Dug In: Castles and Keeps Dover Castle, England, 1154-89, outer
curtain walls early 13 th cen.
Slide 2
Traditional histories on castle architecture start with castles
as feats of military engineering and ends with castles as
high-status country manors. Is this the whole story? Beaumaris
Castle, 1295, Wales (Great Britain)Azay-le-Rideau chteau, 1515-25,
France
Slide 3
First reference to privately owned castle toward the end of the
Carolingian period Invasions of Europe 9 th -10 th centuries
Division of Charlemagne's empire in 843 Charles the Bald: "Castles
and fortifications and enclosures made without our permission shall
be demolished by 1 st August" (864)
Slide 4
Here below, some pray, others fight, still others work. (11th
century, Bishop Adalbero of Laon) From the beginning, mankind has
been divided into three parts, among men of prayer, farmers, and
men of war. (11 th century, Bishop Gerard of Cambrai) Feudalism
emerges in Europe after the disintegration of the Carolingian
Empire
Slide 5
Normans identity emerges in 900-950 in Normandy William the
Conqueror (1024-87) Normans spread feudalism and its architecture
in their many conquests
Slide 6
First castles: motte-and-bailey castles Detail of Bayeux
Tapestry, ca. 1070-77 Normans spread feudalism and its architecture
in their many conquests
Slide 7
Remains of motte-and- bailey castle at Pleshey, England
two-story timber hall great hall and other buildings motte bailey
Motte-and-bailey castles
Slide 8
great hall and other buildings Saxon royal hall at Cheddar,
England, ca. 1100 Vernacular timber halls of northern Europe Halls
and Great Hall of the Saxon royal court at Yeavering, England, 7 th
- 9 th cen.
Slide 9
two-story timber hall future masonry keep Keep at Hedingham
Castle, 1140 England
Slide 10
10 Dover Castle, England, 1154-89, outer curtain walls early 13
th cen. outer curtain wall inner curtain wall keep (tower) II.
Exactly what was fortified about the fortified residence?
Slide 11
Double circuit of walls of the Byzantine capital,
Constantinople inner curtain wall outer curtain wall Defensive
systems: Byzantine innovations on Roman fortified walls in the
Byzantine Empire
Slide 12
City walls of the Byzantine capital, Constantinople curtain
wall defensive towers
Slide 13
machicolation- a projection at the top of a wall from which
missiles an be dropped down against an invading enemy Defensive
fortifications devil in the details
Slide 14
box machicolation rampart machicolations Crusader Castle, Crac
des Chevaliers, Syria, 1142-1213 Defensive fortifications devil in
the details
Slide 15
wood hoardings Wood hoarding mounted on curtain wall with or
w/o machicolations attack by mobile siege tower Ditch filled by
attackers Defense from wood hoarding mounted on the curtain wall
Defensive fortifications devil in the details
Slide 16
portcullis - a heavy barred gate that moves vertically up and
down in a fortress gateway Cairo (al-Qahira) Bab al-Futuh gate
Defensive fortifications devil in the details
Slide 17
arrow slits Cairo (al-Qahira) Bab al-Futuh gate Defensive
fortifications devil in the details
Slide 18
murder holes Defensive fortifications devil in the details
Slide 19
the trebuchet (medieval innovation) ballista (Greek &
Roman) Growing sophistication in siege machines in the Middle
Ages
Slide 20
Crac des Chevaliers open tank on the south side fed by an
aqueduct. glacis sloping wall tank/moat 20
Slide 21
in response to growing sophistication of siege engines III.
Keeps residential quarters of the elite laymen in 11 th- century
Europe most castles of lay elite Keep (donjon) of Loches Castle
Loches, France, 1030s keep or donjon or turris
Slide 22
22 engaged shafts ClunyLoches Engaged shafts, passageways in
walls, and ashlar masonry: these already appear at Loches before
they become widespread in church architecture Keeps and churches
share common decorative vocabulary
Slide 23
Carolinigan castles (castellum) and towers (turris) = church
westworks St. Gall Fulda Centula St.-Denis Corvey Abbey Possible
origins of the keep or donjon
Slide 24
24 Elite domus of a Carolingian abbot Great halls raised on a
basement established in France in the 11 th century Bayeux
Tapestry, 1066-82 Loches Possible origins of the keep or
donjon
Slide 25
25 4 floor levels inside the donjon at LochesPlan of the donjon
at Loches great hall chambers armory chambers Inside a keep stacked
halls and chambers
Slide 26
26 Inside the donjon at Loches today The chapel (3 rd floor)
Inside a keep religious space
Slide 27
Bodiam Castle, in East Sussex, England, 1385, owned by Sir
Edward Dalyngrigge IV. Bodiam: Last military castle or early
castellated manor house?
Slide 28
Bodiam Castle: as seen from an artillery platform or from
viewing terrace? Bodiam: Last military castle or early castellated
manor house?