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142-619: The castle was built in the Baroque style between 1654 and 1676 by the wealthy military commander count Carl Gustaf Wrangel on a peninsula of Lake Mälaren between Stockholm and Uppsala . It was designed mainly by architect Casper Vogell  [ de ] , and other architects involved were Jean de la Vallée and Nicodemus Tessin the Elder . It is probable, that castle was built based on Ujazdów Castle in Warsaw , Poland. The castle

284-606: A drawbridge , although these were often replaced by stone bridges. The site of the 13th-century Caerphilly Castle in Wales covers over 30 acres (12 ha) and the water defences, created by flooding the valley to the south of the castle, are some of the largest in Western Europe. Battlements were most often found surmounting curtain walls and the tops of gatehouses, and comprised several elements: crenellations , hoardings , machicolations , and loopholes . Crenellation

426-468: A fort , fortress , fastness , or stronghold ) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare , and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime . The term is derived from Latin fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest . Some settlements in

568-430: A ravelin like angular gun platform screening one of the curtain walls which is protected from flanking fire from the towers of the main part of the fort. Another example is the fortifications of Rhodes which were frozen in 1522 so that Rhodes is the only European walled town that still shows the transition between the classical medieval fortification and the modern ones. A manual about the construction of fortification

710-471: A Roman fort or Byzantine tetrapyrgia which were square in plan and had square towers at each corner that did not project much beyond the curtain wall. The keep of these Crusader castles would have had a square plan and generally be undecorated. While castles were used to hold a site and control movement of armies, in the Holy Land some key strategic positions were left unfortified. Castle architecture in

852-462: A barbican was not just to provide another line of defence but also to dictate the only approach to the gate. A moat was a ditch surrounding a castle – or dividing one part of a castle from another – and could be either dry or filled with water. Its purpose often had a defensive purpose, preventing siege towers from reaching walls making mining harder, but could also be ornamental. Water moats were found in low-lying areas and were usually crossed by

994-438: A central keep . In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking fire . Many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castle's firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to

1136-574: A common origin, dealt with a particular mode of warfare, and exchanged influences. In different areas of the world, analogous structures shared features of fortification and other defining characteristics associated with the concept of a castle, though they originated in different periods and circumstances and experienced differing evolutions and influences. For example, shiro in Japan, described as castles by historian Stephen Turnbull , underwent "a completely different developmental history, were built in

1278-480: A completely different way and were designed to withstand attacks of a completely different nature". While European castles built from the late 12th and early 13th century onwards were generally stone, shiro were predominantly timber buildings into the 16th century. By the 16th century, when Japanese and European cultures met, fortification in Europe had moved beyond castles and relied on innovations such as

1420-648: A confined space and unable to retaliate. It is a popular myth that murder holes  – openings in the ceiling of the gateway passage – were used to pour boiling oil or molten lead on attackers; the price of oil and lead and the distance of the gatehouse from fires meant that this was impractical. This method was, however, a common practice in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean castles and fortifications, where such resources were abundant. They were most likely used to drop objects on attackers, or to allow water to be poured on fires to extinguish them. Provision

1562-521: A double wall of trenches and ramparts, and in the Congo forests concealed ditches and paths, along with the main works, often bristled with rows of sharpened stakes. Inner defenses were laid out to blunt an enemy penetration with a maze of defensive walls allowing for entrapment and crossfire on opposing forces. A military tactic of the Ashanti was to create powerful log stockades at key points. This

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1704-413: A fortification such as a city wall . The great hall was a large, decorated room where a lord received his guests. The hall represented the prestige, authority, and richness of the lord. Events such as feasts, banquets, social or ceremonial gatherings, meetings of the military council, and judicial trials were held in the great hall. Sometimes the great hall existed as a separate building, in that case, it

1846-609: A long time in a constant state of alert"; elsewhere the lord's wife presided over a separate residence ( domus , aula or mansio in Latin) close to the keep, and the donjon was a barracks and headquarters. Gradually, the two functions merged into the same building, and the highest residential storeys had large windows; as a result for many structures, it is difficult to find an appropriate term. The massive internal spaces seen in many surviving donjons can be misleading; they would have been divided into several rooms by light partitions, as in

1988-435: A lord's home or hall was fire as it was usually a wooden structure. To protect against this, and keep other threats at bay, there were several courses of action available: create encircling earthworks to keep an enemy at a distance; build the hall in stone; or raise it up on an artificial mound, known as a motte, to present an obstacle to attackers. While the concept of ditches , ramparts , and stone walls as defensive measures

2130-542: A massive scale, utilising stone, wood, iron and earth in their construction. The Romans encountered fortified settlements such as hill forts and oppida when expanding their territory into northern Europe. Their defences were often effective, and were only overcome by the extensive use of siege engines and other siege warfare techniques, such as at the Battle of Alesia . The Romans' own fortifications ( castra ) varied from simple temporary earthworks thrown up by armies on

2272-494: A mixture of castle technology from the Crusades , such as concentric fortification , and inspiration from earlier defences, such as Roman forts . Not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape. Although gunpowder

2414-642: A modern office building. Even in some large castles the great hall was separated only by a partition from the lord's chamber, his bedroom and to some extent his office. Curtain walls were defensive walls enclosing a bailey. They had to be high enough to make scaling the walls with ladders difficult and thick enough to withstand bombardment from siege engines which, from the 15th century onwards, included gunpowder artillery . A typical wall could be 3 m (10 ft) thick and 12 m (39 ft) tall, although sizes varied greatly between castles. To protect them from undermining , curtain walls were sometimes given

2556-413: A necessity for many cities. Amnya Fort in western Siberia has been described by archaeologists as one of the oldest known fortified settlements, as well as the northernmost Stone Age fort. In Bulgaria, near the town of Provadia a walled fortified settlement today called Solnitsata starting from 4700 BC had a diameter of about 300 feet (91 m), was home to 350 people living in two-storey houses, and

