ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Gibbet of Montfaucon

The gibbet of Montfaucon was basically a really scary structure that people in France used a long, long time ago as a punishment for people who did really bad things.

It was made up of a tall pole that had a crossbar on top. There were hooks attached to the crossbar that people would use to hang up the bodies of bad guys. Sometimes the bodies would be left there for a very long time to scare other people and remind them what could happen if they didn't follow the rules.

It wasn't just for regular people who committed crimes, though. Even important people like kings could have their bodies hung up there if they did something really, really bad.

Today, the gibbet of Montfaucon doesn't exist anymore because they realized that it was pretty scary and not a good way to punish people. Nowadays, people have other ways to deal with bad deeds, like going to jail or paying fines.