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Castle: A History of the Buildings That Shaped Medieval Britain

Page 27

by Marc Morris


  CHAPTER FIVE

  First mention must still go to the encyclopaedic work of D. MacGibbon and T. Ross, The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland from the Twelfth to the Eighteenth Century (5 vols, Edinburgh, 1887–92). S. Cruden, The Scottish Castle (London, 1960) shares the same status as R.A. Brown on English Castles – somewhat superannuated, but nevertheless invaluable as an introduction to the subject. For an accessible but authoritative modern introduction, see C. Tabraham, Scotland’s Castles (London, 1997). R. Fawcett, Scottish Architecture: From the Accession of the Stewarts to the Reformation, 1371–1560 (Edinburgh, 1994) covers similar ground with equal panache. A comprehensive modern gazetteer has been compiled by M. Coventry, The Castles of Scotland (3rd edn, Musselburgh, 2001).

  For more detailed explorations of certain topics, see J. Zeune, The Last Scottish Castles (Buch am Erlbach, 1992) on masons’ marks at Borthwick, and C.J. Tabraham, ‘The Scottish Medieval Towerhouse as Lordly Residence in Light of Recent Excavation’, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, 118 (1988) for the findings at Threave. The revisionist approach to Scottish castle studies was pioneered by Geoffrey Stell. See his ‘Architecture: the changing needs of society’, Scottish Society in the Fifteenth Century (London, 1977), ‘Kings, Nobles and Buildings of the Later Middle Ages: Scotland’, Scotland and Scandinavia, 800–1800, ed. G. G. Simpson (University of Aberdeen, 1990), ‘Late Medieval Defences in Scotland’, Scottish Weapons and Fortifications, 1100–1800, ed. D.H. Caldwell (Edinburgh, 1981) and ‘The Scottish Medieval Castle: Form, Function and Evolution’, Essays on the Nobility of Medieval Scotland (Edinburgh, 1985).

  For the three centuries of Scottish politics covered in the chapter, it is only possible to give an overview here. A good general history is M. Lynch, Scotland: A New History (London, 1991). For the revisionist view of late medieval Scotland, see the ground-breaking volume Scotland in the Fifteenth Century, ed. J.M. Brown (London, 1977). Also try J. Wormald, Court, Kirk and Community (Edward Arnold, 1981) and I.D. Whyte, Scotland before the Industrial Revolution: An Economic and Social History, c. 1050 – c. 1750 (Longman, 1995).

  The Stewart kings have all found new biographers in recent years. See M. Brown, James I (Edinburgh, 1994), C. McGladdery, James II (Edinburgh, 1990), N. Macdougall, James III (Edinburgh, 1982), N. Macdougall, James IV (Edinburgh, 1989), J. Cameron, James V: The Personal Rule, 1528–1542 (East Linton, 1998).

  For Archibald the Grim and his successors, see M. Brown, The Black Douglases (East Linton, 1998).

  On the subject of blood feud, read J. Wormald, ‘Bloodfeud, Kindred and Government in Early Modern Scotland’, Past and Present, 87 (1980) and K.M. Brown, Bloodfeud in Scotland, 1573–1625: Violence, Justice and Politics in an Early Modern Society, (Edinburgh, 1986). See also R.R. Davies, ‘The Survival of the Bloodfeud in Medieval Wales’, History, 54 (1969) for comparative purposes.

  The problems created for historians by Walter Scott and his contemporaries are addressed in The Manufacture of Scottish History, eds. I. Donnachie and C. Whatley (Polygon, 1992).

  For more on the medieval Highlands, see Acts of the Lords of the Isles, 1336–1493, ed. J. Munro and R.W. Munro (Scottish History Society, 4th series, 22,1986) and J.L. Roberts, Lost Kingdoms: Celtic Scotland and the Middle Ages (Edinburgh, 1997).

  John Grant of Freuchie, his ancestors and descendants are honoured in lavish style in W. Fraser, Chiefs of Grant (3 vols, Edinburgh, 1883).

