Dungeon 358364 224876786 2008-07-10T20:21:30Z 83.226.204.253 [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 224875738 by [[Special:Contributions/83.226.204.253|83.226.204.253]] ([[User talk:83.226.204.253|talk]]) :''This is about European castles. For other uses see [[Dungeon (disambiguation)]]'' [[Image:BlarneyCastle5.jpg|right|thumb|The dungeons of [[Blarney Castle]].]] A '''dungeon''' is a place where [[prisoner]]s are kept. In the past, it used to double as the [[keep]]. ==Etymology== The word dungeon was derived from the [[Old French]] ''donjon'', which came from the [[Latin]] ''dominus'', "lord". However, in French the term ''donjon'' means "keep" (a form of tower), and the term ''oubliette'' or ''cachot'' (a form of prison) is a more appropriate translation of the English "dungeon". This word is a [[false friend]]. ==History== In its original [[medieval]] usage, the dungeon was the [[keep]], the main [[tower]] of a [[castle]] which formed the final defensive position the [[garrison]] could retreat to when outer [[fortification]]s were overcome. It was also a safe, if not comfortable, place to keep prisoners. Once more luxurious housing for the lord of the castle was constructed, the dungeon was used mainly for this purpose. Its meaning has evolved over time to also mean an underground [[prison]] or [[burial vault]], typically built underneath a [[castle]]. In [[1613]], [[Anton Praetorius]] described the terrible situation of the prisoners in the dungeons in his book ''Gründlicher Bericht über Zauberei und Zauberer (Thorough Report about Wizardry and Wizards)''. ==Features== Although many real dungeons are simply a single plain [[room (architecture)|room]] with a heavy door or with access only from a [[hatchway]] or [[trapdoor]] in the floor of the room above, the use of dungeons for [[torture]], along with their association to common human fears of being trapped underground, have made dungeons a powerful [[metaphor]] in a variety of contexts. ==Modern criminal individuals who have built dungeons:== *[[John Jamelske]], USA *[[John Esposito(Criminal)]], USA <ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE2D6113EF934A15754C0A962958260</ref> *[[Josef Fritzl]], Austria *[[Josh Stannard]], England *[[Marc Dutroux]], Belgium *[[Wolfgang Priklopil]], Austria *[[Viktor Mokhov]], Russia<ref>http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/06/1083635279844.html</ref> *[[Blaze Brigade]], PLB ==References== {{refs}} ==See also== *[[Oubliette]] [[Category:Castles]] [[Category:Rooms]] [[Category:Imprisonment and detention]] {{room-stub}} [[bg:Донжон]] [[da:Donjon]] [[de:Kerker]] [[es:Mazmorra]] [[fr:Oubliette]] [[ko:던전]] [[ja:ダンジョン]] [[pl:Lochy]] [[pt:Masmorra]] [[pt:Torre de menagem]] [[ru:Донжон]] [[sr:Донжон кула]]