Medieval Defensive Structures Research Papers (original) (raw)

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- Medieval castles, Castles and Fortifications, Medieval Defensive Structures

Aufschlüsse zur Befestigung der Mainmetropole in Spätmittelalter und früher Neuzeit

Wechselvolle Geschichte eines ehemals eingemotteten spätmittelalterlichen Turms im Frankfurter Westend

Początki zamków na Mazowszu w świetle nowszych badań W literaturze przedmiotu można się spotkać z poglądami o relatywnie późnym wy-kształceniu się na Mazowszu murowanego budownictwa obronnego 1. Sytuacja ta wynikać miała zarówno z losów politycznych dzielnicy (najazdy pruskie, jaćwieskie i litewskie w XIII i XIV w., wojny wewnętrzne, zaangażowanie sił militarnych i gospodarczych dzielnicy w walkę o panowanie w Małopolsce), jak i z mniejszych możliwości ekono-micznych (z uwagi na np. gorsze warunki rozwoju rolnictwa) oraz warunków natural-nych (brak złóż kamienia budowlanego, tradycja wznoszenia umocnień drewniano-ziemnych). W związku z powyższym zasługę szerszego upowszechnienia na Mazowszu tego rodzaju architektury warownej przypisywano dopiero księciu Januszowi I Starsze-mu, który korzystając zapewne z wzorców płynących z Królestwa Polskiego, umocnił swoją domenę kilkoma murowanymi zamkami i dworami 2. Niewątpliwie skala inwesty-cji tego władcy i zaangażowanie w przebudowę gospodarczych i militarnych podstaw podlegającego mu regionu pozwalają rozpatrywać jego zabiegi jako wyjątkowe, słusznie porównywane niekiedy z działaniami Kazimierza III Wielkiego 3. Także postać brata Ja-nusza Starszego, zarządzającego dzielnicą rawską Siemowita IV, często bywa przywoły-wana przez badaczy w kontekście rozwoju murowanej architektury rezydencjonalno-obronnej 4. Nie wydaje się to dziwne, jeśli weźmie się pod uwagę ambitne plany tego księcia dotyczące zdobycia tronu Królestwa Polskiego 5. W niniejszym tekście pragnął-bym odnieść się do czasów poprzedzających samodzielne rządy obu Siemowitowiców i spróbować prześledzić, kiedy i gdzie pojawiły się na ziemiach mazowieckich budowle, które można by już nazwać zamkami. W tym miejscu należy zaznaczyć, że zazwyczaj zbiorczą nazwą Mazowsze określa się obszar złożony z różnych regionów, o odmiennych warunkach topograficznych, 1 Bohdan Guerquin uznawał, że do większego rozwoju zamków na Mazowszu doszło dopiero w 1. ćwierci XV w.,

Of the seven city gates of the two towns of Quedlinburg and the six gates of the outer fortifications around the suburbs and the castle hill, only two remain in the rising building stock: the castle gate and the keyser gate. All others were laid down in the 19th century to make room for the needs of new vehicles. Apart from that, considerable parts of the medieval Quedlinburg city defence have been preserved, mobile ones like the Balliste, but also immobile ones like the city wall, towers and field guards. In the following, however, the focus is on those city gates that are largely lost. Although most of their buildings have been dismantled, the gates are still tangible in historical, architectural and archaeological sources.

The study focuses on the spread of the brick decoration in the late-medieval architecture of Chierese and Alto Astigiano land. The survey covered an area of 500 sq km and identified 37 defensive, civil and religious buildings in 17 towns. Of each building, settlement context, type, structural and formal evolution were analyzed, with special emphasis on the various repertoire of terracotta decorative elements and plaques (XIII-XV centuries). The work was closely linked to a computerized filing: in a large database specific data were merged for each record, accompanied by extensive graphic documentation on both architectures and their decoration. The classification of the decorative patterns is planned according to typological criteria in order to facilitate comparisons and define history and evolution. The graphic set, ranging from the relief of a single plaque to the representation of whole facades, is designed to provide the widest recording on their features. The research has revealed a number of evolutionary processes: starting from religious buildings, decorative patterns spread to defensive architectures, first in schematic and linear forms (the overfired brick diapering, linear frames etc.), and then, from fifthteenth century on, in the appearance in civil architecture of impressive decorations assembled on the basis of a rich repertoire of figurative molded plaques. The so-called "civilization of baked clay" centered around Chieri is found not to be apart from the artistic and cultural milieu of Northern Italy: close ties to the Lombard environment emerge, from which it draws building features and decorative patterns. Moreover, it shows to share ferments of renewal with the Gothic style flourishing beyond the Alps, due to contacts of the Chierese élites with the refined courts of Burgundy and Flanders. The surveyed repertory showed how Chieri and its land shared an international context, maintaining at the same time a marked originality in many of its achievements.

