Historical Dictionary of Architecture

CASTLE

CASTLE: translation

Because of the increasingly complex political environment ofRomanesqueEurope in the 1000s and 1100s, fortified castles, which still dot the countryside across Europe, came to share political authority with the powerful monasteries of the Middle Ages. Similar to the urban development around amonastery, a town often grew around the castle; thus castles were found not only in the countryside, but in either the downtown or periphery of a late medieval orRenaissanceurban community. While some castles are small, abandoned, crumbling structures, others have either been rebuilt or remain well preserved. The origin of the term "castle" is unknown, but it refers to many types of fortified structures, and therefore castles are not unique to Europe, although the European castle-type became the best-known example.
The earlieststonefortifications were constructed by Germanic tribes soon after the fall of Rome, and these tribes oversaw castle construction through the Carolingian era of the ninth century. The end of the Carolingian Empire and the subsequent Viking expansion across Europe resulted in a castle-building boom through the next several centuries. This period coincided with the emerging feudal society, in which the landed gentry increasingly used the castle as a potent symbol of its authority. By the time William the Conqueror from Normandy invaded England in 1066, the Norman-style castle was the most popular among the landed gentry. Unlike Ancient Roman forts, medieval castles never followed a standardized plan but rather were built on hilltops, near rivers, or even in marshland, and their structure adapted to this varied geography. In general, however, they followed the fortified residential tower plan or the moat-and-bailey defensive garrison design.Castles continued to be constructed through the Mid-dle Ages, becoming obsolete only in the early 1600s when more effective gunpowder and artillery could easily breach the thick stone walls.
While earlier castles were not often built for the comfort of the ruling family, who might not even live there year-round, the Romanesque castle came to be seen as the seat of aristocratic life as well as the site of great battles. Castles grew out of Frankish military structures adapted for use by the Normans, who first built castles fromwood, and only later began to construct larger compounds fromashlar, or cut stone. Initially, castles were of the quickly builtmound-and-baileytype, which featured a round ditch dug out to create a moat. The loose earth was piled into the center and used to create a wall, which was in turn surrounded by a wooden wall called apalisade, adjacent to the outer courtyard, called thebailey, where the garrison and livestock were located. Stone castles became popular during the Crusades, when Christian soldiers were able to see first-hand some of the massive stoneByzantinecastles of Eastern Europe.
Later, stone castles were constructed as permanent homes for feudal lords. These castles were constructed around a central hall with a hearth. The hall served as the main gathering room for the landlord, his family, and his staff. The earliest hall plan was modeled on the church interior, with a broad center separating the side aisles by a row of stone or wooden pillars that helped to support the timber roof. The hall was often on the ground floor, but in larger castles the hall was built on an upper floor with an external entry stairway. Windows were initially small, shuttered, and secured with iron bars, and only later in the 14th century wasglassused in them. The earliest castles had bedrooms for the landlord's family at the upper end of the hall, while the simplest castles did not have room divisions but curtains to separate the sleeping areas. During the Saxon era, the guards might sleep next to the great hall hearth during the winter and in the towers or basements in the summer, but with the invention of the fireplace, heating was decentralized so that the landlord's bedrooms were located in separate wings and full garrisons were built for the guards. The larger castles maintained separate kitchens and mess halls for the military. They also had a small chapel for the family and an interior courtyard. The inner stronghold, or keep, of the castle was also often called thedonjon. The entire complex was surrounded by a stone curtain wall that was punctuated bybastions, or smaller towers that were located either in the side walls or at the corners of the complex, and might also haveturretsprotruding outward for additional lookout windows. The outer wall might feature an elaborately gated entrance set forward from the external wall, called abarbican, and also a drawbridge over a moat. The only windows on these fortified walls would be arrow loop windows — that is, thin slits cut into the stone walls to allow arrows to be shot out from the castle. In addition, the outer wall was often topped bycrenellations, square stone sections of the roofline that projected upward in a dentile pattern. A wall walk, also called anallure, provided an upperlevel passage between theparapet, which is the inner part of the outer wall, and the battlement, which is the external-facing outer wall. Over the years, all types of castles have stirred the imagination of many people, who romanticize this era for its chivalric codes and ideas on courtly love. Examples of castles can still be found across most of Europe today.
See alsoDURHAM CASTLE AND CATHEDRAL.

