Overview

In this challenging new book Charles Coulson overturns many of the traditional assumptions about the nature and purpose of castle-building in the middle ages. He demolishes the traditional belief that castles were overwhelmingly military in their function, showing how this was simply one aspect of a more complicated whole. He sets out to recreate the medieval understanding of castles as symbolically fortified places of all kinds, from ancient walled post-Roman towns and prestigious religious enclaves to transitory campaign forts. Going back to the original sources, Dr Coulson proposes a new and more subtle understanding of the function and symbolism of castles as well as vivid insights into the lives of the people who inhabited them. Fortresses were only occasionally caught up in war, but constantly were central to the ordinary life of all classes: of the nobility and gentry, of widows and heiresses, of prelates and clergy, of peasantry and townspeople alike. Castles in Medieval Society presents and explores this broad social panorama.

Full Product Details

Author:   Charles L. H. Coulson (, Honorary Research Fellow School of History, University of Kent)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 16.20cm , Height: 3.00cm , Length: 24.10cm
Weight:   0.777kg
ISBN:  

9780198208242

ISBN 10:   0198208243
Pages:   454
Publication Date:   20 February 2003
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Part I. Castles: Ancient, Various, and Sociable 1: A Fresh Look at Early Castles 2: Variety Violated: Some Conceptual Problems 3: Some Social Relations of 'Castles and Fortresses' Part II. Castles and the Public Interest 4: Noble Military 'Liberties', Ethos, and Ethics 5: Peacekeeping at Home and Abroad 6: Private Property but Public Utility Part III. Castellans, Colonization, and Rural Community 7: Castle-Lords, Castle-Lordships, and Noble Civilization 8: Colonization and Fortresses 9: Population and Fortresses: Protection and Perquisites Part IV. Castles and Circumstances of Widows, Guardians, and Heiresses 10: Female Castellans: Prevision not Prejudice 11: Ladies of Fortresses and Castle-Children Epilogue Bibliography Index

Reviews

...There can be no doubt that this is an important, agenda-setting work...nobody with any interest in the medieval castle can afford to ignore it.

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