Medieval Castles

In 1494 the armies of the French king, Charles VIII, invaded Italy to capture the kingdom of Naples. They swept by means of the country and bombarded and destroyed many palaces. This invasion signaled the end of the fastness as a stronghold of defense. For centuries it had been the dominant fortification in western sandwich Europe for the defense of kings, nobility, and townspeople. Ancient cities were often walled to accommodate out invaders, and within the walls there was usually a citadel, a strongly built fortification occupying the highest or militarily most advantageous position. A castle is much like such(prenominal) a walled city and its citadel contracted into a small space. Castles were basically fortified locations. The word itself comes from the Latin castellum. Up to the sixth century fortifications were primarily communities in which most of the population lived. just in the middle of the 6th century, the armies of the Byzantine Empire began to conformation strong forts as defensive positions. For the next few centuries this castle building was confined to the Byzantine Empire, but later hordes of Islamic warriors who swept out of Arabia to conquer the Middle East, North Africa, and much Byzantine territory also started building such forts.

Western Europe, in the depths of the Dark Ages from the 5th through the 9th century, had no such works. But late in the 9th century, as local lords and kings began to unify power, castle building began probably in France. Once begun, castle building spread rapidly to other argonas. But it was non until the 12th and 13th centuries, after the Crusaders returned from their wars against Islam in Palestine, that castles as exalted as those of the Byzantine or Islamic empires were constructed in Europe. many a(prenominal) of the stone castles of the late Middle Ages still stand. Some are tourist attractions, in various states of repair, along the Rhine River from Mainz to Cologne in Germany, dotted about the French countryside, or perched on... If you want to die a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com

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