In the following essay I am going to compare the functions and forms of Bodiam and Bolton castles. The two castles were built in the second part of fourteenth century and their builders were granted a license to crenellate from Richard II. As they are both part of a transition in the history of castle building, I will try to illustrate their functions as both defensive systems and comfortable and sophisticated residences. By analysing their plans, I would examine the differences and similarities in the arrangement and the design of the two castles.
Bodiam Castle is a late medieval castle was built in East Sussex between 1385 and 1386 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge (Fig. 1). Bolton castle was built by Sir Richard le Scrope in 1379 (Fig. 2). Both castles were made at a developmental stage of the history of castle building. They were constructed at a time when nobility were looking for comfortable residences that offered them not only security, but also spacious and agreeable places to live in. As a result of the invention of guns and gunpowder, which made many of their defensive measures impractical, castles at that time were in decline. Moreover, the weakening of military feudalism granted the king with greater authority at the expense of power, possessed by the lords and barons. Hence, military castle structures were no longer as appropriate as they used to be. A newfound desire emerged in the lords to demonstrate the authority they still had; thus, castles became comfortable residences that display wealth, rank and status .
The massive towers of the remarkably beautiful Bodiam castle and the broad moat surrounding it appear as the perfect example of the medieval castle. Nevertheless, this fortress functioned both as a stronghold an...
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...g about castles. They impress with their sense of symmetry. Although the two castles were genuinely different in terms of size and planning, they both impress with their sense of symmetry and are centred on a courtyard and served as housing not only for their lord, but also for their households and visitors.
Works Cited
Curzon,. Bodiam Castle, Sussex: A Historical and Descriptive Survey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1925);
Goodall, J., The English Castle (London: Yale University Press, 2011)
Jackson, G., The Story of Bolton Castle (Clapham: Dalesman Publishing Company Ltd., 1966);
Morris, M.,Castle (London: Pan Books, 2004);
Platt, C., The castle in medieval England & Wales (London: Secker & Warburg, 1982);
Thackray, D., Bodiam Castle, (London: The National Trust, 1991);
Toy S., The Castles of Great Britain (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1953);
For many the Cathedral is seen to indicate the grandeur and control of the Normans, who were able to build such monuments to their power despite having only recently conquered England. The precarious situation of being an recently instated alien power was even more pronounced in the north, where even the Anglo Saxon Kings had only had a superficial hold, arguably making the construction of Durham “one of the greatest Anglo-Norman achievements”. This so-called achievement is not restricted to architecture but also refers to the political developments which enabled the Normans to apparently gain enough control to do this within 30 years. However the study of Durham Cathedral alone cannot suffice to give a satisfactory outline of Norman politics and the achievements in Durham and must be put into the context of the region. Hence Durham Cathedral and all its powerful connotations can be argued to only be an anomaly to the reality of Norman England and its politics.
Royal monarchs did not start living on the grounds until several hundred years after its construction. In 1220 Henry III began to largely expand on the royal palace and increased the castle defenses. When the tower did become a common place for monarchs, it also became a new stage for climatic events in England. The palace became a place for royal ceremonies and drama. The casual attributes of the tower like the armory, treasury, temple, the castles green and even an added Jewel house were all made mo...
CATAPULTS The catapult, was invented by the Romans, and plays a large role in the siege of any castle. Besiegers could fire 100-200 pound stones up to 1,000 feet. The catapult was used to destroy buildings and walls inside and outside of the castle walls, it could also destroy an enemies moral by throwing severed heads of comrades, they could spread disease by throwing shit and dead animals in, and they could destroy wooden building by throwing bundles of fire in.
Once you see the Medieval Times Knight battle you will have a whole new appreciation for knights; a castle garden. It all started with the stairs. When it was time for the show to begin my family and I went to the grand staircase. Once we got there two trumpet players dressed in baggy pants and shirts started playing. Their trumpets were unusually long with banners on them. One banner had a lion's head on it and the other had a shield. The trumpet players played the most crisp and majestic sound I have ever heard. The sound rang through the castle and all of the crowds fell silent.
Wilson, Christopher. "Thirteenth-Century Gothic." The Gothic Cathedral: the Architecture of the Great Church 1130-1530. Reprinted ed. London: Thames & Hudson, 2008. 91-120. Print.
Late Helladic fortification walls on the Greek mainland are found surrounding citadels, not the entire city or site. The citadels seem to have housed central administration and housing for an elite class of citizens. They were built on hills, presumably as another layer of fortification. I will examine the sites of Gla, Midea, Tiryns, and Mycenae to look for similarities and differences in the design and architecture of their fortifications, as well as, arguments about the purpose of the fortifications at these sites. I will also explore how some sites were hindered or helped defensively and economically by their location and their use of fortifications.
To help understand a little more about Medieval Thought An Introduction, the following outline will be used in this review: first a look at the author, his professional background and his objectives with respect to this book are discussed. From there the layout of the text will be thoroughly looked at, with detailed descriptions of major points in the chapters, which are relevant to this review. Finally conclusions will be drawn from the information stated above as to whether or not this text is to be considered a valid depiction of the facts.
Q: Use St Peter’s basilica and Donato Bramante’s Tempietto in Rome, in opposition to John Balthasar Neumann’s Pilgrimage Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Bamburg, Germany, to argue that a rational engagement with architecture is a more effective means to comprehend and understand architectural form.
Roger Babusci et al. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1994. 115-136. Print. “The Medieval Period: 1066-1485.”
Castle Vale was built in between 1964 to 1969 to accommodate 20,000 people (Mornement, 2005). In the early days, the estate was comprised of 34 tower blocks alongside a mix of maisonettes and houses. This area was initially redeveloped throughout the 60s to provide houses to the people who had to be relocated through slum clearance in Birmingham City Centre.
The reason for this piece is to attempt a comparison between two architectural examples that employ classical design from different stylistic eras of architectural history. The two styles I've chosen to discuss are the Renaissance and Baroque periods. An understanding of classical architecture needs to be made, as it is the fundamental style of any period that developed architecturally
In the film, The Last Castle, I found many aspects and theories that involve organizational communication throughout the movie. The film is about a US prison where the prisoners have formally served in the military and have committed crimes while serving their time. The movie shows how the prisoners come together when a former well-respected general is sent there to overpower the man that runs the facility.
Inside of this retaining wall enclosure, the monks built the necessary structures for the monastery – churches, living quarters, a hermitage, cisterns, and even a cemetery. Almost all of the construction is dry-stone construction made from the rocks on t...
Architecture in the Carolingian period made good use of wood just as the Celto-Germanic period did. A major difference between the two was that Carolingian architects used stone only for important buildings such as churches and castles. Their buildings and plans for unfinished buildi...
With the need for war came the need for protection. Castles surrounded the king for his protection against enemies. In addition,...