- by Federica Bergamini
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- Cultural History, Late Middle Ages, Settlement Patterns, Cultural Landscapes

Quedlinburg's city fortifications are still largely preserved and can be experienced today. Although almost all of the historic gateways in the city's fortification belt were ground down in the course of the 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous city wall towers and bastions, more or less well preserved, still dominate the city's silhouette. Of the formerly more than 35 individual fortifications of the two cities - 21 of the Old Town, twelve of the New Town and four in the suburbs - more than 20 towers, numerous bastions and considerable city wall remains are still preserved in the emerging building stock. Thanks to the rapid decline in the importance of the city since the late Middle Ages, the medieval city fortifications did not undergo any significant additions or adaptations to the evolving defense technology requirements from the 15th century onward, and their fortifications were virtually "frozen" at the level of 14th century defense technology. This is remarkable in so far as the fortifications that have survived today have been largely spared from later structural overmoulding from the 15th to the 19th century and thus provide an unclouded view of high medieval fortification technology.

Rodríguez-Navarro, Pablo (2018), Las Torres Árabes de las Alquerías Valencianas, ed. Tirant, Valencia, 212 páginas. Premio de Investigación Ibn al-Abbar. - Venta en librerías. Librería Izquierdo, Gran Via de Ferran el Catòlic, 12,... more

- by Pablo Rodríguez-Navarro
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- History, Medieval History, Architectural History, Medieval Archaeology

Suite à l’essor du féodalisme en Suisse occidentale aux alentours de l’an Mil, le territoire du Pays de Vaud regorge de sites castraux qui défendent et abritent les nombreuses seigneuries. Certains, comme le Château Ravenel et le Château... more

Suite à l’essor du féodalisme en Suisse occidentale aux alentours de l’an
Mil, le territoire du Pays de Vaud regorge de sites castraux qui défendent et
abritent les nombreuses seigneuries. Certains, comme le Château Ravenel et le Château du Contesson, sont aujourd’hui tombés dans l’oubli.

- by Alessandro Moro and +1
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- Medieval Archaeology, Medieval Fortifications, Medieval Defensive Structures, Châteaux

Studying a medieval defensive group in a rural place like the Lecrin Valley (Granada, Spain), helps us to develop an approximation to the territorial configuration of this region in the Middle Ages. This emblematic group of fortresses, shows the strategical position of this site not only during the Islamic period but also after the Castilian Conquest.

Este trabajo se centra en el reino de Navarra, conquistado por Fernando el Católico en 1512. Se subraya la relación del monarca con este territorio, por ser hijo de Juan II, rey del mismo. El estudio analiza uno de los linajes que destacaron en la corte de Olite bajo la dinastía Evreux, los Lizarazu, quienes reflejan bien la secular tendencia de los bajonavarros a asentarse en la Navarra peninsular. Partiendo de una influencia meramente local, conseguirán ascender en la corte a causa de la necesidad de contar con servidores leales en la gobernación de un territorio apartado y conflictivo. A ello sumarán su dedicación a la defensa de castillos fronterizos, hasta hacerse indispensables. El estallido del enfrentamiento entre Juan II y su hijo mayor, el príncipe de Viana Carlos, alineará a los Lizarazu junto a este último en un largo conflicto que provocará la ruina del reino y su caída en desgracia.

- by Ana Zabalza Seguín
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- Onomastics, Frontera, Patrimonio Inmaterial, Medieval Defensive Structures

