Norman Stone Castles (2): Europe 950–1204

Osprey Fortress #18

by Christopher Gravett, Adam Hook (Illustrator)

Following the creation of the Duchy of Normandy, the Normans were soon introduced to the castle and they built them in large numbers. In the mid-11th century, other Norman adventurers began carving out dominions for themselves in Southern Italy: some crossed to Sicily in 1061 and by 1091 had conquered the whole island. As in Normandy, they were keen to assimilate new ideas, including architectural styles, resulting in some striking buildings. This title, a companion to Fortress 13: Norman Stone Castles (1) The British Isles 1066-1216, provides a detailed guide to the castles built in Normandy, Southern Italy and Sicily, covering defensive principles, daily life, the events of siege warfare, and the fate of the castles.

Genres: History, Medieval, Military History, Nonfiction

64 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2004

About the author

Chris Gravett is a former Senior Curator at the Royal Armouries, Tower of London, and a recognized authority on the arms, armour, and warfare of the medieval world. He has worked as an advisor for numerous TV and film productions, and has written many books. He currently works as a curator at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire.

Reviews

[Adam McPhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does a good job of laying out the principles of defence and the history and evolution of the Norman castles. But the real jewels are the anecdotes from when they were put to the test.

The greatest siege of the age came in late-1203, when Philip Augustus, determined to break the rule of the English kings in Normandy once and for all, advanced against the toughest nut in the
Norman duchy, Chateau-Gaillard: The castellan, Roger of Lacy, perhaps against
his better judgement, had allowed people from the surrounding area to take
refuge within the walls. Philip advanced his forces against Petit Andely and
seized it, but the castle loomed over this small triumph. The king knew the
only means of approach was from the south-east, and here he was opposed by
the outer courtyard with its cylindrical towers, cut off by deep ditches, just as
Richard had planned. A relief force arrived but was beaten off. Then Philip
organised the digging of two ditches stretching from the Seine to the Gambon,
to cut off the castle on the landward side and safeguard his own siege lines. He
set wooden towers at intervals along the lines. Then he settled down to wait.
Lacy's earlier leniency began to work in Philip's favour. As the supplies began
to run low, Lacy decided there was no alternative but to turn out all those who
were not necessary for the castle's defence. The 'useless mouths' were forced out of the castle to take their chances with the besiegers. At first the French complied, and we are told the first 1,000 were allowed through. Then the attitude hardened, and the route to freedom was sealed. Those who remained tried to get back inside the castle but the gates remained shut. With no prospect of immediate succour, the wretched folk were forced to huddle in the ditches through the harsh winter months, dying where they lay, tormenting the minds of those within the walls. Finally, in early 1204 Philip came up to review the situation and ordered the survivors to be allowed through and to be given food and drink. For many it was too late: on trying to digest food they succumbed.

Part 2: A siege tower was manoeuvred into position on the ground beyond the outer courtyard, from where French archers and crossbowrnen could overlook the battlements and pin down the garrison. Catapults were brought up to pound the walls, though it is not certain whether they were torsion machines or trebuchets. Mantlets, shields of wood or wicker, were set up to protect archers and crossbo",:men, while a wooden penthouse, known variously as a sow, cat or mouse, was slowly pushed forward across the ditch as men threw stones, earth and rubbish into the yawning gap to provide a causeway to allow the shed to reach the walls to protect sappers. The work was slow, and eventually the latter used ladders to descend into the ditch and up the other side to excavate a breach by the large tower. A hole was made, the inserted wooden props burned through, and a section of wall collapsed. Men swarmed across to seize the outer courtyard. The first section of the castle had fallen but there were two more courtyards and a formidable donjon still to confront. One day a soldier reconnoitering came upon the exit of an old latrine chute on the south side of the curtain of the middle courtyard. Above was a chapel butted against the wall. He managed to climb the noisome passage, emerging in the latrine below a window. Standing on a companion's shoulders he then managed to gain the window and pull some others up by rope. Once inside they made so much noise that the garrison panicked and fled, believing a large force had broken in. As they ran they fired the building. The Frenchmen opened the gates to allow their companions into the middle bailey. Next, however, they faced the corrugated inner wall. A mine was dug under it but Lacy ordered a countermine, which managed to break into the French works. However, the digging had weakened the walls and a catapult made a breach.

Fire-arrows at Brionne, 1092
In 1092 a besieging force under Robert, Duke of Normandy, came to Brionne. The castle was apparently not the one that now stands on the ridge, but the earlier fortress built in the valley.When dealing with the previous siege of 1047 by Duke William, the chronicler William of Poitiers notes that Brionne possessed a stone hall, or aula lapidea, which served the defenders as an arx, or donjon, in time of trouble. This leads us to suppose that most of the buildings inside the bailey were of wood. Robert ordered the construction of a forge, and then had his archers heat arrowheads in it.The archers then aimed at the dry wooden shingles of the roof. Usually an incendiary-arrow was made by wrapping some form of cloth or tow around the shaft and setting light to it, the tell-tale smoke trails marking the progress of the missile. Now, however, the heated heads left no trail and, once lodged within the wood, they set fire to it. The defenders realised too late, and the flames took hold. Orderic was obviously impressed by this shrewd use of incendiary materials, calling it 'ingenious', which may indicate that the outer defences were also of stone, as shown here. It is also possible that they consisted of wooden palisades covered by raw or wet hides, or clay, or were plastered, since there is no reference to fire being brought to them.

Filth:
The conquest of Normandy by Geoffrey of Anjou between 1135 and 1145 was a matter of siege warfare rather than any major battles. In four invasions between 1135 and 1138 his fortunes see-sawed. He failed to take Le Sap in 1135, his army caught dysentery in 1137 and went home (leaving 'a trail of filth' as we are picturesquely informed), and he decided to withdraw from Falaise in 1138. However, he was able to win Fontanei in 1140, and in 1141 changed from raiding and plundering in the duchy to a methodical advance.

You better believe I'm going back to read part one.

[Amanda Langdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I love the format and overall content of the Osprey books, I'm finding that they could really use a copy-editor. Its clear the authors are experts in their fields, but not quite as expert at writing in an easy, readable style. There are a number of sentences/paragraphs that could be reworded for clarity, missing punctuation (mostly commas, some semi-colons) that would help offset run-ons into distinct phrases/ideas, and places where paragraphs could have been broken as the main topic changed. A handful of ideas throughout the book feel like complete non-sequiturs, an unrelated random factoid stuffed into the middle of a paragraph about a different topic.

That being said, the content is interesting, and -- for the most part -- presented in a fun, easy-to-understand way. The images and diagrams help break up what could otherwise be dry, academic text, helping to explain the content visually.

[Andrew Herbert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good. The photos and diagrams are nice, bit the text is dull dull dull.

It is clear the first volume is needed to get the full glossary and some background. But there is not a description of life int the castles or on how they were built, defended, etc.

Very disappointing.

[Станислав · Rating 4 out of 5]

Рыцарь без замка деньги на ветер
Норманны - этот сильный гибрид викингов и французов стал настоящим двигателем Европы XI-XII веков, но так же стремительно сойдя с исторической сцены в веке XIII. Рыцарь, конь, копьё, щит, кольчуга и всё это посадить в замок = готово норманнское герцогство. От Шотландии до Сицилии нормандцы использовали этот рецепт. Здесь больше про техническую сторону замков, а не тактическую. Шедевр Ричарда Львиное Сердце https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A... Шато-Гайар конечно внушает уважение, но французы разгрызли и этот орешек. В Южной Италии не так интресно - больше наработок местных обитателей.