Apart from kitchen passages, medieval castles rarely contained interior corridors. Any private chamber is called a solar.ġ3. Tapestries hanging off the wall served an important purpose of checking for drafts.ġ2. Colour scheme was frequently green, gold and red, with murals covering the walls.ġ1. In the bailey near the kitchen was the garden with fruit trees, herbs, flowers (poppies, roses, lilies) and a fish pond.ġ0. The ancestor of the fireplace is the central open hearth, used in Saxon times.ĩ. Only the lord and lady of the castle would sit in chairs, to emphasise status. All tables in the great hall were covered with white cloths.ħ. Even though these were replaced in intervals and the floors swept, there was always an ancient collection of beer, grease, bones, spittle, dog excrement under the sweet smelling herbs.Ħ. Previously, floors were covered with hay, basil, lavender, marjoram, fennel, mints, violets.
Carpets were only employed as floor coverings in the 14th century. Some of the most powerful castles in the world were built in between 1280-1320 in Wales by Edward I.ĥ. Machicolations are the openings through which missiles and boiling liquid could be dropped on the enemy.Ĥ. The Byzantines and Saracens were the first to build in a circular pattern.ģ. The rectangular shaped castle had many disadvantages, especially around the corners. Chepstow is one of the few Anglo-Norman castles not sited to command an important town.Ģ. Several such examples are the castle-originated cities of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Ghent, Bruges. Sometimes, instead of a city causing a castle to be built, the reverse was true, as craftsmen and merchants settled close by for protection and to serve the household. It also explains why the castle declined and provides a comprehensive list of castles to visit throughout the UK and Europe as well as a terrific glossary at the back.įar from boring, I devoured this book and am looking forward to tackling the others in the series.ġ. Taking us through the various roles - within the castle and village surrounds, what people ate, wore, celebrated - from Lammas to tournaments, how the castles were built, altered, the manner in which they were defended or attacked as well as simply lived in and around, this book is a fascinating and beautifully written (and translated) insight into a period of time that's all too easily misrepresented and romanticised in popular culture (not that there's anything wrong with that, unless you're a dinky-di history buff and want more than constant spit and polish). There are also the requisite lord and lady, squires and knights, but also seneschals and other administrative people. No, these castles, mainly in England, but also abroad, are filled with pantlers, bottlers (where the term 'butler' originates from), slaughterers, smiths, grooms, carters, brewers and all manner of servants. The Gies' compelling non-fiction work takes the reader back in time, depositing us firmly in the midst of the life and times of the castle - not the ones you see on television or in too many films, all scrupulously clean and with everyone tidy and far too accomplished with weapons, food preparation and all sorts of other duties or the type filled to the brim with aristocrats and where servants are largely absent or so in the background you barely notice them. The reason I know this is because up until a short period before he spoke to me, he'd been snoring like a roadside drill).
(I should add, I quickly dispelled him of the idea it was boring and he could only have read a few pages anyhow. All of which just goes to demonstrate how subjective the reading experience is - this man's pain was my pleasure. well, life,that I'd forgotten my recent surgeon's appointment (reason I was on the plane), the take-off, fellow passengers, and ride, because I was utterly captivated. I was so lost in the narrative, in the unfolding of history, of the way Joseph and Frances Gies bring life in a medieval castle to. But when he continued with, 'why, there's no torture or dungeons in it or anything!' I realised he WAS reading my book. I was reading it on a plane when the gentleman next to me exclaimed, 'That would have to be the most boring book I have ever read!' Having been so engrossed in the book, I'd failed to notice he was reading over my shoulder and first assumed he must be referring to the novel he'd fallen asleep reading. A funny thing happened to me with this book.
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