Castle
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{{other|Castle (disambiguation)}}
[[Image:Windsor Castle at Sunset - Nov 2006.jpg|300px|thumb|[[Windsor Castle]] is an official residence of the [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|monarch]] of the [[United Kingdom]] and is over 900 years old.]]
A '''castle''' is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the [[Middle Ages]]. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms [[fort]] or [[fortress]] in that it describes a building which serves as a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territory.
[[Castra|Roman fort]]s and [[hill fort]]s were the main antecedents of castles in [[Europe]], which emerged in the 9th century in [[Carolingian Empire|Carolingian France]]. The [[Cannon in the Middle Ages|advent of cannon]] and [[gunpowder]] changed the needs of warfare in Europe, limiting the effectiveness of the castle and leading to the rise of the [[fort]].
Similar constructions in [[Russia]] (''[[Kremlin]]'') and feudal [[Japan]] (''[[Japanese castle|Shiro]]'') are also considered castles.
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==Definition==
Castle comes from the [[Latin language|Latin]] word ''castellum''. This is a diminutive of the word ''castrum'', which means "fortified place". The word "castle" ('''Castell''') was introduced into English shortly before the [[Normans|Norman]] Conquest to denote this type of fortress, then new to England, brought in by the Norman [[knight]]s. In [[Spain]], a fortified dwelling on a height for the administering authority retains its [[Moorish]] name of ''[[alcázar]]'', whilst ''[[Japanese castle|shiro]]'' also figure prominently in [[History of Japan|Japanese history]], where the feudal ''[[daimyo|daimyō]]'' inhabited them.
A French castle is a '''Château-Fort''', for in French a simple ''château'' connotes a grand [[country house]] at the heart of an [[Estate (house)|estate]], with non-military, purely residential function. When European castles were opened up and expanded into pleasure dwellings and power houses from the late 15th century, their "castle" designations, relics of the [[feudalism|feudal]] age, often remained attached to the dwelling, resulting in many non-military castles and ''[[châteaux]]''.
In [[Germany]] there are two names for what would be called a castle in English, ''[[Burg]]'' ('''Burh''') and ''Schloss''. A ''Burg'' is a medieval structure of military significance, while a ''Schloss'' was built after the Middle Ages as a palace and not for defensive purposes. However, these are not usually palaces in the French style, but instead are styled on medieval mountain castles and fairytale notions, and from all appearances are often castles to an English speaker.
In Celtic countries, ''Caer'' or ''castell'' ([[Welsh language|Welsh]]), ''[[Dun|dún]]'' and ''caisleán'' ([[Irish language|Irish]]), ''dùn'' and ''caisteal'' ([[Scottish Gaelic language|Scots Gaelic]]) are used.
In spite of the generally accepted definition, the word "castle" is sometimes used to mean a [[citadel]] (such as the castles of [[Badajoz]] and [[Burgos]]) or small detached ''forts d'arrêt'' in modern times and, traditionally, in [[United Kingdom|Britain]] it has also been used to refer to [[Hill fort|prehistoric earthworks]] (e.g. [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]]). The use of the Spanish equivalent ''castillo'' can be equally misleading, as it can refer to true castles and forts (eg. [[Castillo de San Marcos]]); terms such as ''Fortaleza'' ("fortress") are in similar situations.
[[Image:Tower of London, Traitors Gate.jpg|thumb|left|220px|The Norman "White Tower", the [[keep]] of the [[Tower of London]], exemplifies all uses of a castle: city defence, a residence, and a place of refuge in times of crisis.]]
====Defining features====
The chief distinguishing features of castles, as opposed to other defensive structures, can be defined as follows:
*Castles were places of protection from an invading enemy, a place of retreat. This is the purpose behind such stereotypical castle features as [[portcullis]]es, [[battlement]]s and [[drawbridge]]s.
*Castles were also offensive weapons, built in otherwise hostile territories from which to control surrounding lands, as forward camps. In particular, during the [[High Middle Ages]], castles were often built for territorial expansion and regional control. A castle was a stronghold from which a lord could control surrounding territory.
*Castles were either built as, or evolved into, residences for the monarch or lord who built them.
