Military Architecture in England During the Middle Ages

$230.00

Alexander Hamilton Thompson

Series: Political Science and History
BISAC: HIS015000

In the present volume an attempt is made to trace the growth of the general principles of medieval fortification, with special reference to castles, in which, within their limited area, the most complete illustration of those principles is given. In order to give greater clearness to the account of their evolution, a prefatory chapter deals generally with earlier types of fortification in Britain, and the critical period of Saxon and Danish warfare is treated in the second chapter with some detail. This leads us to the early Norman castle of earthwork and timber; and the stone fortifications to which this gave place are introduced by a brief account of the progress of siegecraft and siege-engines. The Norman castle and its keep or great tower are then described. The developments of the later part of the twelfth century and the arrangements of the thirteenth-centuryviii castle, with those of the dwelling-house within its enceinte, follow and prepare the way for the castles of the reign of Edward I. which represent the highest effort of military planning. In the last two chapters is related the progress of the transition from the castle to the fortified manor-house, which followed the introduction of fire-arms into warfare and preceded the Renaissance period. It will be seen that the castle is taken as the unit of military architecture throughout; but illustrations are constantly drawn from walled towns, which are, in fact, the castles of communities, and in the eleventh chapter extended allusion is made to the chief features of their plan and defences.
(Imprint: SNOVA)

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter I. Early Earthworks and Roman Stations
Chapter II. The Saxon and Danish Period
Chapter III. The English Castle after the Conquest
Chapter IV. The Progress of Attack and Defence
Chapter V. The Beginning of the Stone Castle
Chapter VI. The Keep of the Norman Castle
Chapter VII. The Period of Transition: Cylindrical Tower-Keeps
Chapter VIII. The Dwelling-House in the Castle
Chapter IX. Castles of the Thirteenth Century: The Fortification of the Curtain
Chapter X. The Edwardian Castle and the Concentric Plan
Chapter XI. Military Architecture in the Later Middle Ages: Fortified Towns and Castles
Chapter XII. The Age of Transition: The Fortified Dwelling-House
Bibliography
Index of Persons and Places
Subject Index

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