ABSTRACT: Since their erection, Daroca's walls established themselves as the defining element par excellence of a
singular urban space located in the Aragonese frontier. They
served the purpose of acting as a defensive system for the
neighbourhood and organised a vast territory militarily.
They played a decisive role in the judicial, political, admi~
nistrative, socio~economic and ideological fields. They pro~
moted the working out of a financia! system able to cope
with the high expenses originated by the maintenance of
towers and castles, and called for the creation of a new villa~
ge and municipality magistracy, the "walllabourer".
KEYWORDS: Defensive System, Frontier, Wall, Castle,
Armament, Aragón, Middle Ages
REsUMEN: Desde su erección, las murallas de Daroca
constituyeron el elemento definitorio por excelencia de un
espacio urbano singular enclavado en la frontera aragonesa.
Sirvieron como defensa del vecindario y organizaron mili~
tarmente un amplio territorio. Desempeñaron un papel
decisivo el ámbito jurídico, político, administrativo, socio~
económico e ideológico. Promovieron la elaboración de un
sistema financiero capaz de sostener los elevados gastos de
mantenimiento de torres y castillos, y requirieron la creación
de una nueva magistratura municipal y aldeana, el "obrero
de los muros".
PALABRAS CLAVE: Sistema Defensivo, Frontera,
Muralla, Castillo, Annamento, Aragón, Edad Media.""

- by Béghin Mathieu
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- Late Middle Ages, Renaissance Studies, Suburban Studies, Medieval urban history

In 1592, King Philip II of Spain commissioned Tiburzio Spannocchi, an Italian engineer, to analyse both the defensive system of the central Pyrenees and the fortification of the city of Zaragoza. Spannocchi developed the commission for five years, and the result of his work is the San Pedro Castle in Jaca and the design of a low-lying fortification with bastion-shaped elements using the preexistence of the Aljafería Palace in Zaragoza.
The political situation and the revolts that followed the practical abolition of the Aragonese code of laws in 1592 changed the aim of the Zaragoza project. It turned into an element to control of the city itself rather than defend it against a possible French attack, generating a hybrid image between a modern and medieval fortress. We will study this mixed appearance using the drawings that the engineer himself sent to the king as a report of his work.
Through the analysis of these drawings, we will display the varied ways in which Spannocchi created them according to the direct practical objective of each one, and the consequent choice of techniques and means used.

The aim of the present contribution is to take on a deep path of knowledge of the Castle of Gesualdo, a small town of the interior Campania region, in Southern Italy, in order to offer useful insights on its enhancement. The castle stands on the top of a hill 697 meters high above sea level, it is northerly protected by a natural ridge on which the ancient Via Appia, linking Rome to Apulia region, transited, and it dominates the valleys of the rivers Fredane and Calore Irpino. The building is the core of the old town, that is a typical example of feudal architecture with a radiocentric plant. Its building process can be divided into several phases. The foundation of the primitive defensive watchtower dates back to the 7 th century, during the Byzantine-Lombard wars. After several enlargements the fortress reached its definitive plant in the late 16 th century thanks to Prince Carlo Gesualdo. The lord transformed the castle from a rude fortress into an elegant Renaissance palace: he created lodges, further floors, and decorated the main façade of its courtyard, of which an interesting and original hypothesis about the matrices that generated its design is here conducted. Before the recent earthquake of November the 23 rd , 1980, which severely damaged Gesualdo, the castle underwent further transformations. The post-earthquake interventions, which are currently still in progress, have been aimed at the restoration and seismic improvement of the castle in the respect of the conservation principles and structural safety.

- by Fabio De Guglielmo and +1
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- Military History, Enhancement, Restoration, Geometric Analysis

During the Middle Ages and the early modern period until the beginning of the 20th century, the tower of the market church in Quedlinburg had a central function for the defense against danger. The town community positioned a watchman on an elevated point who kept watch day and night for fire and enemies. Due to its exposed location and height, the towers of the market church, as the highest points within the city walls, always formed a point of attack during thunderstorms. Thus, the tower was a victim of flames due to thunderstorms perhaps in the 16th century, but certainly in 1701 and in 1901 due to carelessness. No separate publication has yet been presented on the ascent of the towers of the market church of St. Benedikti; moreover, the larger stock of graffiti present and presented here for the first time has never before been mentioned in the regional literature, let alone systematically described. Of the 82 graffiti evaluated, more than 81 percent (67) contain a year, four of which even give a date. The oldest surviving graffiti date from the first half of the 17th century. A total of ten can be reliably dated to this period on the basis of the year given to them.

El caserío de la actual villa de Cabezón de la Sal es el resultado de la unión de diversos núcleos de entidad menor, barrios, cuyos respectivos caseríos han crecido en mancha de aceite, hasta terminar uniéndose unos a otros conformando el actual tejido urbano con una planta en V invertida con brazos muy abiertos y divergentes, crecidos a lo largo de los dos viales que confluyen en ella: la N-634 de Santander a Oviedo, que en términos históricos corresponde al camino de las Asturias de Santillana a las Asturias de Oviedo y, en segundo término con la CA-180, que remonta el valle del Saja por los valles de Cabezón y Cabuérniga, configurando el sector vertiente a la costa cantábrica del «camino de asturianos y cornecanos» de que hablase en el 824 la Carta Puebla de Brañosera (Palencia), rebautizado en los tiempos más cercanos como la ruta de los Foramontanos. En el cruce de ambos viales se localiza la Plaza Mayor de Cabezón y, dominándola desde el oeste, el Pico de la Torre, que nos ocupará.

