- During its long history, Leeds Castle has been the home of several kings and queens of England, …
In medieval Europe, the castle was the most common type of stronghold and often the residence of the king or territorial lord. It played an important role in the military history of the Middle Ages. It was often employed by kings and nobles as a means to impose their authority on their territory. The castle remained the dominant fortification in western Europe until the 15th century, when the introduction of the cannon and gunpowder required the development of new forms of fortification. In ancient times walls were often built to protect whole territories from invaders. Hadrian's Wall in northern England, built by the Romans, and the Great Wall of China are examples of such fortifications. The Romans and others went further and walled their cities. Within the walls there was usually a citadel, a strongly built fortification occupying the highest or militarily most advantageous position. The Romans also built forts along their frontier. The Byzantine Empire, which succeeded the Roman Empire, continued the tradition of building fortified cities between the 6th and 10th centuries. When Islamic warriors then swept out of Arabia to conquer the Middle East, North Africa, and much Byzantine territory, they also started building forts. The castle (from the Latin word castellum), as it is commonly understood, was a particularly European form of fortification that emerged first in the 10th century. After the fall of the Roman Empire in western Europe, fortifications and city walls that survived the fall had remained the most important defensive structures. These were used in conjunction with small forts that were built by local dynasties in the areas that are now France and Germany. As invasions by Vikings and other peoples increased, fortresses were erected for local defense in France. They differed from earlier structures in size and function. The new castles were smaller and were built to establish the castle owner's authority over the surrounding region. The first castles were of the motte and bailey type. The motte was an earthen mound that was surrounded by a ditch or a moat. On top of the motte was the bailey, a wooden fence that enclosed a tower. There was also a fortified compound at the base of the motte. This type of castle could be built fairly quickly and offered protection against invaders. Castles offered local lords and kings a way to consolidate their power. William the Conqueror, for example, used castles to establish his authority in England after his invasion of the country in 1066. Beginning in the late 11th century, castle building underwent a great change. European society had become wealthier and technologically more advanced by that time, and the supply of timber had begun to dwindle. As a result, stone fortresses began to be built. This trend was reinforced in the 12th and 13th centuries by the men who returned from fighting the Crusades in the Middle East, where they had seen the imposing fortresses of the Byzantine and Islamic worlds. Castles remained the main type of fortification until the end of the Middle Ages. In 1494 the armies of the French king Charles VIII invaded Italy to capture the kingdom of Naples. Using the new military technology of artillery, they swept through the country and bombarded and destroyed many castles. This invasion signaled the end of the castle as a stronghold of defense and demonstrated the importance of cannon in warfare. The castle would be replaced with fortifications featuring buildings that were better suited for defense against modern weaponry. Many of the stone castles of the Middle Ages still stand. Some are tourist attractions, in various states of repair, set along the Rhine River from Mainz to Cologne in Germany, dotted about the English and French countrysides, or perched on hilltops in Spain. Plan of a CastleThe original French castles were built on open plains and therefore required the construction of the motte to raise the castle above the plain in order to make it more defensible. Later castles, however, were situated on rocky crags, at river forks, or in some position where advancing enemies would find approach extremely difficult, if not impossible. The fortifications became more elaborate with time, with considerable attention paid to making the living quarters more comfortable. The basic function of a castle was to serve as a military stronghold, and soldiers were often a castle's only permanent inhabitants. A constable, or commander, was in charge of the castle's defense. The troops under his direction made up the castle guard and usually included knights on horseback and other mounted men-at-arms. There were also foot soldiers in the guard, most notably archers and crossbowmen, and a variety of support personnel, including cooks, smiths, and carpenters. Other workmen were responsible for the maintenance of the castle, and a chaplain often supervised these workers in addition to performing his duties as a clergyman. The castle's lord, or owner, did not occupy the castle continually, but instead would move regularly among various estates. When in residence at the castle, the lord was accompanied by his family and attendants, who included guards, menservants, and ladies-in-waiting. In times of war, the number of military personnel was often greatly supplemented while residents from nearby areas may have been sheltered within the castle. A typical castle was usually guarded on the outskirts by a surrounding heavy wooden fence of sharp-pointed stakes called a barbican. Inside the barbican stretched the lists, or wards, which were strips of land that encircled the castle. The lists served as a road in time of peace and as a trap in war; once within the barbican the enemy was in the range of arrows shot from the castle walls. In peacetime the lists also served as an exercise ground for horses and occasionally as tournament grounds. Between the lists and the towering outer walls of the castle itself was the moat, usually filled with water. Across it stretched a drawbridge, which was raised every night. At the castle end of the drawbridge was the portcullis, a large sliding door made of wooden or iron grillwork hung over the entryway. It moved up and down in grooves and was raised every day and lowered at night. In times of danger it blocked the way to the heavy oak gates that served as doors to the castle compound. These gates were so large that they were rarely opened. A smaller door was built into one of them to provide easy entrance and exit for those who lived in the castle. The outer walls of most castles were massively thick, sometimes as much as 33 feet (10 meters). At intervals of between 50 and 80 feet (15 and 25 meters) were towers up to 98 feet (30 meters) high, each a small fort in itself with provisions to withstand a long siege. When an attack was expected, wooden balconies were hung over the outer edges of the wall. During an attack, defenders in the balconies threw large stones or poured boiling oil onto anyone trying to climb the wall. The wall and the towers often had hundreds of narrow openings through which defenders could shoot arrows and other missiles. Inside the walls was a courtyard. In smaller castles the courtyard was about 100 to 130 feet (30 to 40 meters) across; it could be 160 to 260 feet (50 to 80 meters) across in the largest castles. The courtyard contained the stables, a carpentry shop, the shop of the armorer and blacksmith, barracks for the men-at-arms and for servants, a chapel, and a storehouse. There was also an oven room where bread was baked, a kitchen, a kennel for dogs, and a well and drinking fountain. The largest building along the wall was the keep, or donjon (dungeon). The keep was the focal point of the castle—the place to which, in times of attack or siege, the whole population of the castle retired if the outer defenses were failing. The keep had walls up to 16 feet (5 meters) thick and was often protected by a moat. It contained private apartments, service rooms, weapons, and supplies with which to survive a siege, including a well to provide water. In some cases the keep also served as the castle owner's home. It contained the apartment for the master and his family and a great hall. This hall was the setting of social events such as wedding feasts, banquets, and knighting ceremonies. From Castle to PalaceThe terms castle and palace have often been used interchangeably, but originally they had different purposes. Castles were fortifications, while palaces have been built for centuries solely as residences for kings and nobles. Historically the palace preceded the castle by several centuries. Although the word derives from the Palatine Hill in Rome, where the emperors built their residences, palaces were built for the pharaohs of ancient Egypt as early as the 16th century BC. Much larger than the Egyptian palaces were those built in Assyria, which today is Iraq. At Khorsabad the palace of Sargon II, who ruled from 721 to 705 BC, extended over more than 25 acres (10 hectares). In Europe, when castles began to lose their defensive role in about the 15th century they became merely residences. Soon elaborate palaces were built throughout Europe. Many are still standing, notably the Pitti and Medici palaces in Florence; London's Buckingham, Whitehall, and St. James palaces; and France's Louvre, now one of the world's great museums, and Versailles, near Paris. Among palaces built most recently are those of Ludwig II of Bavaria, which date from the 19th century. The most famous is Neuschwanstein, located near Füssen, but for many the most appealing is the small Linderhof, a jewel of rococo design near Oberammergau. |