History of Medieval Castles and Palaces II

The outer walls of most castles were massively thick, sometimes as much as 15 feet. At intervals were high towers, each a small fort in itself with provisions to withstand a long siege. When an attack was expected, wooden balconies were hung over the outer edges of the wall. During an attack, large stones were thrown or boiling oil poured from the balconies onto anyone trying to climb the wall. The wall and the towers had hundreds of narrow openings through which defenders could shoot arrows and other missiles.

Inside the walls was the bailey, or courtyard. At intervals around the bailey were the stables, a carpentry shop, the shop of the armorer and blacksmith, barracks for the men-at-arms and for servants, a chapel, and a storehouse. There was also an oven room where the bread was baked, a kitchen, a kennel for dogs, and a well and drinking fountain.. The largest building along the wall was the castle owner's home. It contained the apartment for the master and his family and a great hall.

This great hall was the center of social life such as wedding feasts, banquets, and knighting ceremonies. Within the walls there was another structure called the keep, or donjon (dungeon).. The keep was the focal point of the castle, the place to which, in times of attack or siege, the whole population of the castle retired if the outer defenses were failing. The keep had its own walls and was often protected by a moat as well. It contained private apartments, service rooms, weapons supplies, and a well to provide water.

Most keeps were rectangular structures from two to four stories high. The entrance doorway was often on the second floor, with access by a stairway protected by a wall or forebuilding. In the Middle East the Crusaders from Europe found keeps that were built with round or multi angular towers to defend them more easily against an enemy coming from any direction.

Some later castles were built in a square and enclosed by one or two lines of walls. At each corner of the inner line of walls was a strong tower. Powerful gateways took the place of the keep, and great care was taken in building the outerworks to make access to the castle difficult. The castles of Conway and Caernarvon in Wales are both of this type. The terms castle and palace have often been used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Castles are fortifications, while palaces have been built for centuries as residences for kings and nobles..

But as castles began to lose their defensive role, they became residences; and to them were added the customary luxuries. As early as the 15th century, imposing residential tower houses, designed more for elegance than defense, were built within castles, such as those at Vincennes
near Paris and Tattershall in England.

Historically the palace antedates the castle by several centuries. Although the word derives from the Palatine Hill in Rome, where the emperors built their residences, palaces were built for the pharaohs of ancient Egypt as early as the 16th century BC. Much larger than the Egyptian palaces were those built in Assyria, which today is Iraq. The palace at Khorsabad of Sargon II, who ruled from 721 to 705 BC, extended over more than 25 acres. In Rome more than 1 million square feet of the Palatine Hill were devoted to splendid residences of such emperors as Augustus, Tiberius, and Septimius Severus.

Palace building declined in Europe during the Middle Ages until prosperity and a measure of safety returned during the Renaissance. Then, in Italy, every prince and wealthy family had its palazzo. Many are still standing: the Pitti and Medici palaces in Florence and the palaces along the Grand Canal in Venice. London has three notable palaces: Buckingham, Whitehall, and St. James. Many German cities notably Wurzburg and Munich have impressive palaces.

Among those most recently built are those of Ludwig II of Bavaria in the 19th century. The most famous and most frequently pictured is
Neuschwanstein, located near Fussen. But for many the most appealing is the small Linderhof, a jewel of rococo design near Oberammergau. Ludwig's Herrenchiemsee palace on an island in the lake named Chiemsee was modeled after Louis XIV's magnificent edifice at Versailles, near Paris. Versailles has other imitations, including the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna.

Palaces will probably be built for as long as there is wealth enough to pay for them. In the 1980s the sultan of Brunei, Sir Muda Hassanal Bolkiah Muizzaddin Waddaulah, opened his new palace. Named New Istana, it contains 1,788 rooms, making it one of the grandest palaces anywhere.