  Buildings in the Borders are the subject of P. Dixon, ‘From Hall to Tower: The Change in Seigneurial Houses on the Anglo-Scottish Border after c. 1250’, Thirteenth Century England IV, ed. P.R. Coss and S.D. Lloyd (Woodbridge, 1992) and ‘Towerhouses, Pelehouses and Border Society’, Archaeological Journal, 136 (1979). Bastles are dealt with briefly in I. Whyte and K. Whyte, The Changing Scottish Landscape, 1500–1800 (Routledge, 1991).

  The best account of Craigievar’s history is to be found in the current guidebook, I. Gow, Craigievar Castle (Edinburgh, 1999).

  CHAPTER SIX

  For the later castles in general, see Thompson and Johnson (Chapter Four, above). Thompson is particularly good on destruction and slighting, and Johnson has some new ideas on Raglan. For Raglan and Pontefract, see above all the excellent guidebooks by J. Kenyon, Raglan Castle (2nd edn, Cardiff, 1994) and I. Roberts, Pontefract Castle (West Yorkshire Archaeological Service, 1990).

  The conversion of castles is discussed in C. Platt, The Great Rebuildings of Tudor and Stewart England (London, 1994).

  For an overview of the seventeenth century, try M. Kishlansky, A Monarchy Transformed: Britain 1603–1714 (London, 1996). For a military account of the Civil War, J. Kenyon, The Civil Wars of England (London, 1988) cannot be bettered. Up-to-date information on all aspects of the fighting can be found in The Civil Wars: A Military History of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1638–1660, eds. J. Kenyon and J. Ohlmeyer (Oxford, 1998), and the effect of the conflict on castles and towns is measured in S. Porter, Destruction in the English Civil Wars (Stroud, 1994).

  For more information on Henry Somerset, Marquis of Worcester, his ancestors and descendants, see the family entries under Worcester and Beaufort in the G.E. Cokayne, Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, ed. V. Gibbs and others (12 vols, 1912–59). To hear the man in his own words, seek out T. Bayly, Wittie Apophthegmes of James I, Charles I, the Earl of Worcester, Lord Bacon, and Sir Thomas More (London, 1658). The other contemporary voices I relied upon were J. Sprigge, Anglia Rediviva (England’s Recovery), facsimile with an intro by H.T. Moore (Florida, 1960), and T. Paulden, An Account of the Taking and Surrender of Pontefract Castle (Oxford, 1747). Despite the misleading title, there is much useful material on the third siege of Pontefract in W.D. Longstaffe, Nathan Drake: A Journal of the First and Second Sieges at Pontefract Castle (Surtees Society, 37, 1861). Easier to locate should be The Fairfax Correspondence: memoirs of the reign of Charles the First, ed. G.W. Johnson (2 vols, London, 1848) and The Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell, ed. S.C. Lomas (3 vols, London, 1904).

  PICTURE CREDITS

  While every effort has been made to trace copyright holders, the publishers will be glad to make proper acknowledgements in future editions of the book in the event that any regrettable omissions have occurred at the time of going to press.

  The page references in this list correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created.

  PICTURE CREDITS

  17, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust; 18, 19, 30, Michael Holford; 38, Peter Scholefield; 62, Marc Morris, courtesy of Medway Council; 67, British Library; 69, English Heritage Photo Library; 80, courtesy of Jeffrey Howe; 82, 83, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 84, Peter Humphries; 92, Marc Morris; 100, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 105, M. Prestwich, 1988, 1997 in M. Prestwich, Edward I, pp. 212–13 (Yale Univ. Press); 107, Getmapping; 113, 114, 115, M. Prestwich, 1988, 1997 in M. Prestwich, Edward I, pp. 212–13 (Yale Univ. Press); 118, Steve Day; 122, (left) Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright, (right) Peter Humphries; 123, (left) Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright, (right) Peter Humphries; 124, (left) Peter Humphries, (right), Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 125, (top) National Library of Wales, (bottom) Peter Humphries; 131, (top), Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright, (bottom), Richard Avent; 137, M. Prestwich, 1988, 1997 in M. Prestwich, Edward I, pp. 212–13 (Yale Univ. Press); 147, 152, 167, Marc Morris, with kind permission of the National Trust; 168, redrawn from an original in G. N. Curzon, Bodiam Castle, Sussex (1926); 181, The Victoria and Albert Museum; 189, Historic Scotland; 196, courtesy of Martin Coventry; 215, RCAHM Scotland; 230, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 240, Crown Copyright. National Monuments Record; 249, Hereford Museum and Art Gallery.