2698-539: A number of words in other languages also derive from castellum . The word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest of 1066 to denote this type of building, which was then new to England. In its simplest terms, the definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is "a private fortified residence". This contrasts with earlier fortifications, such as Anglo-Saxon burhs and walled cities such as Constantinople and Antioch in

2840-546: A permanent residence after the Second World War, when the von Essen family moved in. An apartment was built on the bottom floor with central heating, a modern bathroom and electricity. The upper floors were to be preserved as a museum. The renovation was carried out in two steps in 1947 and 1952, creating a modern living space inside the castle. In 1967, the Von Essen family, who inherited the castle from Brahe when

2982-498: A range of purposes, the most important of which were military, administrative, and domestic. As well as defensive structures, castles were also offensive tools which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory. Castles were established by Norman invaders of England for both defensive purposes and to pacify the country's inhabitants. As William the Conqueror advanced through England, he fortified key positions to secure

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3124-627: A result there were 4,000 in the country. There are very few castles dated with certainty from the mid-9th century. Converted into a donjon around 950, Château de Doué-la-Fontaine in France is the oldest standing castle in Europe . From 1000 onwards, references to castles in texts such as charters increased greatly. Historians have interpreted this as evidence of a sudden increase in the number of castles in Europe around this time; this has been supported by archaeological investigation which has dated

3266-539: A result, very very few kotas still stand to this day. Notable kotas: During Muhammad 's era in Arabia, many tribes made use of fortifications. In the Battle of the Trench , the largely outnumbered defenders of Medina, mainly Muslims led by Islamic prophet Muhammad, dug a trench , which together with Medina's natural fortifications, rendered the confederate cavalry (consisting of horses and camels ) useless, locking

3408-476: A scientific design. An example of this approach is Kerak . Although there were no scientific elements to its design, it was almost impregnable, and in 1187 Saladin chose to lay siege to the castle and starve out its garrison rather than risk an assault. During the late 11th and 12th centuries in what is now south-central Turkey the Hospitallers , Teutonic Knights and Templars established themselves in

3550-420: A stone skirt around their bases. Walkways along the tops of the curtain walls allowed defenders to rain missiles on enemies below, and battlements gave them further protection. Curtain walls were studded with towers to allow enfilading fire along the wall. Arrowslits in the walls did not become common in Europe until the 13th century, for fear that they might compromise the wall's strength. The entrance

3692-497: A stronghold and prison but was also a place where a knight or lord could entertain his peers. Over time the aesthetics of the design became more important, as the castle's appearance and size began to reflect the prestige and power of its occupant. Comfortable homes were often fashioned within their fortified walls. Although castles still provided protection from low levels of violence in later periods, eventually they were succeeded by country houses as high-status residences. Castle

3834-424: A wall with openings that allowed objects to be dropped on an enemy at the base of the wall in a similar fashion to hoardings. Arrowslits , also commonly called loopholes, were narrow vertical openings in defensive walls which allowed arrows or crossbow bolts to be fired on attackers. The narrow slits were intended to protect the defender by providing a very small target, but the size of the opening could also impede

3976-400: A wooden door. This led to the elevation of windows to the second storey – to make it harder to throw objects in – and to move the entrance from ground level to the second storey. These features are seen in many surviving castle keeps, which were the more sophisticated version of halls. Castles were not just defensive sites but also enhanced a lord's control over his lands. They allowed

4118-543: Is a corrupted form of "donjon" and means a dark, unwelcoming prison. Although often the strongest part of a castle and a last place of refuge if the outer defences fell, the keep was not left empty in case of attack but was used as a residence by the lord who owned the castle, or his guests or representatives. At first, this was usual only in England, when after the Norman Conquest of 1066 the "conquerors lived for

4260-475: Is a monument to the Swedish Age of Greatness , a period in the middle of the 17th century when Sweden expanded to become one of the major powers in Europe. The death of Wrangel in 1676 meant that the castle was never truly completed. The Brahe family who inherited the castle after Wrangel's death, had their own family castles and did not complete the interiors. Thus a large banqueting hall remains largely in

4402-508: Is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the generic fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble and command a specific defensive territory. Roman forts and hill forts were the main antecedents of castles in Europe, which emerged in the 9th century in the Carolingian Empire . The Early Middle Ages saw

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4544-433: Is ancient, raising a motte is a medieval innovation. A bank and ditch enclosure was a simple form of defence, and when found without an associated motte is called a ringwork; when the site was in use for a prolonged period, it was sometimes replaced by a more complex structure or enhanced by the addition of a stone curtain wall. Building the hall in stone did not necessarily make it immune to fire as it still had windows and

4686-428: Is another example of a Gaulish fortified settlement. The term casemate wall is used in the archaeology of Israel and the wider Near East , having the meaning of a double wall protecting a city or fortress, with transverse walls separating the space between the walls into chambers. These could be used as such, for storage or residential purposes, or could be filled with soil and rocks during siege in order to raise

4828-493: Is employed when in the course of a campaign it becomes desirable to protect some locality with the best imitation of permanent defences that can be made in a short time, ample resources and skilled civilian labour being available. An example of this is the construction of Roman forts in England and in other Roman territories where camps were set up with the intention of staying for some time, but not permanently. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from

4970-519: Is formally known as poliorcetics . In some texts, this latter term also applies to the art of building a fortification. Fortification is usually divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. Permanent fortifications are erected at leisure, with all the resources that a state can supply of constructive and mechanical skill, and are built of enduring materials. Field fortifications—for example breastworks —and often known as fieldworks or earthworks, are extemporized by troops in

5112-580: Is sometimes used as a catch-all term for all kinds of fortifications , and as a result has been misapplied in the technical sense. An example of this is Maiden Castle which, despite the name, is an Iron Age hill fort which had a very different origin and purpose. Although castle has not become a generic term for a manor house (like château in French and Schloss in German), many manor houses contain castle in their name while having few if any of

