherence to rules and
etiquette
Etiquette ( /ˈɛtikɛt, -kɪt/) can be defined as a set of norms of personal behavior in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviors that accord with the conventions and ...
is paramount. Martinets often use etiquette and other rules as an excuse to trump
ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
, to the point that etiquette loses its ethical ground. In 1977, ''
Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' magazine famously referred to the Ugandan dictator
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...
as a "strutting martinet".
["Amin:The Wild Man of Africa"]
''Time Magazine'', 28 February 1977
Other uses
A French
homonym
In linguistics, homonyms are words which are either; '' homographs''—words that mean different things, but have the same spelling (regardless of pronunciation), or '' homophones''—words that mean different things, but have the same pronunciat ...
, from the bird name ''Martin'' and suffix -et, is the
swift
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIF ...
.
Etymology
In French, martinet also means a type of
hammer
A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nail (fastener), nails into wood, to sh ...
, a
diminutive
A diminutive is a word obtained by modifying a root word to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment, and sometimes to belittle s ...
of ''marteau'' (from
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
''martulus'', "little hammer").
[Latin Lexicon, ''martulus'' or ''marculus'', small hammer; diminutiv from ''martus'' or ''marcus'', hamme]
/ref>
References
External links
{{commons category, Martinets
Etymology OnLine
On clothes whip use in Germany
(DITSONG: Museums of South Africa)
Whips