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	Vol.7, No 25, October 12, 1999
	Faces on campus Torture and punishment is not usually considered a hobby.  But for Cal State Long Beach graduate student Mark Carlisle, however, it is a way of life. Photos and story  by Cristian Vera Aleman Carlisle builds, collects and studies about torture and punishment devices from the Renaissance -- colonial era. "I started collecting crime and punishment items many years ago to use them as props for Halloween," Carlisle said. "I have made most of the items in my collection and the majority of them are functional."  Since he started his collection, he has been gathering and building a large variety of objects that were used in the past to inflict physical discomfort or pain to obtain confession and information or punish criminal acts. "All my gear is functional, they're not showpieces," he said. He even has an inventory of his "torture implements" that total to 21. A branding iron, shackles, whip, chopping block and headsman's ax and chastity belt are just some of his devices.  "Women put on the chastity belt to prevent them from being raped by as many as 30 soldiers," he said. The belt, which was made out of aluminum, "would hurt," he said. Another item he had, which was not on the inventory list, was an interesting object known as thumbscrews.  "With the thumbscrews, the thumbs are compressed until the thumbs are crushed."  Carlisle said that men who were wife beaters were forced to wear a shrewís fiddle, which locks up the arms of its victim near their head. Women were also forced to wear the object and were ìparaded around the town center when they didnít know their place," he said.  If a person was guilty of a crime in Elizabethan times, sometimes the punishment involved the pillory.  "[Guards] would nail your ears to [the pillory] and brand your forehead or cheeks. Sometimes they cut off the ears when [a person] was taken out [to] the townís center," he said.  One crime that was always punished was government criticism, he said.  Carlisle has displayed his torture implements in various events related to the colonial era, including the renaissance fairs in Long Beach, Corona and Santa Barbara. He said he believes he is the only one who displays the material in the fairs. "Not too many people have devices for crime and punishment," Carlisle said.  The 37-year-old Orange County resident retired last month as a Deputy Sheriff with the Los Angeles County Police Department. He previously graduated from CSULB in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and now is back to school with the intention of obtaining a single subject teaching credential in Social Science in order to teach history in the future.  Carlisle said he has shown his devices at the Nettie Waite Middle School in Norwalk and Los Coyotes Elementary School in La Palma.  He said he started showing elementary and junior high school students his collection "several years ago." "A friend who teaches school asked me to bring some of my collection in and talk to her students about crime and punishment in the colonial period."  He said he varies what items he brings to the schools depending on the studentsí age and maturity level.  He has also lectured about crime, torture and punishment at L.O.R.E workshops. These are lifestyle immersion weekends for Renaissance fairs participants, vendors and re-enactors. He is also involved with a historical re-enactment group, the Guild of Saint Martin. Carlisle said he enjoys teaching and informing people about the roots of his hobby and its history. Wes Woods II contributed to this story.		Renaissance re-enactor Mark Carlisle, a CSULB graduate student, builds all of his torture devices.       A loudmouth is held in a pillary, a form of the colonial stock. The person is displayed in the town square with their crime listed below so villagers can spit and throw things at them.                                                                     ATM burglary attempted   CSULB translation program applauded   Students network at graduate fair   CSU deals with teacher shortages   Crime Log No NFL, no big loss   Offensive art not protected   Editor needs open mind Faces on campus   FX panel features alumni 49ers beat Pepperdine, Irvine, remain in first   Women hurting, men improving   Soccer splits   Weekend ugly for Ice Dogs Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.