  PLATES

  1, Crown Copyright: Historic Royal Palaces; 2, courtesy of Jeremy Ashbee; 3, (top) Heritage House Media Ltd, (bottom) English Heritage Photo Library; 4, 5,
6, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 7, (top) courtesy of Chillon Castle, (bottom) Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 8, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 9, National Trust Images/Alasdair Ogilvie; 10, with kind permission of Viscount De L’Isle, Penshurst Place, Kent; 11, Historic Scotland; 12, (top) Historic Scotland, (bottom), National Trust for Scotland/Alasdair Smith; 13, National Trust for Scotland; 14, Cadw: Welsh Historic Monuments. Crown Copyright; 15, (top) courtesy of Haddon Hall; (bottom), English Heritage Photo Library; 16, (top), Wakefield Council; (bottom) Bob Yarwood/Archaeological Services WYAS.

  The Tower of London.

  The great tower at Rochester, seen from inside the castle’s bailey, showing its prominent forebuilding.

  The well-preserved hall inside Hedingham’s keep.

  The fanciful keep built by Henry II at Orford in Suffolk.

  Conwy.

  Harlech, with the mountains of Snowdonia in the distance.

  An artist’s impression of Harlech in its prime, showing the pathway that led to the watergate.

  Caernarfon – the Eagle Tower.

  The castle at Chillon, on the shores of Lake Geneva, with the Swiss Alps behind.

  Caernarfon – the castle and the town.

  Beaumaris – Edward I’s great unfinished fortress.

  An artist’s impression shows how the completed castle might have looked.

  Bodiam, viewed from the north-east. The chapel interrupts the castle’s symmetry, and flaunts its large, vulnerable window.

  Bodiam’s main gate.

  The great hall at Penshurst Place in Kent is nearly contemporary with Bodiam Castle. Bodiam’s Hall, although somewhat smaller than the one at Penshurst, was built to an identical design, with a hearth at its centre, and a screens passage and minstrels’ gallery at the far end.

  Threave – the fourteenth-century tower house with its fifteenth-century artillery wall.

  Threave Island, as it might have appeared at the close of the fourteenth century.

  Castle Urquhart – the Grant Tower.

  The hall at Craigievar, showing the moulded plaster ceiling, and the tiny screens passage at the far end.

  Craigievar.

  Raglan – the main gate.

  The long gallery at Haddon Hall in Derbyshire.

  Pendennis Castle in Cornwall is perhaps better regarded as a fort.

  A victim of the Civil War:

  Pontefract as it appeared on the eve of the conflict and a view of the site today.

  INDEX

  The page references in this index correspond to the printed edition from which this ebook was created. To find a specific word or phrase from the index, please use the search feature of your ebook reader.

