The Beja pillory was ordered to be built by King Manuel I, after the granting of the charter of 1521. It was initially installed in the courtyard of the Town Hall, and was transferred to the current Praça da República in the early 19th century. Like others from the same period, it had the emblems of the monarch at the top, namely the armillary sphere and the cross of Christ. During the 19th century, at an unknown date, it was dismantled, with most of its elements disappearing, with only the capital, the crown and part of the shaft remaining. In 1938 it was rebuilt, but with some changes introduced, excluding the elements that remained from the 16th century, and in 2001 it suffered an accident that damaged it. The Beja pillory is an example of revivalist reconstruction, the result of a perspective towards historical heritage that was very common in the first half of the 20th century.