These three purposes distinguish the castle from other fortresses — which are usually purely defensive (like citadels and city walls) or purely offensive (a military camp) — or edifices that are entirely residential in nature, like palaces. Castles such as the [[Tower of London]] served as prisons.<ref name="Pockets">Philip Wilkinson, ''Castles (Pocket Guides)''. Publisher: DK CHILDREN; Pocket edition (September 29, 1997). ISBN 0789420473. ISBN 978-0789420473 </ref>
[[Image:Alhambradesdegeneralife.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The [[Al-Andalus|Moorish]] [[Alhambra]] demonstrates an impregnable fortress evolving into a [[Palace of Charles V|Royal palace]] after the [[Reconquista]].]]
====Evolution====
A castle was not only a bastion and place for detention of prisoners but also a social place where a knight or lord could entertain his peers. Over time the aesthetics of the design increased in importance, as the appearance and size began to reflect the prestige and power of the occupant.
Castles were built as defensive measures and offensive weapons, but often over time comfortable homes evolved within the fortified walls. An example is the [[Windsor Castle]], first built as a [[Norman Conquest]] fortress; today a home to the [[Elizabeth II|Queen of the United Kingdom]]. The [[Alhambra]] in [[Al-Andalus]] incorporated both defensive and residential features, but after the [[Reconquista]] unified [[Spain]], its importance shifted and it became a [[Palace of Charles V|palace under Charles V]].
==Architecture and development==
===Early castles===
[[Image:Ambleside Roman Fort - Project Gutenberg eText 19115.png|thumb|left|200px|[[Ambleside]] [[Roman fort]], [[Cumbria]].]]
====Antecedents====
From as early as [[Neolithic]] times (between 8500 BC-2500 BC), people built [[hill fort]]s to protect themselves. Many earthworks survive today, along with evidence of [[palisade]]s to accompany the ditches. The Romans commonly encountered hill forts (called ''[[oppidum|oppida]]'') built by their enemies. Though primitive, they were often effective and required extensive [[siege engines]] and other [[siege warfare]] techniques to overcome, such as at the [[Battle of Alesia]]. The Romans own fortifications ([[castra]]) varied from simple temporary earthworks thrown up by armies on the move, to elaborate permanent stone constructions, notably the [[milecastle]]s of [[Hadrian's Wall]]. Roman forts were generally rectangular with rounded corners. The Roman engineer [[Vitruvius]] was the first to note the three main advantages of round corner towers: more efficient use of stone, improved defence against [[battering ram]]s and improved [[field of fire]]. It was not until the 13th century that these advantages were rediscovered.
====The first castles====
The earliest recorded structures universally acknowledged by historians as 'castles' were built in the late 9th century, and included wood, earth and stone structures.<ref name="Pockets"/> Roman fortifications, or, when possible or needed, other edifices, were often turned into castles or similar structures during the early Middle Ages. A famous example is that of the [[Castel Sant'Angelo|Hadrian's Mausoleum]] in [[Rome]], which is known to have been used as a fortress as early as 537, during the [[Gothic Wars (6th century)|Gothic War]].<ref>Royal, Robert. ''The Pope's Army: 500 Years of the Papal Swiss Guard''. Crossroads Publishing Co, 2006.</ref> Other late Antiquity-early Medieval castles survive in [[Brescia]] and [[Trento]] in [[Italy]]{{clear}}
[[Image:Tapisserie motte dinan.jpg|thumb|300px|right|One of the earliest representations of a castle from the [[Bayeux Tapestry]].]]
Construction of new castles in Europe is attested from the [[Carolingian Empire|Carolingian]] era, but their construction seems to have been related mainly to the defence of frontiers and state properties, and the right to fortify was a royal privilege. As early as 864, [[Charles the Bald]] issued an edict ordering the destruction of private fortifications erected without his permission. However, changes took place from the late 9th century, probably under the pressure of raids by the [[Vikings]] and [[Magyars]], and due to the general decline of the [[Carolingian Empire]], and the consequent loss of centralized authority, which resulted in a proliferation of castles.<ref name="Pockets"/> There was also frequent fortification of cities, monasteries, ports and rural settlements in this period. In 906, a deacon in [[Verona]] asked [[Berengar I]] of Italy for permission to build a castle in [[Nogara]] "due to the heathens ravages".