  Aberystwyth Castle 105, 107, 116

  Albini, William de 75–6, 80–1, 85, 90

  Alfred, King 12–13

  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 8, 23, 47–8

  Ardres Castle 20–1

  Arundel Castle 166, 265

  Bailey, Dr Thomas 233–4, 235, 238, 242, 245, 252, 262

  baileys 16, 20, 51, 68, 187

  see also motte-and-bailey castles

  ballistas 81–2

  Banbury Castle 250

  Barnwell Annalist 81, 85, 89, 90–1

  bastles see peles

  La Batiaz Castle 122–3

  Bayeux Castle 17–20

  Bayeux Tapestry 17–20, 27, 28, 30, 40

  Beauchamp, William 179

  Beaumaris Castle 95, 136–9, 140, 143, 146, 265

  Bell family, masons 220

  Belvoir Castle 260

  Berkhamsted Castle 31, 37

  Birch, Colonel John 250, 253

  Bodiam Castle 3, 5, 142–53, 157–61, 165, 166–78, 265

  bombards 193–5, 196

  Borthwick Castle 196–202, 210, 220–1, 265–6

  Borthwick, William 197, 198–200

  Bothwell Castle 186

  Bristol Castle 239

  Brown, Professor R. Allen 2, 4

  Builth Castle 105, 107

  Bungay Castle 58, 266

  Burgh, Hubert de 87, 91

  Burgundy, Duke of 194

  burhs 13, 14, 31

  Caerlaverock Castle 186

  Caernarfon Castle 5, 94–5, 110, 113–16, 118, 126–32, 144

  attack on 134

  repairs 139, 140

  slighting 265

  Caerphilly Castle 83, 84, 98–101, 106, 146

  Caister Castle 161

  Cambridge Castle 33

  cannon 241, 244

  Carew Castle 229

  Castle Rising 56, 58, 68

  Caus Castle 42

  cavalry 22–3

  chapels 178

  Charles the Bald 14, 15

  Charles I 235–9, 246, 255, 259, 263

  Charles II 264, 265

  Château Gaillard 57

  Chaucer, Geoffrey 143, 179–80

  Chepstow Castle 54, 55, 229, 239

  Chillon Castle 121–2, 126

  Cholmondley, Henry 257, 258

  Clanvowe, John 179

  Clavering Castle 8

  Clifford, Roger 108

  Cobham, John de 158–9, 162

  Colchester Castle 54, 55, 91, 266

  concentricity 100

  Conisbrough Castle 56, 58

  constables 66

  Conway Castle 95, 110, 120, 123–4, 126–7, 129, 131–2

  attack on 134–6

  construction 113–18

  great hall 144

  slighting 265

  Cooling Castle 158–9

  corbelling 218

  Corbet, Roger 42

  Corfe Castle 57, 90, 254

  Cornhill, Reginald de 71, 75

  cost of castles 58–60, 106, 132, 138

  Craigievar Castle 218–21, 232

  Crathes Castle 219

  Cromwell, Oliver 255–6, 257–9, 263–4

  crossbows 78–81

  culverins 244

  curtain-wall castles see enclosure castles

  Dafydd ap Gruffudd 108, 110

  Dallingridge, Edward 142–3, 150–3, 155, 156–66 170–82

  Dallingridge, Elizabeth 151, 176–7

  Deganwy Castle 110–12, 135

  Dinan Castle 17–20

  Dol Castle 17–19

  Domesday Book 43–4, 47

  Douglas, Archibald ‘the Grim’ 186–7, 191–2

  Douglas, James 190, 192–5, 203, 206

  Douglas, William 186, 192–3, 203

  Dover Castle 44, 57, 58, 91, 99, 265

  chambers 68, 70

  cost 60

  established by William the Conqueror 29, 31

  Edinburgh Castle 183–4

  Edward the Confessor 7, 8–11, 25, 26

  Edward I 95–7, 101–41, 143–4, 154, 183, 214

  Edward III 154–5

  enclosure castles 143, 186

  English Civil Wars 224, 234–59

  Ewyas Harold 8, 10, 11

  Exchequer 59, 106

  Fairfax, Thomas 247–8, 251–3, 256, 262

  Farquharsons 211–12

  feuding 211–12, 217, 221

  Fitz Alan, Richard, Earl of Arundel 165–6, 175–6

  Fitz Osbern, William 33, 54

  Flint Castle 95, 105, 107, 108, 113, 119

  flying bridges 19, 39

  Forbes, William 218–20

  forebuildings 55, 56

  Framlingham Castle 91, 99

  Froissart, Jean de 156

 

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