5254-407: Is the collective name for alternating crenels and merlons : gaps and solid blocks on top of a wall. Hoardings were wooden constructs that projected beyond the wall, allowing defenders to shoot at, or drop objects on, attackers at the base of the wall without having to lean perilously over the crenellations, thereby exposing themselves to retaliatory fire. Machicolations were stone projections on top of

5396-909: The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , where they discovered an extensive network of sophisticated fortifications which had a profound impact on the architecture of Crusader castles . Most of the Armenian military sites in Cilicia are characterized by: multiple bailey walls laid with irregular plans to follow the sinuosities of the outcrops; rounded and especially horseshoe-shaped towers; finely-cut often rusticated ashlar facing stones with intricate poured cores; concealed postern gates and complex bent entrances with slot machicolations; embrasured loopholes for archers; barrel, pointed or groined vaults over undercrofts, gates and chapels; and cisterns with elaborate scarped drains. Civilian settlement are often found in

5538-492: The Bayeux Tapestry 's depiction of Château de Dinan . Sometimes a motte covered an older castle or hall, whose rooms became underground storage areas and prisons beneath a new keep. A bailey, also called a ward, was a fortified enclosure. It was a common feature of castles, and most had at least one. The keep on top of the motte was the domicile of the lord in charge of the castle and a bastion of last defence, while

5680-746: The British Raj are found in the mainland Indian subcontinent (modern day India , Pakistan , Bangladesh and Nepal ). "Fort" is the word used in India for all old fortifications. Numerous Indus Valley Civilization sites exhibit evidence of fortifications. By about 3500 BC, hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain. Many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dykes and defensive walls, for neighbouring communities bickered constantly about

5822-637: The Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece , large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece , such as the ancient site of Mycenae (known for the huge stone blocks of its ' cyclopean ' walls). A Greek phrourion was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison , and is the equivalent of the Roman castellum or fortress. These constructions mainly served

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5964-512: The Iron Age . Hillforts in Britain typically used earthworks rather than stone as a building material. Many earthworks survive today, along with evidence of palisades to accompany the ditches. In central and western Europe, oppida emerged in the 2nd century BC; these were densely inhabited fortified settlements, such as the oppidum of Manching . Some oppida walls were built on

6106-1205: The Maratha Empire . A large majority of forts in India are in North India. The most notable forts are the Red Fort at Old Delhi , the Red Fort at Agra , the Chittor Fort and Mehrangarh Fort in Rajasthan , the Ranthambhor Fort , Amer Fort and Jaisalmer Fort also in Rajasthan and Gwalior Fort in Madhya Pradesh . Arthashastra , the Indian treatise on military strategy describes six major types of forts differentiated by their major modes of defenses. Forts in Sri Lanka date back thousands of years, with many being built by Sri Lankan kings. These include several walled cities. With

6248-586: The Mediterranean . The fortifications were continuously being expanded and improved. Around 600 BC, in Heuneburg , Germany, forts were constructed with a limestone foundation supported by a mudbrick wall approximately 4 metres tall, probably topped by a roofed walkway, thus reaching a total height of 6 metres. The wall was clad with lime plaster, regularly renewed. Towers protruded outwards from it. The Oppidum of Manching (German: Oppidum von Manching)

6390-569: The Napoleonic wars . Most of the colonial forts were garrisoned up until the early 20th century. The coastal forts had coastal artillery manned by the Ceylon Garrison Artillery during the two world wars. Most of these were abandoned by the military but retained civil administrative officers, while others retained military garrisons, which were more administrative than operational. Some were reoccupied by military units with

6532-527: The Nordic states and in Britain , the fortifications of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the harbour archipelago of Suomenlinna at Helsinki being fine examples. During the 18th century, it was found that the continuous enceinte , or main defensive enclosure of a bastion fortress, could not be made large enough to accommodate the enormous field armies which were increasingly being employed in Europe; neither could

6674-707: The Old City of Shanghai , Suzhou , Xi'an and the walled villages of Hong Kong . The famous walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor . The Forbidden City made up the inner portion of the Beijing city fortifications . During the Spanish Era several forts and outposts were built throughout the archipelago. Most notable is Intramuros ,

6816-480: The Romans . The gatehouse contained a series of defences to make a direct assault more difficult than battering down a simple gate. Typically, there were one or more portcullises  – a wooden grille reinforced with metal to block a passage – and arrowslits to allow defenders to harry the enemy. The passage through the gatehouse was lengthened to increase the amount of time an assailant had to spend under fire in

6958-618: The Siege of Ta'if in January 630, Muhammad ordered his followers to attack enemies who fled from the Battle of Hunayn and sought refuge in the fortress of Taif. The entire city of Kerma in Nubia (present day Sudan) was encompassed by fortified walls surrounded by a ditch. Archaeology has revealed various Bronze Age bastions and foundations constructed of stone together with either baked or unfired brick. The walls of Benin are described as

7100-634: The Tang dynasty (618–907 AD). The Great Wall of China had been built since the Qin dynasty (221–207 BC), although its present form was mostly an engineering feat and remodelling of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD). In addition to the Great Wall, a number of Chinese cities also employed the use of defensive walls to defend their cities. Notable Chinese city walls include the city walls of Hangzhou , Nanjing ,

7242-828: The Theodosian Walls of Constantinople , together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the Porta Nigra in Trier or Newport Arch in Lincoln . Hadrian's Wall was built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England following a visit by Roman Emperor Hadrian (AD 76–138) in AD ;122. A number of forts dating from the Later Stone Age to

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7384-401: The "Great Wall of Brodgar" it was 4 metres (13 ft) thick and 4 metres tall. The wall had some symbolic or ritualistic function. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces , temples and defensive walls. In Bronze Age Malta , some settlements also began to be fortified. The most notable surviving example is Borġ in-Nadur , where a bastion built in around 1500 BC