As the Carolingian Empire broke up into duchies and counties, factions struggling for power created a military infrastructure, to protect their rights, their domains, and their followers. It is within this historical context that [[feudalism]] began to emerge. The early castle formed an integral part of feudalism: it provided a residence for the lord; provided protection for his followers as guaranteed by their feudal oaths of loyalty and allegiance, while the garrison of the castle was made up of the lord's followers, as per their feudal obligations. Many examples of defensive programs as part of feudalism exist. In the 10th century for example, in the [[Loire Valley]], [[Fulk Nerra]] embarked on a massive castle-building program to control his county of [[Anjou]], and neighbouring [[Touraine]]. In [[Normandy]] at around the same time, a military state emerged with a dense network of castles and feudal allegiances. Similar arrangements with regards to defensive and holding of territory also occurred in other parts of Europe around this time. {{Fact|date=March 2007}}.
Castles were introduced to the British Isles around the early 11th century, by Norman-French followers of [[King Edward the Confessor]].[http://www.castlewales.com/richards.html] When [[William the Conqueror]] executed the [[Norman Conquest of England]], he brought with him the practice of building a castle to protect and hold the land, by then quite familiar on the mainland of Western Europe
====Residential Towers====
Some of the earliest recognizable castles were essentially fortified residential halls, enclosed by a defensive wall. Halls which functioned as habitation for an important person, chieftain or lord, and his followers, had existed since the earliest times all over Europe. During the times of uncertainty which followed the collapse of Carolingian authority, it became necessary to more strongly fortify the habitation and possessions. As a result the wooden halls were replaced by much stronger stone buildings as early as the 10th century. Examples include [[Langeais]] and [[Doué-la-Fontaine]].
====Motte-and-bailey====
[[Image:Donjon Gisors001.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The wooden palisades surmounting mottes were often later replaced in stone, as in this example at [[Gisors]].]]
:{{main|Encastellation|Motte-and-bailey}}
The [[motte-and-bailey]] is a plan common to many early castles. An essential feature of this type was a circular mound of earth surrounded by a dry or water-filled ditch and flattened at the top. Around the crest of its summit was placed a [[timber]] [[palisade]], a tower, possibly residential.<ref name="Pockets"/> This [[moat]]ed mound was styled in [[Old French]] ''[[motte-and-bailey|motte]]'' ([[Latin]] ''mota''), a word still common in French place-names. In addition to the mound, a [[motte-and-bailey|bailey]] or ''basse court'' of [[horseshoe]] shape was usually appended to it, so that the mound stood on the line of the ''enceinte''. The latter housed the domestic quarters, [[stable]]s, stores, a [[forge]] and a [[water well]]. These earthworks were dug from the perimeter area, leaving a defensive ditch.<ref name="Pockets"/> In many cases the motte seems to be a later addition to an already existing wooden settlement, surrounded by a wood palisade. [[Lewes Castle]], built by [[William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey|Gulielmus de Warenne]], is an unusual example, as it featured two mottes.<ref name="Pockets"/> Wooden castles were built up until the 12th century.
A description of this earlier castle is given in the life of St John, [[Bishop]] of Terouanne:
{{cquote|The rich and the noble of that region being much given to feuds and bloodshed, fortify themselves ... and by these strongholds subdue their equals and oppress their inferiors. They heap up a mound as high as they are able, and dig round it as broad a ditch as they can ... Round the summit of the mound they construct a palisade of timber to act as a wall. Inside the palisade they erect a house, or rather a [[citadel]], which looks down on the whole neighbourhood.<ref>''Acta Sanctorum'', quoted by GT Clark, ''Medieval Military Architecture''</ref>}}
===Defensive features===
====Keep====
Most castles, even from the earliest times, followed certain standards of design and construction. Generally, the central feature of the castle was the '''[[keep]]''', or '''donjon''', the main commanding tower.<ref name="Pockets">Philip Wilkinson, ''Castles (Pocket Guides)''. Publisher: DK CHILDREN; Pocket edition (September 29, 1997). ISBN 0789420473. ISBN 978-0789420473 </ref> The primary function of the keep varied, but usually it was a residential structure functioning as a [[redoubt]] in times of trouble, but could also be used as a secure storage area, or, later, as a prison. In motte and bailey castles, the keep typically surmounted the motte. Many early castles and certain later ones were nothing more than simple towers. The ''[[tower house]]s'' of Britain and Ireland, as well as ''[[peel tower]]s'', are examples of this type. Most, however, required outer walls of some sort. The keep was contained within the walls or attached to the walls. The area delineated by the walls was known as the [[Motte-and-bailey|bailey]] or the court, and the enclosure known as the enceinte.