  1. castle—castle translation nounADJECTIVE grand great magnificent splendid esp. BrE turreted walled historic ancient medieval royal ruined fairytale fantasy VERB CAST...Collocations dictionary
  2. castle—Castle translationThe question of how exactly to define the term castle is a vexed one and only a brief sketch can be given here. The great stone structures familiar toda...Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases
  3. castle—Castle translation A military fortress Chr. also probably a kind of tower used by the priests for making known anything discovered at a distance Chr. . Castles are als...Easton's Bible Dictionary
  4. castle—castle translationSynonyms and related wordsacropolis bastion beachhead bishop blockhouse bridgehead bunker chateau chessman citadel court donjon fasthold fastness fort f...Moby Thesaurus
  5. castle—cleats...Английские анаграммы
  6. castle—[ksl]замок дворец большой домукрытие убежище оплотбашняпомещать в доме заключать в замокукрашать зубчатыми башенкамирокироваться...Англо-русский большой универсальный переводческий словарь
  7. castle—башневидная скала...Англо-русский геологический словарь
  8. castle—помещать в доме заключать в замок украшать зубчатыми башенками придавать вид замка рокироваться замок дворец твердыня убежище chess ладья castles in the air или in the ...Англо-русский дополнительный словарь
  9. castle—Форт...Англо-русский морской словарь
  10. castle—замок дворец крепость башня шахм. ладья геол. башневидная скала...Англо-русский научно-технический словарь
  11. castle—замок...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  12. castle—замок...Англо-русский онлайн словарь
  13. castle—n замок...Англо-русский словарь Лингвистика-98
  14. castle—castle [ksl] . nu замок дворец твердыня убежище шахм.u ладья to build castles in the air илиem in the sky in Spain строить воздушные замки . vu шахм.u рокироваться...Англо-русский словарь Мюллера
  15. castle—. сущ. замок дворец большой дом напоминающий замок Syn palace укрытие убежище оплот от чьихл. вторжений Syn stronghold fortress башня тж. о шахматной фигуре ладье сд...Англо-русский словарь общей лексики
  16. castle—v. рокировать рокироваться...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  17. castle—n. замок дворец твердыня убежище ладья [шахм.] рокировка [шахм.]...Англо-русский словарь редакция bed
  18. castle—крепостьАнглорусский строительный словарь. М. Русский Язык.С.Н.Корчемкина С.К.Кашкина С.В.Курбатова...Англо-русский словарь строительных терминов
  19. castle—computerassisted system for theater level engineering система автоматизированного моделирования инженерных сооружений на ТВД...Англо-русский словарь технических аббревиатур
  20. castle—замок ладья castle nut...Англо-русский технический словарь
  21. castle—.strong n замок твердиня сховищеcastles in the air абоem in the sky in Spain повтрян замки шах. тура.strong v рокруватися...Англо-украинский словарь
  22. castle—корабел корабель замок...Англо-український словник
  23. castle—n замок палац to build s in the air in the sky in Spain будувати повтрян замки фортеця сховище шах. тура поет. корабель контейнер the C. ст. Дублнський замок резиде...Англо-український словник Балла М.І.
  24. castle—англ. n s s замок дворец крепость...Большой немецко-русский и русско-немецкий словарь
  25. castle—.strong [ksl] n. замок дворец the Castle ист. Дублинский замок резиденции вицекороля символ владычества англичан в Ирландии тж. Dublin Castle. твердыня убежищеan English...Новый большой англо-русский словарь
  26. castle—castle . [ksl] ni . замок дворец the Castle ист. iДублинский замок резиденции вицекороля символ владычества англичан в Ирландииi тж. iDublin Castle . твердыня убежище a...Новый большой англо-русский словарь II
  27. castle—.strong ksl n . замок дворец the Castle ист. emДублинский замок резиденции вицекороля символ владычества англичан в Ирландииem тж. emDublin Castle . твердыня убежище ...Новый большой англо-русский словарь под общим руководством акад. Ю.Д. Апресяна
  28. castle—House is a castle which the king cannot enter The Мой дом моя крепость M Mans home house is his castle A Мой дом моя крепость M My house is my castle Мой дом моя кр...Русско-английский словарь пословиц и поговорок