The Oubliette: A Medieval Torture of Unspeakable Horror...

The Medieval period often gets a bad rep compared to other historical periods as being the most brutal and unforgiving.

This is in some part due to the Victorians, who wanted to paint themselves as modernisers and separate their brave new world from the grisly past.

So, they concocted all manner of myths and lies about the medieval period to paint it as barbaric and savage.

Like they were the ones to talk with their artificial famine in Ireland, ravaging of India, and scramble for Africa, but whatever.

Medieval Europe was also a time of great cultural and technological advance, with inventions like the printing press.

However, as much as those pesky Victorians did lie and exaggerate about how barbaric and uncultured the medieval period was, there were still some pretty damn unpleasant goings on, and this torture method was certainly one of them. Unlike the Iron Maiden, falsely ascribed to Medieval Europe that turned out to be a 19th century hoax - the oubliette is a device you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

In French the verb 'oublier' means 'to forget' - and if that doesn't give you an idea of what's to come, then I don't know what will.

Those unlucky enough to face this torture were thrown into oubliette's to starve and be forgotten about.

They were very small spaces accessible only through one grate in the ceiling, which was likely out of reach, giving the prisoner a glimpse of light they'd never be able to reach.

There was no drainage either, so whoever was thrown in there would have had to stand or lie in their own filth - that is when it wasn't being thrown on you by those keeping guard.