====Enceinte====
The '''[[enceinte]]''' of the castle is another recognizable feature. Essentially the enceinte is the entire fortified enclosure of the castle precincts. In some cases this area was demarcated by a simple defensive wall or barrier. More often the wall was surmounted by a walkway to defend the castle. As with Roman and earlier architecture, projecting flanking towers were usually added to the wall to improve defence. Later castles were built on a [[concentric castle|concentric plan]], where enceinte walls (also called [[Curtain wall#medieval curtain wall|curtain walls]]) and towers formed two rings around the keep, resulting in an inner and an outer court, pushing the enemy further from the core walls and keep.
[[Image:Carcassonne(France)4.JL.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Carcassonne]], France, showing the classic features of the enceinte walls, defensive ditch, cylindrical flanking towers, a gatehouse, and wooden defensive structures]]
====Gatehouse====
The [[gate]]s were a weak point in the defenses of castles, so [[gatehouse]]s could be strengthened with flanking towers, a turning or removable bridge, doors, and a heavy [[portcullis]]. There would often be multiple portcullises, with [[arrow slit]]s in the sides of the gate passage, allowing the defenders to trap the enemy and kill them within the gate. Additionally, gates were often placed in such a manner as to channel attacking forces against a series of perilous defensive fortifications, enabling the defenders to defend on their terms. Many gatehouses had a second body. Archers in the second body could shoot down at their enemies while they were defenseless.
====Additional features====
Castles featured an array of defences to delay the attackers' progress towards the keep. Moats and ditches formed the most obvious, as these would have to be filled in before heavy [[siege engine]]s could be moved towards the walls.<ref name="Beisty">''Castle: Stephen Biesty's Cross-Sections''. [[Dorling Kindersley]] Pub (T); 1st American edition (September 1994). ISBN 978-1564584670</ref> Overhanging wooden [[hoarding_(castles)|hoarding]]s could be constructed if a castle was under threat. These covered walkways would allow several lines of fire.<ref name="Pockets"/> Later, permanent fixtures known as "[[machicolation]]" were built in stone. Perhaps the most notable features of castle defence were the [[crenellation]]s and [[merlon]]s, which offered relative cover for archers.<ref name="Pockets"/> "[[Murder holes]]" and [[embrasure]]s might be built into the walls and gatehouse so projectiles could be launched at the attackers.
== Construction ==
{{see also|Medieval technology|Stonemasonry}}
[[Image:Echafaud.donjon.Coucy.2.png|thumb|200px|left|Construction of a large tower, with scaffolding and masons at work.]]
Castles were constructed of wood, stone and also brick. A large number of contemporary accounts have survived that explain how castles were built. A large skilled workforce was needed to construct castles, including ditch diggers, stonecutters, masons, carpenters, and engineers. [[Medieval technology|Medieval machines]] and inventions, such as the [[Crane (machine)#Medieval cranes|treadwheel crane]], became indispensable during construction, and techniques of building wooden [[scaffolding]] were improved upon from Antiquity.<ref>{{cite book | last = Erlande-Brandenburg | first = Alain | title = The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages | publisher = Thames & Hudson Ltd | place = | year = 1995 | page = p. 121–126 | id = ISBN 0500300526 ISBN 978-0500300527 }}</ref> Nevertheless, castles could take many years to complete, although the time needed depended greatly from type, location, resources, time period, construction materials, etc.
Finding stone was the first concern of medieval builders, and a major preoccupation was to have quarries close at hand.<ref name="Alain104">{{cite book | last = Erlande-Brandenburg | first = Alain | title = The Cathedral Builders of the Middle Ages | publisher = Thames & Hudson Ltd | place = | year = 1995 | page = p. 104 | id = ISBN 0500300526 ISBN 978-0500300527 }}</ref> There are famous examples of some castles where stone was quarried on site, such as Chinon, [[Château de Coucy]] and [[Château Gaillard]].<ref name="Alain104"/> Yet even without the usual costs of transport, it is estimated that as many as 800 stonemasons would have been used in building Château de Coucy in the early 13th century, as well as perhaps 800 other craftsmen.<ref name="coucy001">''A Distant Mirror'', Barbara Tuchman, p 11</ref> [[Beaumaris Castle]] in Wales, has surviving records from 1295–96 which describe 200 quarrymen, 400 stonemasons and as many as 2000 minor workmen.<ref name="beaumaris001">''Beaumaris Castle'', CADW guide, p 3</ref> Castles, not surprisingly were expensive to build, considering workers and materials. For example, costs for Beaumaris, which was in and of itself part of a bigger castle program, was £14,500 (roughly $8–9 billion in today's money).
