Authentic instruments for consultation in a dedicated, separate room
Enter the dark side of the Maison Forte de Reignac in the Dordogne. The exhibition on the inquisition and the death penalty is an unusual collection . Its aim is to provide information and demonstrate the machines, tools and techniques used in torture in the Middle Ages.
In a secluded room off the tour route, you can observe 80 artifacts related to torture and execution, illustrating various periods of the Middle Ages. Located behind the boutique, the room is open to the public, at the discretion of parents, to whom we recommend a visit before letting the youngest in. Sensitive souls can refrain from the visit and enjoy the heritage and historical assets of the Maison Forte de Reignac, without being exposed to these delicate subjects.
Human rights and the duty to remember at the exhibition on torture and the death penalty
Torture, a cruel practice, was legalized in 1252 by Pope Innocent IV. The death penalty was not abolished in France until 1986, when the law abolishing it was passed in 1981. Back in the Middle Ages, the Inquisition and its agents plunged Europe into terror and oppression. Under the “question” (torture), confessions are demanded, and opponents are forced to talk, extorting the truth as much as stopping the torments.
Why such an exhibition? As a duty of remembrance and to denounce a system of repression that still persists in certain contexts and places.
The classic tour of the Maison forte de Reignac does not include this exhibition. It is located in a room at the end of the tour, behind the store.
