Introduction
The castle is perhaps the signature building of the European Middle Ages. Whether surviving as earthworks, ruined masonry or, in a minority of cases, still inhabited, castles are a testament par excellence to the ambition and achievements of the landed aristocracy that ruled Europe from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries. The castle’s origins, longevity, and decline were intimately bound up with the European system of social relations and landholding conventionally defined as feudalism. In the popular imagination, the castle is associated primarily with its military function, but equal weight should also be given to its more domestic aspects and role as a residence. The subject has seen considerable revision in the past two decades, and debate has chiefly focused on the martial character of the castle, with a strong tendency to emphasize the role of the castle as an icon of lordship and as a visual projection of seigniorial power, as much as a tool of war.
Definition
T...
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Cathcart King, D. J. 1983. Castellarium Anglicanum. New York: Kraus International.
Eales, R. 1990. Royal power and castles in Norman England. Medieval Knighthood 3: 49–78.
Goodall, J. 2011.The English castle, 1066–1650. London and Newhaven: Yale.
Thompson, M. W. 1987. The decline of the castle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Further Reading
Allen Brown, R.A. 1976.English castles. London: Batsford.
Böhme, H.W. 1999.Burgen in Mitteleuropa. Ein Handbuch. Sigmaringen: Theiss.
Cooper, E. 1991.Castillos señoriales de Castilla. Salamanca: Junta de Castilla y León.
Coulson, C. 1979. Structural symbolism in medieval castle architecture. Journal of the British Archaeological Association 132: 73–90.
-2003.Castles and medieval society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Creighton, O.H. 2002.Castles and landscapes. London: Continuum.
-2012.Early European castles. London: Duckworth.
Creighton, O.H. & R. Higham. 2003.Medieval castles. Princes Risborough: Shire.
Higham, R. & P. Barker. 1992. Timber castles. London: Batsford.
Liddiard, R. 2005.Castles in context. Macclefield: Windgather.
McNeill, T. 1997.Castles in Ireland: feudal power in a Gaelic world. London: Routledge.
Mesqui, J. 1991. Châteaux et enceintes de la France médiévale: de la défense à la résidence. Paris: Picard.
Pringle, D. 2006. Castellology in the Latin East: an overview. Château Gaillard 23: 361–77.
Tabraham, C. 1986.Scottish castles and fortifications. London: Her Majesty’s Stationary Office.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Liddiard, R. (2014). Europe Incastellated: Medieval Archaeology. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1708
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_1708
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-0426-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-0465-2
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law