In some cases, transporting stone over large distances was altogether impractical, and in the [[Low countries]], a lack of good building stone meant that castles were generally brick. Brick castles were predominant in Scandinavia and the [[Baltic states|Baltic]].<ref name="Pockets92">Philip Wilkinson, ''Castles (Pocket Guides)'', p 92</ref>
==Later developments==
===Innovation and scientific design===
[[Image:Castel del monte3.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]'s [[Castel del Monte (Apulia)|Castel del Monte]] in Puglia has no keep at all: rising on a strategic high point, it consists of an octagonal structure with eight massive polygonal towers.]]
During the [[Crusade]]s, opportunities were afforded to western engineers to study the massive fortifications of the [[Byzantine Empire]] as well as fortifications built by the Islamic inhabitants of the Holy Land. The buildings they encountered in the late 10th century featured innovations which were not common in Europe at that time. This included in part regularly-spaced flanking towers of round or variable construction, and geometric scientific design. This revolutionized the art of castle-building in Europe, which henceforward followed these principles.
Designers soon realized that a second line of defences should be built within the main ''enceinte'', and a third line or keep inside the second line,<ref>Oman, ''Art of War: the Middle Ages'', p. c20</ref> while a wall must be flanked by projecting towers. Thus from the Byzantine engineers, European castles derived the principle of mutual defence of all the parts of a fortress. The donjon of Western Europe was regarded as the fortress, the outer walls as accessory defences; in the East each envelope was a fortress in itself, and the keep became merely the last refuge of the garrison, used only when all else had been captured. Many scholars have noted that in the 13th century there was a tendency toward the strengthening of the ''enceinte'', and a reduced role of the keep in both military and residential context.
[[Image:Donjonvuegénérale.jpg|thumb|250px|Château-Gaillard, showing the wall encircling the keep.|left]]
In [[Richard I of England]]'s fortress of [[Château-Gaillard]] [[Les Andelys]], the innermost ward was protected by an elaborate system of strong appended defences, which included a strong tête-de-pont protecting the [[Seine]] bridge.<ref>See Clark, i. 384, and Oman, p. 533</ref> The castle stood upon high ground and consisted of three distinct enceintes or wards besides the keep, which was in this case merely a strong tower forming part of the innermost ward. [[Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor|Frederick II]]'s [[Castel del Monte]] in Puglia has no keep at all: built on high ground, it is an octagonal structure with eight polygonal corner towers.
Round towers, rather than square towers, were now becoming common, with the finest examples of their employment as keeps being at Conisborough in England and at [[Falaise]] and [[Coucy]] in France. Siege artillery of the 13th century was primitive, but it was realized that against [[Mining (military)|mining]] and battering rams, corners in castle stonework were more vulnerable than a uniform curved surface.
[[Image:Krak des chevaliers - artist rendering.jpg|thumb|300px|right|[[Krak des Chevaliers]]: a concentric castle built with both rectangular and rounded towers.]]
The next development was the extension of the principle of successive lines of defence to form what is called the [[concentric castle|"concentric" castle]], in which each ward was placed wholly within another which enveloped it. This was inspired by the [[Walls of Constantinople]], and thus places built on a flat site became for the first time more formidable than strongholds perched upon rocks and hills, where some points could not be as heavily fortified as others for lack of space. In these cases, the fall of the inner ward by surprise, [[escalade]], or even sometimes by ordinary siege, entailed the fall of the whole castle. The adoption of the concentric system precluded any such mischance, and thus, even though siege engines improved during the 13th and 14th centuries, the defences of strong concentric castle, or naturally inaccessible castles, retained its importance during the [[Late Middle Ages]].
