Amende honorable

Honorable Amends is a kind of disgraceful punishment, used in France specifically for criminals of  lèse-majesté  or those guilty of other scandalous crimes.

The guilty party is placed in the hands of the executioner, who removes his garments and leaves him only his shirt; after which he puts a rope around his neck, puts a wax torch in his hand, and leads him in front of the court or in front of a Church, where he must ask forgiveness from God, the King and Justice.  On occasion the punishment ends there; but more often it is only the prelude to capital punishment or the galleys.

One calls also making honorable amends to someone making public reparations to them in court, or in the presence of appointed persons to that end, for the insults spoken to them and for the mistreatment done to them.