- by Beatriz González Montes
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- Archaeology, Medieval History, Medieval Studies, Medieval Archaeology
- by Michał Wojenka
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- Medieval Archaeology, Castles, Siege Warfare, Medieval Defensive Structures

The Bana Castle in the System of Administration of the Early Medieval Kingdom of Hungary

- by Miloš Marek
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- Medieval Studies, Medieval Hungary, Middle Ages, Medieval castles

"Recentes trabalhos de escavação, decorridos em 2004/2005 e 2009, em dois imóveis contíguos, no flanco Norte de Cacela Velha, possibilitaram a identificação de um conjunto de estruturas e contextos do período de ocupação muçulmana.
Apresentam-se os resultados destas intervenções que revelaram uma área conformada pelo perímetro amuralhado, encerrando contextos de natureza e cronologia diversas. No recinto salienta-se a presença de espaços de tipologia modesta aparentemente habitacional a par com uma construção de cariz público.
"

- by Sara Almeida
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- Islamic Archaeology, Medieval Defensive Structures
- by Alessandro Moro and +1
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- Medieval Archaeology, Medieval Fortifications, Medieval Defensive Structures, Protohistoric Archaeology

El sistema defensivo de Valdivia y su puerto se establece luego del intento de colonización holandesa de la ciudad en 1643. Entre 1645-1647 se inicia el período de refundación hispana de Valdivia y su jurisdicción colonial, comenzando por el establecimiento de incipientes fortificaciones que alcanzarían más tarde el rango de castillos (Guarda 1990). El sistema llegó a constituir uno de los más importantes y estratégicos del Pacífico Sur, integrado ya durante el siglo XVIII diez baterías, tres fuertes y cuatro castillos en la bahía de Corral (Corral, Amargos, Niebla y Mancera), uno castillo hacia el interior (río Cruces), mientras la misma ciudad fue dotada de un recinto amurallado, torreones, fosos y baterías propias.
En este trabajo nos interesa analizar comparativamente la planimetría de los cinco castillos del sistema defensivo de Valdivia, incluyendo el recinto amurallado (Plaza Real) dispuesto sobre las ruinas de la cuadrícula urbana (damero) destruida en el alzamiento indígena de 1599-1604. Las cartografías y “planos de obra” de los castillos -elaborados por Birt (1763-1768), Garland (1764-1773) y especialmente aquellos anónimos datados entre 1755 y 1759-, nos permiten avanzar en un análisis arquitectónico y morfofuncional de estas instalaciones y distinguir su variabilidad interna e inter sitio, complementando los datos obtenidos con dataciones absolutas (TL) provenientes de materiales muebles e inmuebles registradas en sus depósitos arqueológicos.

- by Simón Urbina
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- Historical Archaeology, Architecture, Urban Planning, Architectural History
- by Jiří Varhaník and +1
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- Medieval Defensive Structures, Medieval Castles and Fortresses, Rondel

Based on the archaeological evidence, the southern part of Asia, including fertile regions of Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Iran, India, and China, cradles of the great civilizations, was the ideal destination for northern emigrants from the 3rd millennium BC to the early 20th century AD. The emigrants were mostly nomads of the northern part of Asia, an area covered with vast rainless deserts and steppes. During severe famine, which resulted from the dominant climatic conditions of the region, the nomads had to invade the wealthy southern settlements, and therefore the populations of villages or cities of southern Asia fortified their settlements with defensive installations, including ramparts, towers, ditches, etc. The defensive walls were the most important defensive structures that separated the southern settlements from the northern invaders, and were constructed whenever and wherever in Asia the differences between geographic advantages led to struggles between the north and south. This paper introduces the concept of a Long Wall of Asia; that walls, in combination with the natural barriers, formed a long and formidable defensive barrier extending from the east to the west of Asia. The Long Wall of Asia is over 10000 km in length and represents the close interaction between history, geography, and material culture in the formation of the defensive landscape of southern Asia.

