Amende Honorable Law & Legal Definition

This is an obsolete form of public recantation. This form of punishment was originally practiced in France. Amende honorable required the offenders to be brought into a church or court with a rope round their neck, stripped to the shirt, with a torch in hand and to beg pardon of the God, the King and the Court. This was a degrading punishment which denoted a public apology made to satisfy an injury to the honor and reputation of another person.