Research
Paper on
Medieval Castle
The English Medieval castle,
similar its counterparts in Europe, is a peerless marvel. Most
buildings are constructed to fill a single, particular intent: a
church, a house, a factory, a school, a bank, a hotel etc. A
castle, relying upon the position of the man who occupied it,
could be differently, a military base, a seat of government, a
court and a stronghold for the neighboring area. It could be any
or the entire above but it was primarily the private residence
of its owner, his family and his dependents.
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England had known arming before the appearance of the castle.
The Iron Age peoples of Ancient Britain fortified hilltops with
huge earthworks, such as Maiden Castle in Dorset, for
consanguine armor. The Romans dotted the countryside with
countless military campsites and constructed the poignant chain
of fortresses, known as the Saxon Shore forts (for example,
Portchester Castle), to guard Southeast England from Saxon
raiders in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The Normans afterwards
constructed castles within the walls of two of these Roman Saxon
Shore forts, at Pevensey in Sussex and Portchester in Hampshire.
The Anglo-Saxons and the Danes barricaded their towns in back of
earthen banks and timber palisades to create barricaded towns,
burghs, from which is derived the recent word "borough."
However, all these structures were for, basically, common
purposes. What demarcates the castle from these and other,
subsequent fortifications is its capacity as a private
inhabitancy.
Castles were the yield of that period of Medieval history termed
the Age of Feudalism. Feudalism is a much-misused word. It is
stringently used for the military society which was created in
Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries AD and which extended
its most developed form in Normandy in the 11th century. Feudal
society resembled a monolith. At its peak was the king who owned
all the land in his kingdom. Instantaneously below the king was
a group of major landholders that held their land straight from
him, his tenants-in-chief. These were the great lords and
tycoons of the kingdom. In return for their land, they pledged
to fight for the king whenever and wherever he chose.
Following the fall of the Roman Empire, Germanic tribes started
to build heavy stone fortifications. Near the first millennium,
another force would extremely expanse the use of castles in
Western Europe. William the Conqueror, from Normandy, France,
invaded England in 1066 and swapped the medieval panorama
perpetually. Medieval societies soon saw the construction of
stone towers and walls in every country. Uncomplicated Norman
donjons primed into more complicated fortifications with
towering walls, defensive systems and could house occasionally
thousands of people. The castle endured a primary military
resource for much of the Middle Ages. Military tactics focused
on the taking of castles, and weapon technology gotten better
over the centuries to take advantage of any weakness that could
be found in castle architecture. It wasn't until the late 1600s,
when gunpowder and artillery became more effective, that the
castle became outmoded. Various fell into wreckage during the
succeeding centuries, but there remains superior examples of
medieval castle architecture that have been beautifully
restored. Stone, mortar, wood-these were the simple constituents
used to build some of the most heavily fortified structures ever
created.
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Primordial castles relied on the neighboring landscape to
furnish much of the protection. They castles were made of wood
and constructed on hills of "mottes". Encircled by a high,
wooden palisade, motte and bailey castles were used expansively
until the Norman invasion of 1066. These entrenchments proved
too easy to burn, and stone was then put to use more commonly.
Castles were very seldom the all but comfortable place to live,
with only the lord and his family given satisfactory heat and
other amenities. Medieval castles were constructed for safety,
not compassion. Windows were little more than clefts in the
wall. Cold, stone floors and walls very seldom kept in heat, and
water had to be brought by the bucketful all through the castle.
Walls were constructed high to guard from advancing armies, and
to provide needed observatory positions.
The simple stone and mortar architecture made restorations
justly easy to make. It was not unusual for stones to be used
over and over with each consecutive castle constructed on the
same location. Cannons and gunpowder made the castle ineffectual
and these big structures evolved in the later Middle Ages and
Renaissance to become manor homes and palaces. Taking a medieval
castle was an exalted goal for many commanders in the Middle
Ages and battles were often centered on these fortresses.