7526-544: The 17th century, constituting a benchmark in Swedish conservation techniques. The interiors of the castle are thought to be especially well preserved, considering that it is without modern heating in a cold climate. A thorough renovation of the roof was undertaken with a second stage of the renovation commencing in March 2015, as the roof had leaked resulting in mold and damage especially to the paintings. The finished parts of

7668-538: The 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of mock castles, part of a Romantic revival of Gothic architecture , but they had no military purpose. The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum , which is a diminutive of the word castrum , meaning "fortified place". The Old English castel , Occitan castel or chastel , French château , Spanish castillo , Portuguese castelo , Italian castello , and

7810-530: The 19th and early 20th centuries. The advances in modern warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Many United States Army installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. During the pioneering era of North America, many outposts on the frontiers, even non-military outposts, were referred to generically as forts. Larger military installations may be called fortresses; smaller ones were once known as fortalices. The word fortification can refer to

7952-465: The 9th and 10th centuries after the fall of the Carolingian Empire , which resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding them and they were both offensive and defensive structures: they provided a base from which raids could be launched as well as offered protection from enemies. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies,

8094-668: The Christians were victorious in the First Crusade (1096–1099), rather than nearly 100 years later. Remains of Roman structures in Western Europe were still standing in many places, some of which had flanking round-towers and entrances between two flanking towers. The castle builders of Western Europe were aware of and influenced by Roman design; late Roman coastal forts on the English " Saxon Shore " were reused and in Spain

8236-628: The East became more complex around the late 12th and early 13th centuries after the stalemate of the Third Crusade (1189–1192). Both Christians and Muslims created fortifications, and the character of each was different. Saphadin , the 13th-century ruler of the Saracens, created structures with large rectangular towers that influenced Muslim architecture and were copied again and again, however they had little influence on Crusader castles. In

8378-528: The Iberian Peninsula was the use of detached towers, called Albarrana towers , around the perimeter as can be seen at the Alcazaba of Badajoz . Probably developed in the 12th century, the towers provided flanking fire. They were connected to the castle by removable wooden bridges, so if the towers were captured the rest of the castle was not accessible. When seeking to explain this change in

8520-593: The Indus Valley Civilization were fortified. Forts also appeared in urban cities of the Gangetic valley during the second urbanisation period between 600 and 200 BC, and as many as 15 fortification sites have been identified by archaeologists throughout the Gangetic valley, such as Kaushambi , Mahasthangarh , Pataliputra , Mathura , Ahichchhatra , Rajgir , and Lauria Nandangarh . The earliest Mauryan period brick fortification occurs in one of

8662-641: The Iron Age and peaking in Iron Age II (10th–6th century BC). However, the construction of casemate walls had begun to be replaced by sturdier solid walls by the 9th century BC , probably due the development of more effective battering rams by the Neo-Assyrian Empire . Casemate walls could surround an entire settlement, but most only protected part of it. The three different types included freestanding casemate walls, then integrated ones where

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8804-475: The Italian trace italienne and star forts . A motte was an earthen mound with a flat top. It was often artificial, although sometimes it incorporated a pre-existing feature of the landscape. The excavation of earth to make the mound left a ditch around the motte, called a moat (which could be either wet or dry). Although the motte is commonly associated with the bailey to form a motte-and-bailey castle, this

8946-473: The Middle East; castles were not communal defences but were built and owned by the local feudal lords, either for themselves or for their monarch. Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal where, in return for military service and the expectation of loyalty, the lord would grant the vassal land. In the late 20th century, there was a trend to refine the definition of a castle by including

9088-518: The ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its ' cyclopean ' walls). In classical era Greece , the city of Athens built two parallel stone walls, called the Long Walls , that reached their fortified seaport at Piraeus a few miles away. In Central Europe , the Celts built large fortified settlements known as oppida , whose walls seem partially influenced by those built in

9230-404: The architectural characteristics, usually as their owners liked to maintain a link to the past and felt the term castle was a masculine expression of their power. In scholarship the castle, as defined above, is generally accepted as a coherent concept, originating in Europe and later spreading to parts of the Middle East, where they were introduced by European Crusaders. This coherent group shared

9372-410: The arrival of cannons on the 14th century battlefield . Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb and disperse the energy of cannon fire. Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. This placed a heavy emphasis on the geometry of

9514-426: The bailey was the home of the rest of the lord's household and gave them protection. The barracks for the garrison, stables, workshops, and storage facilities were often found in the bailey. Water was supplied by a well or cistern . Over time the focus of high status accommodation shifted from the keep to the bailey; this resulted in the creation of another bailey that separated the high status buildings – such as

9656-518: The castle display the full, sumptuous splendour of the Baroque. Its detailed chambers are home to collections of paintings, furniture, textiles and silver and glass tableware. One of the most famous paintings is the 16th century Vertumnus by Italian master Giuseppe Arcimboldo , depicting the face of Holy Roman emperor Rudolf II as the Roman god of the seasons using fruits and vegetables. The painting

9798-427: The collection are war spoils looted from Poland during the Deluge in 17th century. Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders . Scholars usually consider a castle to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a mansion , palace , and villa , whose main purpose

9940-410: The complexity and style of castles, antiquarians found their answer in the Crusades. It seemed that the Crusaders had learned much about fortification from their conflicts with the Saracens and exposure to Byzantine architecture . There were legends such as that of Lalys – an architect from Palestine who reputedly went to Wales after the Crusades and greatly enhanced the castles in the south of

10082-402: The construction of castle sites through the examination of ceramics. The increase in Italy began in the 950s, with numbers of castles increasing by a factor of three to five every 50 years, whereas in other parts of Europe such as France and Spain the growth was slower. In 950, Provence was home to 12 castles; by 1000, this figure had risen to 30, and by 1030 it was over 100. Although

