Chapter XXXII: Appendix: S (5)

[1179] The bow brought by Richard from Palestine is believed to have been an improved form of crossbow, made of horn and yew, "light, elastic, and far more powerful than a bow of solid wood." Payne Gallwey, _The Crossbow_.

[1180] "Fenestris arcubalistaribus," Bouquet xvii., 75. The writer has never found a single defensive loophole in any of the keeps of Henry I. or Henry II. Köhler remarks that the loopholes up to this period do not seem to be intended for shooting (_Entwickelung des Kriegswesen_, iii., 409), and Clark has some similar observations.

[1181] _Dictionnaire de l'Architecture_, art. "Meurtrière."

[1182] Meyrick in his _Ancient Armour_ quotes a charter of 1239, in which the French king grants a castle to the Count de Montfort on condition "quod non possumus habere in eodem archeriam nec arbalisteriam," which Meyrick audaciously translates "any perpendicular loophole for archers, nor any cruciform loophole for crossbowmen." The quotation is unfortunately given by Sir R. Payne Gallwey without the Latin original. It is at any rate probable that the cruciform loophole was for _archers_; it does not appear till the time of the long-bow, which was improved and developed by Edward I., who made it the most formidable weapon of English warfare.

[1183] See Appendix H.

[1184] _Entwickelung des Kriegswesen_, iii., 417.

[1185] In 1186, the Duke of Burgundy caused the towers and walls of his castle of Chatillon to be "hoarded" (hordiari). This duke had been a companion of Richard's on the third crusade. William le Breton, _Philippides_, line 600. Richard's _hurdicia_ at Chateau Gaillard were two years earlier.

[1186] See Dieulafoy, _Le Chateau Gaillard et l'Architecture Militaire au Treizième Siècle_, p. 13.

[1187] The best French and German authorities are agreed about this. The holes in which the wooden beams supporting the hurdicia were placed may still be seen in many English castles, and so may the remains of the stone brackets. They would be good indications of date, were it not that hurdicia could so easily be added to a much older building.

[1188] Köhler gives the reign of Frederic Barbarossa (1155-1191) as the time of the first appearance of the round keep in Germany.

[1189] In spite of this, I cannot feel satisfied that the keep of Étampes is of so early a date. The decorative features appear early, but the second and third storeys are both vaulted, which is a late sign. The keep called Clifford's Tower at York, built by Henry III. 1245 to 1259, is on the same plan as Étampes.

[1190] This keep has been long destroyed.

[1191] Ground entrances occur in several much earlier keeps, as at Colchester (almost certainly an addition of Henry I.'s time), Bamborough (probably Henry II.'s reign), and Richmond, where Earl Conan seems to have used a former entrance gateway to make the basement entrance of his keep. See Milward, _Arch. Journ._, vol. v.

[1192] Built by Earl Hamelin, half-brother of Henry II., who died in 1201.

[1193] Viollet le Duc, art. "Donjon."

[1194] The walls of the Tower are from 12 to 15 feet thick at the base; those of Norwich 13; the four walls of Dover respectively, 17, 18, 19, and 21 feet; Carlisle, 15 feet on two sides. (Clark.) William of Worcester tells us that Bristol keep was 25 feet thick at the base! _Itin._, p. 260.

[1195] See Enlart, _Manuel d'Archæologie Française_, ii., 526.

[1196] MacGibbon and Ross, _Castellated Architecture of Scotland_, p. 159.

[1197] This type of castle was probably borrowed from the fortifications of Greek cities, which the Crusaders had observed in the East.

[1198] Conway and Carnarvon consist of two adjoining courts, without any external enclosure but a moat. Flint has a great tower outside the quadrangle, which is sometimes mistakenly called a keep, but its internal arrangements show that it was not so, and it is doubtful whether it was ever roofed over. It was simply a tower to protect the entrance, taking the place of the 13th-century barbican.

[1199] Köhler states that the gatehouse palace is peculiar to England: "only at Perpignan is there anything like it." _Entwickelung des Kriegswesen_, iii., 480.

[1200] Köhler mentions the castle of Neu Leiningen as the first example in Germany, built in 1224. _Kriegswesen_, iii., 475. Frederic II.'s castles were of this type. The castle of Boulogne, finished in 1231, is one of the oldest examples of the keepless type in France. Enlart, _Archæologie Française_, ii., 534. The Bastille of Paris was a castle of this kind. According to Hartshorne, Barnwell Castle, in Northants, is of the keepless kind, and as the _Hundred Rolls_ state that it was built in 1264, we seem to have here a positive instance of a keepless castle in Henry III.'s reign. _Arch. Inst. Newcastle_, vol. 1852. And it appears to be certain that Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, built the keepless castle of Caerphilly before Edward came to the throne. See Little's _Mediæval Wales_, p. 87.

[1201] French archæologists are enthusiastic over the keep of Chateau Gaillard, the scientific construction of the towers of the curtain, the avoidance of "dead angles," the continuous flanking, etc. See Viollet le Duc, art. "Chateau," and Dieulafoy, _Le Chateau Gaillard_.

[1202] This type is extremely rare: Trim, in Ireland, and Castle Rushen, in the Isle of Man, are the only other instances known to the writer. Trim is a square tower with square turrets in the middle of each face; Castle Rushen is on the same plan, but the central part appears to have been an open court.

[1203] Enlart, _Archæologie Française_, ii., 516.

[1204] Martène's _Thesaurus Anecdotorum_, iv., 118. "Nulli licuit in Normannia fossatum facere in planam terram, nisi tale quod de fundo potuisset terram jactare superius sine scabello. Et ibi nulli licuit facere palicium, nisi in una regula; et id sine propugnaculis et alatoriis. Et in rupe et in insula nulli licuit facere fortitudinem, et nulli licuit in Normannia castellum facere."

[1205] The document which calls itself _Leges Henrici Primi_, x., 1, declares the "castellatio trium scannorum" to be a right of the king. _Scannorum_ is clearly _scamnorum_, banks. It is noteworthy that a motte-and-bailey castle is actually a fortification with three banks: one round the top of the motte, one round the edge of the bailey, one on the counterscarp of the ditch.

[1206] See the case of Benhall, _Close Rolls_, ii., 52b (1225).

[1207] Aldreth and Burton are omitted from this list.

[1208] M. and B. stand for Motte and Bailey; K. and B. for Keep and Bailey; O. for Outside the Town.

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