Construction of castles in this period was often connected to the necessity to establish a strong central power against local fragmentation, or in newly conquered lands: examples are the large building programs of [[Edward I of England]] in Wales, Philip I August of France, the [[Ezzelino IV da Romano]] and the Scaligers in northern Italy, Frederick II and [[Charles I of Anjou]] in southern Italy (often reusing former [[Italo-Norman|Norman]] or even Byzantine and Lombard structures), [[Denis I of Portugal|King Denis I]] in Portugal, and notably the [[Teutonic Knights]] in their conquest of Pagan lands in [[Prussia]] and [[Poland]]. In Germany, stone structures appeared in [[Hesse]], [[Thuringia]], [[Alsace]] and [[Saxony]], commissioned by the powerful local aristocracy. Structures in northern Germany were usually simpler, often taking advantage of water streams.
==Response to the advent of gunpowder==
The advent of [[gunpowder]] in the Middle Ages signalled a change in the purpose of a castle - from being purely a military building, it became increasingly a residential one. From the [[Renaissance]] onward, this loosening of military importance allowed for a more aesthetic approach to construction, for example the [[Castello Estense]] of [[Ferrara]] in [[Italy]], the castles of [[Valderrobres]] and [[Manzanares el Real]] in [[Spain]] and the series of highly decorated castles built (or rebuilt) in [[France]] along the [[Loire]] starting from the 15th century
Whilst siegecraft had consisted of throwing machines such as [[trebuchet]]s, the primary aims in the construction of castle walls were height and thickness. However it became almost impossible to follow this ideal to cope with ever more powerful [[cannons]]. Existing castles which retained military importance were updated as far as practically possible to cope with new siege technologies. One example is the English fortress of [[Bodiam]], built from 1385, provided with opposite slit to allow firing from [[arquebuse]]s. But inevitably, those fortifications previously deemed impregnable eventually proved inadequate in the face of gunpowder. These included: Friesack Castle, which was reduced in two days during February of 1414 by [[Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick I]] with "Heavy Peg" (Faule Grete) and other guns; [[Constantinople]], the massively strong walls of which were breached in 1453 by the Ottomans after lengthy cannon bombardment; Nanstein Castle ([[Franz von Sickingen]]'s stronghold at Landstuhl, which was ruined in one day in 1523 by the artillery of Philip of Hesse. Architects of the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, many of whom were also renowned as engineers, were called to plan countermeasures; e.g. [[Guillén Sagrera]], [[Giuliano da Sangallo the Younger]], [[Francesco di Giorgio Martini]], [[Baldassarre Peruzzi]] and [[Leonardo da Vinci]]. [[Viollet-le-Duc]], in his ''Annals of a Fortress'', gives a full account of the repeated renovations of a fortress (at an imaginary site in the valley of the Doubs), the construction by [[Charles the Bold]] of artillery towers at the angles of the castle, the protection of the masonry by earthen outworks, boulevards and demi-boulevards, and, in the 17th century, the final service of the medieval walls and towers as a pure enceinte de sfireti.
[[Image:Fortezza di Sarzana.jpg|thumb|300px|right|The rounded walls of [[Sarzana]] Castle showed adaptation to gunpowder.]]
The general adoption of cannons led therefore to the disappearing (or to the loss of importance) of majestic towers and merlons. Walls of new fortresses were thicker and angulated, towers became lower and stouter. Examples of the late type of castle-fortress are that in [[Sarzana]] ([[Italy]]), that built by [[Henry VIII of England]] in [[Deal, Kent|Deal]], the [[Fort de Salses]] constructed by [[Ferdinand II of Aragon]] and the Imperial Castle of [[Nurnberg]].
In the end, the introduction of gunpowder led to a disappearing of traditional castles, in the meaning of a building intended for both military and residential roles. This transition began in the 14th century and was fully underway by the 15th. In the 16th century the feudal fastness had become an anachronism. Here and there we find old castles serving in secondary roles, as forts d'arret or [[block-house]]s in [[mountain pass]]es and [[defile (geography)|defile]]s, and in some few cases, as at [[Dover Castle|Dover]], they formed the nucleus of purely military places of arms. Normally castles, when they were not let to fell into ruins, became peaceful mansions, or were merged in the fortifications of the town which has grown up around it.
[[Image:Fortalesa.jpg|thumb|left||Fortaleza Ozama, [[Santo Domingo]] - first castle built in the Americas.]]
