Category Archives: Castles

Harlech Castle

Posted on October 27, 2013 by Ruth

Harlech Castle, on the western seacoast of Wales, is the Platonic ideal of a castle. It’s that castle you think of when you hear the word. It’s the castle that toy companies copy, the castle 11 year olds try to … Continue reading →

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Rhuddlan Castle

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Ruth

Rhuddlan was the home of the Prince of Wales at one time, that is, the independent ruler of Wales, not the titled son of the British king. Its location guards an approach to the mountain heartland of Wales. There have … Continue reading →

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Mont Orgueil: defending the Channel

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Ruth

It isn’t hard to see why they sited the castle on this rock. The site is a textbook case of what the Crusaders had learned about engineering. The castle is almost impossible to approach from any angle with land-based siege … Continue reading →

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Chateau de Tancarville

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Ruth

The castle was built at the estuary of the Seine River, where it narrows into a river rather than a bay inlet. One side fronted the river, elevated by a cliff. The defenses were focused on the other sides. The … Continue reading →

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European 13th century wars and castles

Posted on October 25, 2013 by Ruth

The main “front” in the Middle Ages was always considered to be the Holy Land, but by the mid 1200s, the Christian kingdoms there were a lost cause. By 1300, they had no more holdings in the Middle East, apart … Continue reading →

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Castles without keeps

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Ruth

In the earlier Norman castles, the key building was the Keep or Donjon. It was an all-purpose tower with living quarters and defenses built right in, usually with the chapel on the top floor to permit more windows. But as … Continue reading →

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Castles: arrow slits, windows, and chimney flues

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Ruth

Even in castles made mostly of fieldstone, dressed stone had to be used for anything structural. We can see it in the interior connecting doors that often have arches, but they’re even more key in the places where thick stone … Continue reading →

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Castles: stone walls

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Ruth

We’ve all seen sketches of long lines of Egyptian slaves pulling huge blocks of stone on rollers, or up ramps, to form the pyramids. For me, and perhaps for many of my readers, that’s the dominant image when I try … Continue reading →

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Castles: the Gatehouse

Posted on October 24, 2013 by Ruth

As the European castle evolved from the motte-and-bailey structure, to the bailey-and-keep, to the fully developed castle of the later Middle Ages, certain structure took on a life of their own. Chief among them, the gatehouse. By the late 1200s, … Continue reading →

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Crusader renovations

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Ruth

The First Crusade set up Christian kingdoms: the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Principalities (i.e. ruled by a Prince) of Cilicia and Antioch, and the Counties (i.e. ruled by a Count) of Edessa and Tripoli. The most famous Crusader castle ruin … Continue reading →

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