The damages recorded in the recent seismic events have highlighted that also very robust structures, such as old castles, are vulnerable with respect to not too high seismic actions. However, the damages have allowed not only of understanding the structural behavior of these ancient old fortifications, but also the influence of many factors affecting the specific response. In this paper an overview of the most recent developments in the seismic assessment of Italian medieval castles is presented. The study discusses on the identification of the most vulnerable elements and on their analytical evaluation. Then, an application to an ancient castle chosen as case study is shown.

- by Edgar Laguna and +1
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- Seismic Hazard, Architectural Heritage, Fortresses, Medieval Defensive Structures

In the course of the excavations at the Belgrade Fortress, a peculiar settlement zone has been uncovered in the fortified area of the former riverbank. This area was divided into two units – the Western Suburb and the Lower Town – by the rampart and the defensive ditch running alongside it. There were several successive phases of buildings with wattle and daub walls leaning on the rampart, some of them with stone retaining walls, testifying to an intensive secondary use of the ditch, which started after it had lost its original defensive function. That the time-span of this settlement was from 1427 to 1521, i.e. from the period of Hungarian rule in Belgrade, is confirmed by the chronology of the fortification, stratigraphy of cultural layers and small archaeological finds. The article analyses the features and functions of these buildings, and their inventories. Together with the relations of this settlement with the neighbouring spatial and fortified units, the circumstances which could have led to settling this ground by the river, significantly lower than the rest of bank belt, are discussed.

Castle in Papowo is located in the western part of the Chelmno Land. Convent House in Papowo is one of oldest regular, four wings Teutonic castles. Its unique character is due to buiding material. Since 2005 the research program concerning Chelmno Land castles is carried out. In the years 2005-2008, and in 2012 archaeological and architectural excavations have been conducted on the main castle, and bailey. The main purpose of this work was to recognize the chronological and spatial synchronization of layers. Also attempt was made to reconstruct the history of the building. The study was also carried out to verify the castle plan and prepare conservation program. The article presents the reconstruction of main building phases.

- by Bogusz Wasik
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- Medieval Architecture, Castles, Teutonic Knights, Medieval Defensive Structures

Neu entdeckte Überreste der Stadtbefestigung von Frankfurt a. M.

- by Andrea Hampel
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- Medieval Archaeology, Dendrochronology, Medieval Europe, Fortifications

Un documento inédito revela un proyecto de reforma de la fortaleza almohade en 1837. Cáceres no se ha planteado nunca, ni antes ni después, una restauración integral de su monumento más simbólico. En los siglos XVIII y XIX se permitió... more

- by Antonio Rodríguez González
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- Walls, Conservación y Restauración, Archivos, Documentación

During the rescue archaeological excavations that the archaeologists
from the Croatian Conservation Institute conducted on St.
Servolo Square at Buje in the course of 2010, a whole series of
movable and immovable archaeological finds had been discovered,
which cover a long period of life that went on in the very center
of the old historical section of town. Among the finds we single
out Iron Age archaeological strata that confirm the existence of
a prehistoric hillfort in the area of a subsequent medieval city,
followed by remnants of the medieval church of St. Servolo and
the appurtenant town cemetery, the medieval defensive wall of the
town, other structures from the same period, and archaeological
layers containing movable archaeological material that confirms
such datings.

- by Ivica Pleština and +1
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- Early Bronze Age (Archaeology), Iron Age, Eneolithic, Medieval cemeteries

L'articolo espone i dati relativi all'individuazione di un fossato nel corso degli scavi archeologici previsti all'interno del progetto "Grande Malatestiana" (2005-2010), presso l'omonima Biblioteca nel centro storico di Cesena. Viene esposta l'ipotesi per cui si possa trattare di una porzione del limite nord della città in età medievale effettuando un confronto con rinvenimenti simili e proponendo una sintesi relativa alla topografia urbana di questo periodo.

- by Fabio Bracci
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- Medieval Defensive Structures, Medieval Urban Topography

Reste der Stadtmauern samt Torrelikten in der Innenstadt der Mainmetropole

- by Andrea Hampel
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- Early Medieval Archaeology, Medieval Archaeology, Dendrochronology, Medieval Europe
- by Jiří Varhaník
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- Medieval castles, Medieval Defensive Structures

Main results of 2014 excavations in Klaipėda castle.

- by Miglė Urbonaitė Ubė and +1
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- Medieval Archaeology, Medieval castles, Medieval Defensive Structures

Untersuchungen in einem mittelalterlichen Wahrzeichen der Frankfurter Altstadt