![]() Smoke either left the room through a small vent in the ceiling (Ludlow Castle has an example of this), or a chimney was constructed.įireplaces, and in particular mantelpieces, were often elaborately decorated with coats of arms and other heraldic devices carved out of wood, plaster or stone. Great halls also featured large hearths, for the purposes of cooking and heating (although in larger castles kitchens were situated in separate rooms). Usually, there was also a large window allowing natural light into the hall, although in a castle this window could be relatively small so as not to compromise the defensive effectiveness of the fortification. ![]() The room would also have a high ceiling as well as a raised area or ‘dais’ at the high end of the hall, where the lord, his household, and his guests would dine, in clear view of the rest of the hall. Typically, a great hall would have a rectangular layout, with a floorplan between one and a half to three times longer than it was wide. The great hall had many different functions: it could be used to receive guests and hold ceremonies it could be used as a dining space, both by the family and household of the castle’s lord and by guests the hall could also double as a sleeping space, with members of the household bedding down on the floor. The Great Hall was the main room of a castle, and the largest room – great halls could also be found throughout the medieval period in palaces and manor houses. The hardcover binding seems to be of poor quality, opening the pages too wide would crack the glue of the binding.9 Storage Rooms Great Hall Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle The paper quality is of rather mediocre quality, not terrible but mediocre. The interior handdrawn illustrations of the castles were poorly drawn, most looking like ten minute sketches, hardly worthy of the good writing in this volume. The volume could have been better edited and checked for such glaring errors. There were also inconsistencies in the spelling, "Hospitaller" and "Hospitaler". The numerous layout diagrams of the castles were also missing captions for various numbered items and in certain diagrams, some sequenced numbers were missing. The Da Capo edition is marred by poor photos, the black and white photos were mostly far too dark to distinguish the details and as such were mostly worthless in a volume that is full of photos and illustrations. The appendices include a listing of the builders and architects of the fortications, a chronology of sieges and a short history of medieval artillery. The book is divided into the following sections, the elements of medieval fortifications, the early fortifications, the age of castles, the decline of high castle walls and finally the medieval castles and fortifications in various political entities and regions, from England to North Africa. This is an excellent volume that examines castles, forts and walled cities during the Middle Ages and as such the older fortifications of the classical world is not within its remit. ![]() I bought this excellent volume more than two decades ago and I finally got down to reading it and I finished it. Over a hundred photographs and 150 extraordinarily detailed technical drawings accompany the main text, which also takes an in-depth look at representative castles of each major type. Also receiving extensive coverage are the weapons and equipment of garrisons and besieging troops. The Medieval Fortress covers the origin and evolution of the castles and other walled defenses, their major components, and the reasons for their eventual decline, which was not solely due to the introduction of gunpowder. Detailed coverage is given for castles in the British Isles, France, Germany, Moorish Spain, and as far east as Poland and Russia, as well as Muslim and Crusader castles in the Middle East. They reveal how the medieval fortress combined both Roman and barbarian features, with some influences from as far away as China. Kaufmann and technical artist Robert Jurga (authors of the acclaimed Fortress European Fortifications of World War II ) have once again combined European sources and personal observations to present a unique portrait of military architecture. The general public is largely unaware of just how many castles survive today or over how wide an area of Europe and the Middle East they are to be found.Fortifications specialist J.E. The castles of the Medieval world continue to interest readers, both as architectural wonders and because of their dramatic role in world history.
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