Keep
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2008-06-23T22:01:29Z
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/* See also */ [[it:Dongione]]
[[Image:Rochester castle.jpg|thumb|right|[[Rochester Castle]] featuring a massive turreted Norman keep]] {{otheruses}}
{{redirect|Donjon|the role-playing game of the same name|Donjon (role-playing game)}}
A '''keep''' is a strong central [[tower]] which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a [[castle]], and as such may form the main [[Human habitat|habitation]] area, or contain important stores such as the [[Armory (military)|armoury]], food, and the main [[water well]], which would ensure survival during a [[siege]].
An earlier word for a keep, still used for some [[Middle Ages|medieval]] monuments, especially in [[France]], is ''[[:fr:donjon|donjon]]''; a derivative word is ''[[dungeon]]''. In Germany, this type of structure commonly is referred to as a ''[[:de: Bergfried|bergfried]]''.
==Development==
[[Image:Tour Jeanne D'Arc10.jpg|thumb|upright|Early thirteenth century cylindrical keep, ''[[Joan of Arc|Tour Jeanne D'Arc]]'', at [[Rouen]], in France]] Keeps exist in a remarkable variety of shapes and sizes. They may be of 'square' variety, generally found on the [[British Isles]], cylindrical, octagonal, both regular and irregular polygonal forms, or a combination or several of these features. Effectively, some castles in fact, were no more than a keep and often these are referred to simply as ''[[tower house]]s''.
Often early keeps were just square towers with very thick walls, scarcely more than a residential hall, such as [[Château de Langeais]]. This structure later developed into the more recognizable rectangular '''residential keep''' by the [[11th century|eleventh century]].
The form and function of the keep changed with time and varied depending upon the region where it was built. As the keep was a defensive structure, the shaping trend changed to adapt to the developments in weapon technology. For example, the round or '''cylindrical keep''' was first introduced as a defense against the battering ram. A battering ram could cause severe damage to a side of a square tower, but merely would glance off the side of a rounded one. Also, a round tower is much harder to undermine successfully than a square one. Rounded towers also have the advantage of less "dead ground", or, areas not visible from the tower summit.
By the early [[12th century|twelfth century]], cylindrical keeps had become popular and they remained prominent in France until the end of the medieval period (e.g. [[Montlhéry]], [[Rouen]]). Variations on the rounded type began to appear at the same time. These included towers with triangular, prow-like projections (such as [[Château-Gaillard]]), polygonal keeps such as at [[Orford Castle|Orford]], or "multi-lobed" keeps such as [[York Castle|Clifford's Tower]].
From the early [[13th century|thirteenth century]] onward many castles were designed without traditional keeps, instead the preferred plans for defensive structures were concentrated in the walls and towers of the [[enceinte]], or in a [[gatehouse]]. Early examples may be seen at [[Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer]], in [[Boulogne-sur-Mer]] and [[Bolingbroke Castle]] in [[Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire]], and later, at The [[Bastille]]. In some castles the [[gatehouse]] took over the functions of the keep, serving as refuge, residence, and command post, such as at [[Harlech Castle]].
[[Image:Largoet-Castle-1.jpg|thumb|upright|The fourteenth century residential keep, ''[[Château de Largoët]]'', in France]]
As nobles became more interested in grand halls and comfortable living quarters, the keep lost its domestic role. Although keeps continued to be used and built, there is evidence that many had a reduced role, demonstrated by the lack of residential amenities in the tower plans, such as latrines and chimneys.
In Western Europe, however, the defensible residential keep experienced a resurgence before the end of the medieval period, as towers were built to house nobles and their retinues securely, but at a very high level of comfort and luxury (e.g. [[Raglan Castle]], [[Ashby de la Zouch Castle]], [[Château de Vincennes]], and [[Château de Largoët]]). This luxurious type was particularly popular in late medieval [[Scotland]] up until the [[1600s]] (e.g. [[Craigievar Castle]]). Another word for this type of keep is the ''[[tower house]]''.
==Notable types==
====[[Norman architecture|Norman]] or [[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] keep====
An [[archetype|archetypical]] form for the keep in the British Isles is the '''Norman keep''', so-called because they were built throughout England and Ireland by Norman nobles. Norman keeps usually have several distinguishing features in common and the type was very popular during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Most have towers at each corner, which usually extend above the main keep to form [[watchtower]]s. In many cases spiral staircases were contained in or near these corner towers. Another common feature was the forebuilding, which contained the entryway to the keep, its most vulnerable point. This structure extended from the side of the keep and often, was approached by stairs, as the entryway usually was above ground level. Sometimes a [[drawbridge]] guarded the top of the stairs. [[Image:Donjon Gisors001.jpg|thumb|left|The shell keep at Gisors on the top of a motte]]Inside, there usually is a central dividing wall that divides the interior in two parts. The living quarters for the noble or [[castellan]] of the castle were usually at the top of the keep, the great hall or halls were below the keep, and storage rooms were at the bottom of the structure. Keeps on this general plan may be seen throughout England and Ireland, with many examples in France as well, where they are known by the names ''donjon carré'' (a square keep) or ''donjon roman ''(a [[Romanesque architecture|romanesque]] keep). Examples include the [[White Tower (Tower of London)|Tower of London]] and [[Rochester Castle]] in England and, [[Château de Domfront|Domfront]] and [[Château de Loches|Loches]] in France.
====Shell-keep====
A unique form of keep is the '''shell keep''' which essentially, is a masonry 'fossilization' of a [[palisade]] lining the top of a castle defensive mound or [[Motte-and-bailey|motte]]. In a shell keep a strong wall was built around the top of the motte, and the domestic buildings were built against it, leaving a round courtyard in the middle. These differ from most keeps in that they are not a tower, but a defensive enclosure, although their purpose as a last refuge, as well as living quarters, is similar to other keeps. Good examples are [[Restormel Castle]] in [[Cornwall]] and [[Gisors|Gisors Castle]] in [[Normandy]].
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==Famous keeps==
[[Image:Château de Vincennes Paris FRA 002.jpg|thumb|The keep of Vincennes protected by its own isolated [[enceinte]]]]
One of the most famous keeps in [[Europe]] is the '''[[White Tower (Tower of London)|White Tower]]''' of the [[Tower of London]], constructed by [[William the Conqueror]] in the aftermath of the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]].
The cylindrical donjon of [[Rouen]], shown above, is all that remains of the large city fortress where [[Joan of Arc]] was imprisoned during her trial for [[heresy]].
Shown to the right is the tallest keep remaining in existence, the donjon of [[Château de Vincennes]], which is located in a suburb of contemporary [[Paris]]. Previously this distinction was held the donjon of [[Château de Coucy|Coucy]] in Picardy.
==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Matarasso
| first = Francois
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = The English Castle
| publisher = Cassell
| date = 1995
| location = London
| pages = 224 pp
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 0-34753-1}}
*{{cite book
| last = Mesqui
| first = Jean
| authorlink =
| coauthors =
| title = Chateaux-forts et fortifications en France
| publisher = Flammarion
| date = 1997
| location = Paris
| pages = 493 pp
| url =
| doi =
| isbn = 2080122711 }}
==See also==
{{commons|Category:Keeps|Keeps}}
*[[Castle#Architecture_and_development|Castle architecture]]
*[[Medieval architecture]]
*[[Japanese_castle#Buildings|Japanese castle buildings]] for ''tenshaku'', the Japanese castle keep
[[Category:Fortification]]
[[Category:medieval defenses]]
[[Category:Shelters]]
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