Abstract
A military building is any building that plays a role in military activity, from the army camp to the fortress. It can be temporary or relatively permanent. Yet not all buildings which are generally regarded as military had a solely military purpose. Walls of stone or earth, such as the late Roman limes on the German frontier, or King Offa of Mercia’s dyke on his western frontier, could simply mark a boundary, the ‘cut-off point’ between one ruler’s region of authority and the next. A castle, while being built to offer secure housing against marauders and to house warriors who could conduct hostilities against other warriors, was also a centre of administration and a home and could display the wealth and artistic taste of its owner; it could be a palace as well as playing a role in war.
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Further reading
Château Gaillard Colloque International: the proceedings of the international Château Gaillard conferences, published annually by the Centre de Recherches Archéologiques Médiévales, Université de Caen Charles Coulson, ‘Cultural Realities and Reappraisals in English Castle-Study’, Journal of Medieval History, 22 (1996), 171–208
Robert Higham and Philip Barker, Timber Castles (London: Batsford, 1992)
David Hill and Alexander R. Rumble, The Defence of Wessex: The Burghal Hideage and Anglo-Saxon Fortifications (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996)
Hugh Kennedy, Crusader Castles (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994)
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© 2004 Helen J. Nicholson
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Nicholson, H. (2004). Military buildings. In: Medieval Warfare. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-4386-6_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4039-4386-6_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave, London
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