Lectionary Calendar
Saturday, May 4th, 2024
the Fifth Week after Easter
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!

Bible Encyclopedias
Oubliette

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

Search for…
or
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Prev Entry
Ottumwa
Next Entry
Ouch
Resource Toolbox
Additional Links

a French architectural term (from oublier, to forget), used in two senses of a dungeon or cell in a prison or castle which could only be reached by a trap-door from another dungeon, and of a concealed opening or passage leading from a dungeon to the moat or river, into which bodies of prisoners who were to be secretly disposed of might be dropped. Viollet le Duc (Diet. de l'architecture) gives a diagram of such an oubliette at the castle of Pierrefonds, France. Many so-called "oubliettes" in medieval castles were probably outlets for the disposal of drainage, refuse, &c., which at times may have served for the getting rid of prisoners.

Bibliography Information
Chisholm, Hugh, General Editor. Entry for 'Oubliette'. 1911 Encyclopedia Britanica. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​bri/​o/oubliette.html. 1910.
adsFree icon
Ads FreeProfile