10224-566: The control of prime agricultural land. The fortification varies by site. While Dholavira has stone-built fortification walls, Harrapa is fortified using baked bricks; sites such as Kalibangan exhibit mudbrick fortifications with bastions and Lothal has a quadrangular fortified layout. Evidence also suggested of fortifications in Mohenjo-daro . Even a small town—for instance, Kotada Bhadli, exhibiting sophisticated fortification-like bastions—shows that nearly all major and minor towns of

10366-474: The country – and it was assumed that great architects such as James of Saint George originated in the East. In the mid-20th century this view was cast into doubt. Legends were discredited, and in the case of James of Saint George it was proven that he came from Saint-Georges-d'Espéranche , in France. If the innovations in fortification had derived from the East, it would have been expected for their influence to be seen from 1100 onwards, immediately after

10508-407: The creation of some towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were largely made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb and disperse the energy of cannon fire. Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so

10650-463: The criterion of feudal ownership, thus tying castles to the medieval period; however, this does not necessarily reflect the terminology used in the medieval period. During the First Crusade (1096–1099), the Frankish armies encountered walled settlements and forts that they indiscriminately referred to as castles, but which would not be considered as such under the modern definition. Castles served

10792-964: The current level of military development. During the Renaissance era , the Venetian Republic raised great walls around cities, and the finest examples, among others, are in Nicosia (Cyprus), Rocca di Manerba del Garda (Lombardy), and Palmanova (Italy), or Dubrovnik (Croatia), which proved to be futile against attacks but still stand to this day. Unlike the Venetians, the Ottomans used to build smaller fortifications but in greater numbers, and only rarely fortified entire settlements such as Počitelj , Vratnik , and Jajce in Bosnia . Medieval-style fortifications were largely made obsolete by

10934-490: The defences be constructed far enough away from the fortress town to protect the inhabitants from bombardment by the besiegers, the range of whose guns was steadily increasing as better manufactured weapons were introduced. Threfore, since refortifying the Prussian fortress cities of Koblenz and Cologne after 1815, the principle of the ring fortress or girdle fortress was used: forts, each several hundred metres out from

11076-427: The defender if it was too small. A smaller horizontal opening could be added to give an archer a better view for aiming. Sometimes a sally port was included; this could allow the garrison to leave the castle and engage besieging forces. It was usual for the latrines to empty down the external walls of a castle and into the surrounding ditch. A postern is a secondary door or gate in a concealed location, usually in

11218-552: The dominant form of castle in England, Wales, and Ireland well into the 12th century. At the same time, castle architecture in mainland Europe became more sophisticated. The donjon was at the centre of this change in castle architecture in the 12th century. Central towers proliferated, and typically had a square plan, with walls 3 to 4 m (9.8 to 13.1 ft) thick. Their decoration emulated Romanesque architecture , and sometimes incorporated double windows similar to those found in church bell towers. Donjons, which were

11360-557: The early 13th century, Crusader castles were mostly built by Military Orders including the Knights Hospitaller , Knights Templar , and Teutonic Knights . The orders were responsible for the foundation of sites such as Krak des Chevaliers , Margat , and Belvoir . Design varied not just between orders, but between individual castles, though it was common for those founded in this period to have concentric defences. Fortification A fortification (also called

11502-413: The economy and justice. However, while castles proliferated in the 9th and 10th centuries the link between periods of insecurity and building fortifications is not always straightforward. Some high concentrations of castles occur in secure places, while some border regions had relatively few castles. It is likely that the castle evolved from the practice of fortifying a lordly home. The greatest threat to

11644-728: The escalation of the Sri Lankan Civil War ; Jaffna fort , for example, came under siege several times. Large tempered earth (i.e. rammed earth ) walls were built in ancient China since the Shang dynasty ( c.  1600 –1050 BC); the capital at ancient Ao had enormous walls built in this fashion (see siege for more info). Although stone walls were built in China during the Warring States (481–221 BC), mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until

11786-540: The family died out in 1930, sold the castle and its contents to the Swedish government; Skokloster Castle became a state museum and government agency named the Royal Armoury and Skokloster Castle with the Hallwyl Museum Foundation (LSH). the family still resides in the vicinity. In the 1970s, architect Ove Hidemark renovated the castle by using the same materials and building techniques as in

11928-400: The field, perhaps assisted by such local labour and tools as may be procurable and with materials that do not require much preparation, such as soil, brushwood, and light timber , or sandbags (see sangar ). An example of field fortification was the construction of Fort Necessity by George Washington in 1754. There is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. This

12070-475: The fortification to allow defensive cannonry interlocking fields of fire to cover all approaches to the lower and thus more vulnerable walls. The evolution of this new style of fortification can be seen in transitional forts such as Sarzanello in North West Italy which was built between 1492 and 1502. Sarzanello consists of both crenellated walls with towers typical of the medieval period but also has

12212-532: The frontiers of the Nile Valley to protect against invaders from neighbouring territories, as well as circle-shaped mud brick walls around their cities. Many of the fortifications of the ancient world were built with mud brick, often leaving them no more than mounds of dirt for today's archaeologists. A massive prehistoric stone wall surrounded the ancient temple of Ness of Brodgar 3200 BC in Scotland . Named

12354-592: The garrison to control the surrounding area, and formed a centre of administration, providing the lord with a place to hold court . Building a castle sometimes required the permission of the king or other high authority. In 864 the King of West Francia, Charles the Bald , prohibited the construction of castella without his permission and ordered them all to be destroyed. This is perhaps the earliest reference to castles, though military historian R. Allen Brown points out that

12496-504: The generic fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory. An example of this is the massive medieval castle of Carcassonne . Defensive fences for protecting humans and domestic animals against predators was used long before the appearance of writing and began "perhaps with primitive man blocking the entrances of his caves for security from large carnivores ". From very early history to modern times, walls have been