In the Viollet-le-Duc's ''Annals of a Fortress'' the site of the feudal castle is occupied by the citadel of the walled town, for once again, with the development of the middle class and of commerce and industry, the art of the engineer came to be displayed chiefly in the fortification of cities. The baronial "castle" assumes ''pan passu'' the form of a mansion, retaining indeed for long some capacity for defence, but in the end losing all military characteristics save a few which survived as ornaments.
However, some true castles were built in the [[Americas]] by the [[Spanish Main|Spanish]] and [[New France|French colonies]].<ref>Although it should be noted that there are no true castles in the United States.</ref> The first stage of Spanish fort construction has been termed the "castle period", which lasted from 1492 until the end of the 16th century.<ref name="SpanishMain">René Chartrand, ''Spanish Main 1492–1800''; [[Osprey Publishing]]</ref> Starting with Fortaleza Ozama, "these castles were essentially European medieval castles transposed to America."<ref name="Chartrand">René Chartrand, ''French Fortresses in North America 1535–1763: Québec, Montréal, Louisbourg and New Orleans (Fortress 27)''; [[Osprey Publishing]], March 20 2005. ISBN 9781841767147</ref> Among other defensive structures (including forts and citadels), castles were also built in [[New France]] towards the end of the 17th century.<ref name="Chartrand">René Chartrand, ''French Fortresses in North America 1535–1763: Québec, Montréal, Louisbourg and New Orleans (Fortress 27)''; [[Osprey Publishing]], March 20 2005. ISBN 9781841767147</ref> Where artillery was not as developed as on the battle-fields of Europe, some of [[Montreal|Montreal's]] outlying forts were built like the [[manor house|fortified manor houses]] of France. Fort Longueuil, built from 1695–1698 by [[Baron de Longueuil|a baronial family]], has been described as "the most medieval looking fort built in [[Canada]]".<ref name="Chartrand"/> The manor house and stables were within a fortified bailey, with a tall round turret in each corner. The "most substantial castle-like fort" near Montréal was [[Fort Senneville]], built in 1692 with square towers connected by thick stone walls, as well as a fortified [[windmill]].<ref name="Chartrand"/> Stone forts such as these served as defensive residences, as well as imposing structures to prevent [[Iroquois]] incursions.<ref name="Chartrand"/>
To guard against artillery and gunfire, increasing use was made of earthen, brick and stone [[Breastwork (fortification)|breastworks]] and this [[redoubt]]s, such as the geometric fortresses of the 17th century French [[Marquis de Vauban]]. These soon replaced castles in Europe, and eventually castles in the Americas were superseded by bastions and forts.<ref name="SpanishMain"/>
==Revival castles and the castle as a country house==
[[Image:Castle Neuschwanstein.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Neuschwanstein]] - perhaps the most famous 19th century neo-romantic castle in the world.]]
From the late 18th century to the early 20th century, as a manifestation of a [[Romanticism|romantic]] interest in the Medieval period, and as part of the broader [[Gothic Revival]] in architecture, many so-called castles were built. These Castles had no defensive purpose, but incorporated stylistic elements of earlier castles, such as [[castellation]] and towers. These features were personified in the [[Scottish Baronial]] style. Most of them were [[country house]]s. These revival or "mock" castles were particularly common in the British Isles, for example [[Belvoir Castle]] and [[Eastnor Castle]]. [[Edwin Lutyens]]' [[Castle Drogo]] was the last flicker of this movement in England. In Ireland, a considerable number of vast, complicated mock-castles were built, including Belfast Castle and [[Castle Oliver]]. Famous revival castles in other countries include [[Neuschwanstein]] in Germany, [[Miramare]] in Italy, and [[Castillo de Chapultepec]] in Mexico.
