In the bad old days of the fourteenth century, when popes ruled from their palace in Avignon, the penalty for making substandard bread was severe. The guilty baker would have most of his clothes removed before being tied up in front of his shop, and then the good people of Avignon were encouraged to hit him with a stick as they passed by. The quality of his bread tended to improve dramatically.
From Confessions of a French Baker by Peter Mayle and Gerard Auzet.