12638-532: The height of the Maguindanao Sultanate 's power, they blanketed the areas around Western Mindanao with kotas and other fortifications to block the Spanish advance into the region. These kotas were usually made of stone and bamboo or other light materials and surrounded by trench networks. As a result, some of these kotas were burned easily or destroyed. With further Spanish campaigns in the region,

12780-703: The immediate proximity of these fortifications. After the First Crusade, Crusaders who did not return to their homes in Europe helped found the Crusader states of the Principality of Antioch , the County of Edessa , the Kingdom of Jerusalem , and the County of Tripoli . The castles they founded to secure their acquisitions were designed mostly by Syrian master-masons. Their design was very similar to that of

12922-428: The increase was slower in Spain, the 1020s saw a particular growth in the number of castles in the region, particularly in contested border areas between Christian and Muslim lands. Despite the common period in which castles rose to prominence in Europe, their form and design varied from region to region. In the early 11th century, the motte and keep – an artificial mound with a palisade and tower on top –

13064-413: The inner wall was part of the outer buildings of the settlement, and finally filled casemate walls, where the rooms between the walls were filled with soil right away, allowing for a quick, but nevertheless stable construction of particularly high walls. The Romans fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls. The most famous of these are the largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and

13206-402: The intervals between them. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification. Star forts did not fare well against the effects of high explosives and the intricate arrangements of bastions, flanking batteries and the carefully constructed lines of fire for the defending cannon could be rapidly disrupted by explosive shells. Worse,

13348-571: The land he had taken. Between 1066 and 1087, he established 36 castles such as Warwick Castle , which he used to guard against rebellion in the English Midlands . Towards the end of the Middle Ages, castles tended to lose their military significance due to the advent of powerful cannons and permanent artillery fortifications; as a result, castles became more important as residences and statements of power. A castle could act as

13490-413: The large open ditches surrounding forts of this type were an integral part of the defensive scheme, as was the covered way at the edge of the counter scarp . The ditch was extremely vulnerable to bombardment with explosive shells. In response, military engineers evolved the polygonal style of fortification. The ditch became deep and vertically sided, cut directly into the native rock or soil, laid out as

13632-414: The lay of the land (the result was often irregular or curvilinear structures). The design of castles was not uniform, but these were features that could be found in a typical castle in the mid-12th century. By the end of the 12th century or the early 13th century, a newly constructed castle could be expected to be polygonal in shape, with towers at the corners to provide enfilading fire for

13774-499: The lord's chambers and the chapel – from the everyday structures such as the workshops and barracks. From the late 12th century there was a trend for knights to move out of the small houses they had previously occupied within the bailey to live in fortified houses in the countryside. Although often associated with the motte-and-bailey type of castle, baileys could also be found as independent defensive structures. These simple fortifications were called ringworks . The enceinte

13916-420: The loss of the donjon. Where keeps did exist, they were no longer square but polygonal or cylindrical. Gateways were more strongly defended, with the entrance to the castle usually between two half-round towers which were connected by a passage above the gateway – although there was great variety in the styles of gateway and entrances – and one or more portcullis. A peculiar feature of Muslim castles in

14058-428: The main antecedents of castles in Europe , which emerged in the 9th century in the Carolingian Empire . The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only rarely protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and ditches . From the 12th century, hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe, which very often obtained

14200-467: The main living quarters of the castle and usually the most strongly defended point of a castle before the introduction of concentric defence . "Keep" was not a term used in the medieval period – the term was applied from the 16th century onwards – instead " donjon " was used to refer to great towers, or turris in Latin. In motte-and-bailey castles, the keep was on top of the motte. "Dungeon"

14342-444: The move, to elaborate permanent stone constructions, notably the milecastles of Hadrian's Wall . Roman forts were generally rectangular with rounded corners – a "playing-card shape". In the medieval period, castles were influenced by earlier forms of elite architecture, contributing to regional variations. Importantly, while castles had military aspects, they contained a recognisable household structure within their walls, reflecting

14484-438: The multi-functional use of these buildings. The subject of the emergence of castles in Europe is a complex matter which has led to considerable debate. Discussions have typically attributed the rise of the castle to a reaction to attacks by Magyars , Muslims , and Vikings and a need for private defence. The breakdown of the Carolingian Empire led to the privatisation of government, and local lords assumed responsibility for

14626-573: The number of castles being built went into decline. This has been partly attributed to the higher cost of stone-built fortifications, and the obsolescence of timber and earthwork sites, which meant it was preferable to build in more durable stone. Although superseded by their stone successors, timber and earthwork castles were by no means useless. This is evidenced by the continual maintenance of timber castles over long periods, sometimes several centuries; Owain Glyndŵr 's 11th-century timber castle at Sycharth

14768-539: The old walled city of Manila located along the southern bank of the Pasig River . The historic city was home to centuries-old churches, schools, convents, government buildings and residences, the best collection of Spanish colonial architecture before much of it was destroyed by the bombs of World War II . Of all the buildings within the 67-acre city, only one building, the San Agustin Church, survived

14910-440: The original enceinte, were carefully sited so as to make best use of the terrain and to be capable of mutual support with the neighbouring forts. Gone were citadels surrounding towns: forts were to be moved to the outside of the cities some 12 km to keep the enemy at a distance so their artillery could not bombard the city center. From now on a ring of forts were to be built at a spacing that would allow them to effectively cover

15052-738: The outset of colonial rule in the Indian Ocean , Sri Lanka was occupied by several major colonial empires that from time to time became the dominant power in the Indian Ocean. The colonists built several western-style forts, mostly in and around the coast of the island. The first to build colonial forts in Sri Lanka were the Portuguese ; these forts were captured and later expanded by the Dutch . The British occupied these Dutch forts during

15194-409: The practice of improving an area's defense with defensive works. City walls are fortifications but are not necessarily called fortresses. The art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castrametation since the time of the Roman legions . Laying siege to a fortification and of destroying it is commonly called siegecraft or siege warfare and