==See also==
*[[List of castles]]
**[[List of Crusader castles]]
**[[List of fictional castles]]
*[[Chinese city wall]] ([[China|Chinese]] castle counterpart)
*[[Alcázar]] ([[Spain|Spanish]] castles)
*[[Japanese castle|Shiro]] ([[Japan]]ese castles)
**[[Gusuku]] ([[Okinawa]]n castles)
*[[Kremlin]] ([[Russia]]n castles)
*[[Water castle|Water Castles]]
*[[Manor house]]
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}
==Sources==
{{Nofootnotes|date=February 2008}}
<small>*{{1911}}
*{{cite book | last = Allen Brown | first = R. | title = English Castles | publisher = Chancellor Press | place = London | year = 1970 | id = ISBN 0-907486-06-1}}
*{{cite journal|last=Bianchi|first=Vito|title=I Castelli|journal=Medioevo|date=July-October 2006|volume=114–117}}
*{{cite book | last = Cathcart King | first = D. J. | title = Castellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands (2 vols) | publisher = Kraus International Publications | place = New York | year = 1983 | id = ISBN 0-527-50110-7}}
*{{cite book | last = Cathcart King | first = D. J. | title = The Castle in England and Wales: An Interpretative History | publisher = Routledge | place = London | year = 1991 | id = ISBN 0-415-00350-4}}
*{{cite book|last=Gravett|first=Christopher|authorlink=Christopher Gravett|title=Medieval Siege Warfare|publisher=Osprey Publishing|year=1990|location=Oxford|id=ISBN 0-85045-947-8}}
*{{cite book | last = Higham | first = R. | coauthors = Barker, P. | title = Timber Castles | publisher = B. T. Batsford Ltd | place = London | year = 1992 | id = ISBN 0-7134-2189-4}}
*{{cite book | last = Johnson | first = M. | title = Behind the Castle Gate: From Medieval to Renaissance | publisher = Routledge | place = London | year = 2002 | id = ISBN 0-415-26100-7}}
*{{cite book | last = Kenyon | first = J. | title = Medieval Fortifications | publisher = Leicester University Press | place = Leicester | year = 1991 | id = ISBN 0-7185-1392-4}}
*{{cite book | last = Pounds | first = N. J. G. | title = The Medieval Castle in England and Wales: A Social and Political History | publisher = Cambridge University Press | place = Cambridge | year = 1994 | id = ISBN 0-521-45828-5}}
*{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = M. W. | title = The Decline of the Castle | publisher = Cambridge University Press | place = Cambridge | year = 1987 | id = ISBN 1-85422-608-8}}
*{{cite book | last = Thompson | first = M. W. | title = The Rise of the Castle | publisher = Cambridge University Press | place = Cambridge | year = 1991 | id = ISBN 0-521-37544-4}}</small>
==External links==
{{commons|Castle}}
<!--Please do not add single castles here - they have their own article, or create a new article for it-->
*[http://www.medieval-castles.net About Medieval Castles]
*[http://www.topcastles.com Top 100 of Medieval Castles]
List of castles:
*[http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llista_de_castells_dels_Pa%C3%AFsos_Catalans Catalan Castles]
*[http://www.baltic-castles.org Baltic Castles]
<!--Please do not add single castles here - they have their own article, or create a new article for it-->
{{List of castles in Europe}}
{{Asia in topic|List of castles in}}
{{North America in topic|List of castles in}}
{{South America topic|List of castles in}}
{{Africa in topic|List of castles in}}
{{Oceania in topic|List of castles in}}
[[Category:Castles by country]]
[[Category:Architecture]]
[[Category:Castles| ]]
[[Category:Fortification]]
[[Category:Medieval defenses]]
[[Category:Masonry]]
[[af:Kasteel]]
[[ar:قلعة]]
[[ast:Castiellu]]
[[be:Замак]]
[[bat-smg:Pėlis]]
[[ca:Castell]]
[[cs:Hrad]]
[[cy:Castell]]
[[da:Borg]]
[[de:Burg]]
[[eo:Burgo]]
[[es:Castillo]]
[[et:Linnus]]
[[fi:Linna]]
[[fr:Château fort]]
[[he:טירה (מבצר)]]
[[hu:Vár]]
[[id:Kastil]]
[[is:Kastali]]
[[it:Castello]]
[[ja:城]]
[[ko:성 (건조물)]]
[[lv:Pils]]
[[lt:Pilis]]
[[mk:Крепост]]
[[nl:Burcht (kasteel)]]
[[nrm:Câté]]
[[oc:Castèl (construccion)]]
[[pl:Zamek]]
[[pt:Castelo]]
[[ro:Cetate (edificiu)]]
[[ru:Замок (строение)]]
[[sco:Castle]]
[[simple:Castle]]
[[sk:Hrad]]
[[sl:Grad]]
[[sq:Kalaja]]
[[sr:Замак]]
[[sv:Borg]]
[[tr:Kale (yapı)]]
[[uk:Замок (споруда)]]
[[zh:城堡]]