Castles of England

Arundel Castle

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The Castles of England

This book is about castles in England, their development and design through the medieval period. Castles developed throughout this period in response to the changing demands placed on them. Before the beginning of the period covered, England was under threat from invaders like the Vikings, driving people to construct fortifications to protect their land and holdings. Following the Norman invasion, more powerful castles were required so that the Normans could consolidate their hold over the country. Castles continued to develop in response to more effective siege weapons and the various civil wars and conflicts. Finally, as England became more peaceful, the castle became more a comfortable home than a defensive structure, although still needing to be strong enough to defend against small roving bands of men.

As an understanding of history is necessary to place the castle design in context, each chapter begins with an outline of the history of the period before moving on to cover castle designs and describe some example castles in detail. The book concludes with modules on the defensive and domestic features of a castle as well as describing the common techniques for assaulting a castle.

A glossary and a time line illustrating the development of castles through history can be found at the end of the book along with a reference section detailing every castle in England.