15336-471: The purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Though smaller than a real fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch and maintain the border. The art of setting out a military camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called "castrametation" since the time of the Roman legions . Fortification is usually divided into two branches: permanent fortification and field fortification. There

15478-424: The residence of the lord of the castle, evolved to become more spacious. The design emphasis of donjons changed to reflect a shift from functional to decorative requirements, imposing a symbol of lordly power upon the landscape. This sometimes led to compromising defence for the sake of display. Until the 12th century, stone-built and earth and timber castles were contemporary, but by the late 12th century

15620-656: The resistance of the outer wall against battering rams. Originally thought to have been introduced to the region by the Hittites , this has been disproved by the discovery of examples predating their arrival, the earliest being at Ti'inik (Taanach) where such a wall has been dated to the 16th century BC . Casemate walls became a common type of fortification in the Southern Levant between the Middle Bronze Age (MB) and Iron Age II, being more numerous during

15762-429: The right of fortification soon afterward. The founding of urban centres was an important means of territorial expansion and many cities, especially in eastern Europe , were founded precisely for this purpose during the period of Eastern Colonisation . These cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces. The fortifications of these settlements were continuously improved to reflect

15904-475: The same condition as the builders left it in the summer of 1676. It is now called the Unfinished Hall. Skokloster Castle is the only building in Europe with a complete 17th-century building site of equal authenticity. Alongside the Unfinished Hall there are a number of other related items from the same period, as several hundred tools and about a dozen books on construction. The castle was converted into

16046-435: The stockades by mounting old-fashioned bayonet charges, after laying down some covering fire. Defensive works were of importance in the tropical African Kingdoms. In the Kingdom of Kongo field fortifications were characterized by trenches and low earthen embankments. Such strongpoints ironically, sometimes held up much better against European cannon than taller, more imposing structures. Roman forts and hill forts were

16188-542: The structures also served as centres of administration and symbols of power. Urban castles were used to control the local populace and important travel routes, and rural castles were often situated near features that were integral to life in the community, such as mills, fertile land, or a water source. Many northern European castles were originally built from earth and timber but had their defences replaced later by stone . Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits and relying on

16330-438: The stupa mounds of Lauria Nandangarh, which is 1.6 km in perimeter and oval in plan and encloses a habitation area. Mundigak ( c.  2500 BC ) in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks. India currently has over 180 forts, with the state of Maharashtra alone having over 70 forts, which are also known as durg , many of them built by Shivaji , founder of

16472-636: The sultanate was subdued and a majority of kotas dismantled or destroyed. kotas were not only used by the Muslims as defense against Spaniards and other foreigners, renegades and rebels also built fortifications in defiance of other chiefs in the area. During the American occupation, rebels built strongholds and the datus, rajahs, or sultans often built and reinforced their kotas in a desperate bid to maintain rule over their subjects and their land. Many of these forts were also destroyed by American expeditions, as

16614-485: The two sides in a stalemate. Hoping to make several attacks at once, the confederates persuaded the Medina-allied Banu Qurayza to attack the city from the south. However, Muhammad's diplomacy derailed the negotiations, and broke up the confederacy against him. The well-organized defenders, the sinking of confederate morale, and poor weather conditions caused the siege to end in a fiasco. During

16756-571: The wall around the city of Ávila imitated Roman architecture when it was built in 1091. Historian Smail in Crusading warfare argued that the case for the influence of Eastern fortification on the West has been overstated, and that Crusaders of the 12th century in fact learned very little about scientific design from Byzantine and Saracen defences. A well-sited castle that made use of natural defences and had strong ditches and walls had no need for

16898-499: The walls were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes to improve protection. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to another stage in the evolution of fortification. Star forts did not fare well against the effects of high explosives, and the intricate arrangements of bastions, flanking batteries and the carefully constructed lines of fire for the defending cannon could be rapidly disrupted by explosive shells. Steel -and- concrete fortifications were common during

17040-413: The walls. The towers would have protruded from the walls and featured arrowslits on each level to allow archers to target anyone nearing or at the curtain wall. These later castles did not always have a keep, but this may have been because the more complex design of the castle as a whole drove up costs and the keep was sacrificed to save money. The larger towers provided space for habitation to make up for

17182-559: The war. Partial listing of Spanish forts: The Ivatan people of the northern islands of Batanes built their so-called idjang on hills and elevated areas to protect themselves during times of war. These fortifications were likened to European castles because of their purpose. Usually, the only entrance to the castles would be via a rope ladder that would only be lowered for the villagers and could be kept away when invaders arrived. The Igorots built forts made of stone walls that averaged several meters in width and about two to three times

17324-410: The width in height around 2000 BC. The Muslim Filipinos of the south built strong fortresses called kota or moong to protect their communities. Usually, many of the occupants of these kotas are entire families rather than just warriors. Lords often had their own kotas to assert their right to rule, it served not only as a military installation but as a palace for the local Lord. It is said that at

17466-460: The word castella may have applied to any fortification at the time. In some countries the monarch had little control over lords, or required the construction of new castles to aid in securing the land so was unconcerned about granting permission – as was the case in England in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest and the Holy Land during the Crusades . Switzerland is an extreme case of there being no state control over who built castles, and as

17608-634: The world's second longest man-made structure, as well as the most extensive earthwork in the world, by the Guinness Book of Records, 1974 . The walls may have been constructed between the thirteenth and mid-fifteenth century CE or, during the first millennium CE. Strong citadels were also built other in areas of Africa. Yorubaland for example had several sites surrounded by the full range of earthworks and ramparts seen elsewhere, and sited on ground. This improved defensive potential—such as hills and ridges. Yoruba fortifications were often protected with

