A Whipping Boy is someone who takes the punishment for a misdemeanour committed by someone else. In medieval times, it was reasonably common for a peasant boy to be educated alongside a prince or the sons of the aristocracy. As a result of this, the commoner benefited from great privileges and in the position was often sought after. However, the down side was that it was considered inappropriate for a schoolmaster or tutor to punish a member of the aristocracy and definitely not a prince. Instead, when the aristocratic boy misbehaved or failed in his studies, the innocent commoner would receive a thrashing in his place. There were the odd, brave exceptions, such as George Buchanan, the Latin master to King James I, who decided the boy needed punishing. He thrashed the prince himself, despite a whipping boy being present and threatened to do it again if the prince's misdemeanour was repeated.

The practice extended beyond the schoolroom: when the French King Henry IV converted to Catholicism he sent two ambassadors to the Pope. They were symbolically whipped to atone for the King's previous Protestantism.