Rollos y Picotas en las Villas de Extremadura

Several villages of the Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Global Geopark of the UNESCO, such as Logrosán, Deleitosa, and Cabañas del Castillo, still retain a highly characteristic type of monument which takes us back to a time when the enforcing of the law could be rather macabre. The very presence of a pillory (a column generally of stone topped by a cross or a ball) on the edge of a town could be interpreted as a warning or dissuasion to those who might dare to break the laws of the feudal estate.

Between the 14th and 17th centuries pillories began to be erected by all Hispanic kingdoms. These columns of ornamented stone were designed to exhibit the offenders condemned to public ridicule for as long as their sentences lasted, together with the bodies or heads of those put to death by the civil authority. In addition to their exemplary function they also were symbols of feudal power. In those times the towns could be of the crown (legally dependent on the king) or feudal (when power was delegated to a nobleman). The symbol of this feudal jurisdiction was the pillory and for this reason they were often decorated with the coat of arms of the lord of the town. On occasion concerning pillories a distinction has been made between the concepts of rollo and picota, with the former being designed to symbolise feudal power and the latter being used for the actual enforcing of the sentences.

When the Courts of Cádiz abolished the privileges of noblemen over their towns it ordered the demolition of all pillories as it considered them to be symbols of serfdom.

Nevertheless, in many towns the order was ignored and in others the pillories were turned into elevated crosses, owing to which many have survived as a vital part of our cultural heritage. That of Deleitosa is the oldest in Extremadura; it dates from the 14th century. It is located on the current Plaza de España and takes the form of a column of cylindrical masonry on three circular terraces of ashlars. It is crowned by a pyramidal pinnacle with a Tuscan capital from which four lion figures project. This pillory is one of those which circumvented the order of the Courts of Cadiz by transforming it into an elevated cross. This was achieved by adding a cross of wrought iron to its pinnacle which no longer exists.

If that of Deleitosa is the oldest in Extremadura, in Logrosán we can contemplate a much later pillory, the erection of which was ordered by Charles IV in the 18th century. It was placed at the entrance to the settlement when it was named a town. It is formed by a column of ashlars on a flight of four steps.

Another of the pillories which we can contemplate in the UNESCO Villuercas-Ibores-Jara Global Geopark of the UNESCO is that of Cabañas del Castillo. This monument dominates the surrounding area from its location in the higher part of the village on the current Plaza Juan de Ureta; it is known as the Rollo de la Villa. It is a very curious case as instead of being built of stone as most pillories are it is entirely made of brick to form a cylindrical shaft which in its time was fully plastered. It has a base of four circular steps also of brick and four iron serpents projecting from the upper part.

In Berzocana there was formerly a brick pillory from the 16th century when the town obtained its independence from Trujillo. In the documentation granting the exemption the place it was to be erected (opposite the courts) was specified in contrast to the location for the gallows, which was the Cerro Cestero outside the town. It was demolished in the 1970s.