17750-400: The world. Mostly muskets and pistols , but also swords - including Japanese samurai swords - small cannons, pikes and crossbows. The weapons collection also includes various exotic items such as a 16th-century Eskimo canoe and snake skins. The original scale model of the castle, which the architect Caspar Vogel had made to demonstrate his plan to Count Wrangel, is also there. A large part of

17892-430: Was a large Celtic proto-urban or city-like settlement at modern-day Manching (near Ingolstadt), Bavaria (Germany). The settlement was founded in the 3rd century BC and existed until c.  50–30 BC . It reached its largest extent during the late La Tène period (late 2nd century BC), when it had a size of 380 hectares. At that time, 5,000 to 10,000 people lived within its 7.2 km long walls. The oppidum of Bibracte

18034-625: Was called a hall-house. Historian Charles Coulson states that the accumulation of wealth and resources, such as food, led to the need for defensive structures. The earliest fortifications originated in the Fertile Crescent , the Indus Valley , Europe, Egypt, and China where settlements were protected by large walls. In Northern Europe , hill forts were first developed in the Bronze Age , which then proliferated across Europe in

18176-477: Was common, and usually between local lords. Castles were introduced into England shortly before the Norman Conquest in 1066. Before the 12th century castles were as uncommon in Denmark as they had been in England before the Norman Conquest. The introduction of castles to Denmark was a reaction to attacks from Wendish pirates, and they were usually intended as coastal defences. The motte and bailey remained

18318-658: Was employed in later wars against the British to block British advances. Some of these fortifications were over a hundred yards long, with heavy parallel tree trunks. They were impervious to destruction by artillery fire. Behind these stockades, numerous Ashanti soldiers were mobilized to check enemy movement. While formidable in construction, many of these strongpoints failed because Ashanti guns, gunpowder and bullets were poor, and provided little sustained killing power in defense. Time and time again British troops overcame or bypassed

18460-521: Was encircled by a fortified wall. The huge walls around the settlement, which were built very tall and with stone blocks which are 6 feet (1.8 m) high and 4.5 feet (1.4 m) thick, make it one of the earliest walled settlements in Europe but it is younger than the walled town of Sesklo in Greece from 6800 BC. Uruk in ancient Sumer ( Mesopotamia ) is one of the world's oldest known walled cities . The Ancient Egyptians also built fortresses on

18602-505: Was exclusively for pleasance and are not primarily fortresses but may be fortified. Use of the term has varied over time and, sometimes, has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th- and 20th-century homes built to resemble castles. Over the Middle Ages, when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls , arrowslits , and portcullises , were commonplace. European-style castles originated in

18744-435: Was found. Exceptions were few—notably, ancient Sparta and ancient Rome did not have walls for a long time, choosing to rely on their militaries for defence instead. Initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar . In ancient Greece , large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece , such as

18886-430: Was in short supply. Although stone construction would later become common elsewhere, from the 11th century onwards it was the primary building material for Christian castles in Spain, while at the same time timber was still the dominant building material in north-west Europe. Historians have interpreted the widespread presence of castles across Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries as evidence that warfare

19028-556: Was introduced to Europe in the 14th century, it did not significantly affect castle building until the 15th century, when artillery became powerful enough to break through stone walls. While castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery star forts with no role in civil administration, and château or country houses that were indefensible. From

19170-420: Was made in the upper storey of the gatehouse for accommodation so the gate was never left undefended, although this arrangement later evolved to become more comfortable at the expense of defence. During the 13th and 14th centuries the barbican was developed. This consisted of a rampart , ditch, and possibly a tower, in front of the gatehouse which could be used to further protect the entrance. The purpose of

19312-419: Was not always the case and there are instances where a motte existed on its own. "Motte" refers to the mound alone, but it was often surmounted by a fortified structure, such as a keep, and the flat top would be surrounded by a palisade . It was common for the motte to be reached over a flying bridge (a bridge over the ditch from the counterscarp of the ditch to the edge of the top of the mound), as shown in

19454-417: Was often the weakest part in a circuit of defences. To overcome this, the gatehouse was developed, allowing those inside the castle to control the flow of traffic. In earth and timber castles, the gateway was usually the first feature to be rebuilt in stone. The front of the gateway was a blind spot and to overcome this, projecting towers were added on each side of the gate in a style similar to that developed by

19596-478: Was published by Giovanni Battista Zanchi in 1554. Fortifications also extended in depth, with protected batteries for defensive cannonry, to allow them to engage attacking cannons to keep them at a distance and prevent them from bearing directly on the vulnerable walls. The result was star shaped fortifications with tier upon tier of hornworks and bastions , of which Fort Bourtange is an excellent example. There are also extensive fortifications from this era in

19738-422: Was still in use by the start of the 15th century, its structure having been maintained for four centuries. At the same time there was a change in castle architecture. Until the late 12th century castles generally had few towers; a gateway with few defensive features such as arrowslits or a portcullis; a great keep or donjon, usually square and without arrowslits; and the shape would have been dictated by

19880-506: Was taken as war booty in Prague in the 17th century. The castle armoury and library are noteworthy, both founded on Wrangel's collections of weapons and books and enriched and enlarged by other 17th- and 18th-century aristocratic bequests, such as those by Carl Gustaf Bielke . The library contains both terrestrial and celestial globes by Anders Åkerman . The armoury contains the largest collection of personal 17th century military weapons in

20022-425: Was the castle's main defensive enclosure, and the terms "bailey" and "enceinte" are linked. A castle could have several baileys but only one enceinte. Castles with no keep, which relied on their outer defences for protection, are sometimes called enceinte castles; these were the earliest form of castles, before the keep was introduced in the 10th century. A keep was a great tower or other building that served as

20164-516: Was the most common form of castle in Europe, everywhere except Scandinavia. While Britain, France, and Italy shared a tradition of timber construction that was continued in castle architecture, Spain more commonly used stone or mud-brick as the main building material. The Muslim invasion of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century introduced a style of building developed in North Africa reliant on tapial , pebbles in cement, where timber

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