In the context of culture as a system of notions and values organized and filled with sense by the mankind there was such a phenomenon, appeared, developed and faded away, as branding. Both official and artistic sources mention it. For example, in the novel by Alexander Dyuma “Three Musketry” there were the lines describing a tattoo in the shape of a lily on the shoulder of Milady. Russian poet Nekrasov used the term “branding” describing the life of peasants. In Russian the phrase “to stamp with shame” (to hold up to shame) is still widely used.
Stamp is undoubtedly a kind of identification sign as well as tattoo. It is a specific ornament on a body; sometimes it represents biography details or an attribute to a certain group etc. The topic of a tattoo genesis is very interesting, and one may suppose that stamp is a tattoo that serves the law. Branding prescribed more severe approach in the ornament: the sign had to comply with the crime made (a lily on the shoulder of the Milady was a sign of the French Royal House, so her crime was quite serious); at the same time an ordinary tattoo might have any shape. Interestingly, during the reign of Nikolai I branding was made in the following way: it was rubbed with a mix of Indian blue and ink – that was alike the tattoo of Indians, the prince Meschersky thought.
Mutilation in ancient times was a punishment and at the same time a physical sign of a crime – it represented the character of the crimes and their number. For example, the ancient Indian memorial named "Laws of Manu", created in II BC, provided to cut a part of body for beating. In ancient Babylon, according to the laws of Khammurapi, a son who hit a father was deprived of a tongue, a wet-nurse blamed in a child death was deprived of her breast. In the ancient Egypt those blamed in theft or forgery were deprived of a hand and so on. Branding of criminals was a method of their identification in the ancient times. According to "Laws of Manu", those from the low class who attempted to get a place near from those with the representatives of high class, was to exile with a stamp on the hip. Branding was widely spread in France in XIV-XVIII, where the criminals’ bodies were tattooed with letters characterizing their crimes. For example, letter "V" meant "thief", two letters "VV" – "thief-repeater" (letter "V" – the first letter of "voleur" – “thief” in French).
Not only people have been stamped. Cattle and things should be stamped as well. Thus, in the towns of the Northern Black Sea Coast (VI-V BC), and in some other Greek colonies amphoras were stamped with the signs of the towns where they were produced. These stamps meant that the vessel and the wine in it met the requirements of the State. These signs helps archaeologists a lot in to reconstruct the trade relations between towns.
In Russia (Moskovia at that time) Sudebnik (Law Book) 1550 paid great attention to this question. Articles 94-94 of that document provide the order of horses purchases. The role of a horse is clear – it was of great military importance. The horses bought in Moscow and Moscow region were to be stamped in a specially organized order.
Interestingly, that the representatives of many ancient families still stamp their cattle (in particular, Karachai- Circassian family of Urusov – they have a brand of a lamb as a symbol of the family’s wealth).
Many sources say that branding as a punishment has been known in Russia since XVI century. A researcher Evreinov wrote that branding was the first time mentioned in the contract between Novgorod and Gotland in 1270. Dvinskaya Gramota described branding as well. The history of that branding is quite exciting – it is connected with the rebellion near the Dvina River (1397), initiated by the Moscow prince Vasiliy I, the son of Dmitriy Donskoy. After the new area was joined to the country, the new ruler prescribed to brand all the thieves.
However, Sudebniks of 1497 and 1550 has no articles about branding. It described the criminals, who were mutilated.
The history of punishment (both branding and mutilation) describes the attempts not only of assisting the police to identify a criminal but of making a crime suffer. It is well known that after the Sudebniks of XV and XVI the Cathedral Code of 1649 became the most important document in Russia.
Undoubtedly, such punishment as ears cutting was a kind of branding – the Code prescribed officials to send special documents to all the cities and towns. According to these documents, all the people with cut ears should be imprisoned. Those measures were the aftermath of the total struggle against criminals. However, before the Cathedral Code there were the orders that were quite interesting and important in branding development. Thus, in 1637 the first Tsar from the Romanov family – Mikhail Fedorovich – ordered to replace the death penalty for “money” thieves by lashing and cheeks branding. Some sources say that the participants of “Copper” rebellion of 1662 were branded as well – they had letter “Á” – the first one of the word “rebel” in Russian.
In 1667 (during the reign of the son of Mikhail Fedorovich – Alexey Mikhailovich) the New Trade Regulations was approved. It was of protectionist character – that means it was aimed at protecting the domestic trade and industry. That approach required strict rules of imports registration. Branding was the way out – all the imported goods, such as jewellery, fabric, silverware etc were branded so that one could tell who the producer was.
In 1691 Peter the Great ordered to place letter “B” on the criminals who avoided death penalty and were exiled – so that they could be identified if coming to Moscow. The brands were made by gunpowder rubbing so that they could not be removed.
Penal servitude, which was launched in 1699 as penal institute, included such thing as obligatory hard labours, custody and extremely severe surveillance, as well as branding and mutilation: nostrils anteverting, beating etc. Beating by a whip was a kind of branding as many punctures of it healed hardly and left scars. All the forms of mutilation were the means of criminals’ identification.
During the reign of Ekaterina II the pedagogic role of branding became very important – the Empress thought that the first meaning of this punishment is to make a criminal feel forever dishonoured. Thus there are many cases when thieves, counterfeiters and murderers were exiled and branded with the first letters of the crimes they are accused of.
However, gradually, by XIX the problem of branding abolishing had become very important. Thus in 1824 the admiral Mordvinov addressed the Government with the offer to cancel branding as “the face of a human is a gift of God and it reflects the feelings of the soul and signs of brains… so, the face should not be a place of abuse". Moreover, if a person was accused wrongly branding was especially unfair.
Nevertheless, branding was not cancelled. In 1841 a special order was made, which said that "any unstable and unclear branding on criminals could be considered only as an indulgence and should be punished severely ". During the reign of Nikolai I a document about punishment in Russia was worked out. Article 29 of this code provided the order of branding and the character of signs: "Branding of criminals should be made after lashing and publicly. Those exiled should have KAT letters on cheeks or forehead (KAT- the first three letters of “exiled” in Russian). Women and those over seventy should not be branded". Interestingly, branding was an additional means of punishment – together with exile and lashing. It is very important that branding was conducted publicly – it underlines the preventive character of branding.
So, which crimes were punished by branding? 1) Crimes against Christianity, church abuse, blasphemy, other crimes against religion. 2) False evidence. 3) Crimes against the State: offences of the Tsar and Government, appeals for rebellions etc. 4) Crimes against authorities, rebellions, counterfeits, blackmail, prison break.
So, we see that the number of crimes, which have branding as a punishment, was quite large. These crimes were very serious for the times described, such as escapes and vagrancy. They were branded in prisons with the presence of a doctor – that measure was both human and practical – a doctor was responsible for the long life of a brand (however, often brands were obliterated).
However, the long history of this punishment comes to its end. In 1855 Alexander II became an Emperor, and his decree cancelled branding as a punishment.
So, the system of branding and mutilation of criminals that was applied in the Middle Ages was forbidden. And this was a step towards the acceptance of the principal human rights and legislation. However, there was no alternative to branding as a means of identification: "it was only in 1870 when the Ministry of Justice started to issue the list of criminals that were imprisoned. And only in 1877 the Senate made all the police to control the criminals according to this list. Dactyloscopy was launched in Russia at the beginning of XX". New century began, and new crimes appeared that required new methods of investigations. New culture was appearing …
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