Because medieval castles occupied such strategic points along
trade routes, ports and rivers, they had the highest military
value. Primary locations for castle building include high, rocky
ground, mountain passes, isolated peninsulas, and Lake Islands.
Castle Dungeons
"Dungeon" is an adulteration of donjon, the French term for
tower. Opposite to accepted belief of the dank, dark cellar pit,
most prisoners were held in the castle's highest tower, avenue
to which was guarded by soldiers. Basement or pit dungeons did
exist with famous prisoners continued in literature. For six
years Francois Bonivard was chained to a pillar in Switzerland's
Château Chillon, near Montreux. In the former 1800s, romantic
poet Lord Byron spent a night in the dungeon and wrote The
Prisoner of Chillon. His name can still be seen carved into the
third pillar. The Château d'If near Marseille, France was the
background where Alexandre Dumas père's fictional character
liberated to become The Count of Monte Cristo. Medieval castles'
stonewalls; narrow windows and finite access points led many to
be transformed into penitentiaries. The Tower of London and
Paris' Bastille resided many political prisoners over the years.
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Castle Kitchens
Medieval kitchens were located outside the Great Hall to fire
safety. Spits roasting meat and large, iron cauldrons bubbling
with soups and stews were all part of the kitchen's daily
reflex. Lambs, cattle, pigs, and fowl were leashed or penned
around, some castles kept a pond stocked with fish, and cooking
herbs would be grown in nearby gardens. Castle kitchens could be
large enough to roast up to three complete oxen at a time. Water
would be provided by a well, but castles during the later Middle
Ages started to pipe water right into the kitchen zone. Utensils
would be washed in large stone sinks. Breakfast in the Middle
Ages was generally a simple meal of bread and water. Dinner
would be served between 10 a.m. and noon and feature various
courses. Dinner, chiefly for celebratory feasts, would
necessitate large quantities of food be prepared. At the
marriage of Henry III's daughter, sixty cattle were slaughtered
and prepared as the principal course for the meal.
Medieval carnivals, wedding celebrations, receiving visiting
nobles, and holiday festivities would all be celebrated in the
castle's great hall. Intricate tapestries and silks would line
the walls and while Middle Age castles could be rather dark, the
largest windows would be found here. Small wooden or stone
benches were placed beneath these windows so guests could take
pleasure from the view. Great Hall furnishings could be meager,
but they were very systematic. Long wooden tables and benches
would be covered with white linen during feasts, but could be
taken asunder effortlessly for dancing and entertainment. Castle
lords and their families would be seated at a table on a raised
wooden or stone throne at the far end of the hall.
Stone floors in the castle's Great Hall were very seldom covered
with carpets, although wealthy lords might cover them with
tapestries. Fair and rushes were the regular coverings, however
later in the Middle Ages herbs like majoram, camomile, basil,
sweet fennel, mint, germander and lavender would be added to aid
with the fragrance. These coverings were swept repeatedly, but
fresh materials would be soon added to cover up the more unclean
fragments on the floor. Candles and oil lamps would provide
light for evening feasts and celebrations. It was not odd for
guests to sleep in the hall after a night of merrymaking.
Not many images equal the wonder of a fairy-tale wedding in a
medieval castle. A princess wearing her best blue garments, a
noble knight in his shining armor, the lord and his lady leading
from a table of honor, and the whole village attending to
witness the delightful event. Medieval weddings in castles
attended to these scenes, but they were much more composite.
Matrimony in the Middle Ages meant sharing a lord's property or
a noble name.
Love was not frequently an issue when it came to medieval
marriages, however it did happen. Quite often the most
significant aim of marriage among nobles was lasting success and
the further acquisition of wealth. Arranged marriages within the
noble class would be determined when the future couple was very
young-often when the bride and groom were only 10 or 11 years
old. Legion of these future partners in marriage would not meet
for five to six years, on their wedding day. Matrimonial may
have taken place elsewhere, such as a church or in a peaceful
garden, however the wedding party would come back to the castle
to feast and celebrate for hours and in some instances even
days.
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