The Pillory houses were the places where enemy women captured during wartime were imprisoned so that the people could exploit them as they wished.

The depiction of prostitution was the basis for the picture's rejection by the British Board of Film Classification in 1921 and its being banned in Germany.

One of her maids, Roswitha (Hedda Vernon), impersonates the queen and asks him to leave the other women safe and capture only her.

As a result, she is brought to the house of pillory where people hold a mock coronation with a crown of straw to humiliate her.

Two captured men, Gottwald (the queen's escort) and Herbolo (Roswitha's fiancé), flee from the house and inform Henry of the event.

Meanwhile, in Brescia, Roswitha quickly gains popularity among the menfolk for her beauty and this makes their wives grow jealous of her.

This was the first time that the Board had to consider a film in which a woman takes to prostitution in order to save other women.