Encastellation

Encastellation (sometimes castellation, which can also mean crenellation) is the process whereby the feudal kingdoms of Europe became dotted with castles, from which local lords could dominate the countryside of their fiefs and their neighbours', and from which kings could command even the far-off corners of their realms. The ubiquity of the castle is iconic of the Middle Ages.

The process was rather quick once the castle, as a distinct type of fortress, was introduced. However, it took different forms in different lands. The methods and reasons of encastellation differed based on law (who could legally build a castle), necessity (who needed a castle), and geography (where could castles be effectively built). The stone castle originated probably in the north of France in the tenth century. Older wooden castles, of the motte-and-bailey variety are probably older, though they were far more common until well into the twelfth century.

France

In France, encastellation began in the north, in

Because [Hugh of Abbeville's peers] were not all lords of castles, [he] became more powerful than the rest of his peers. For he could do what he liked without fear, relying on the protection of the castle, while others, if they tried anything, were easily overcome as they had no refuge.[2]

From Normandy and Anjou, encastellation spread to the

In Languedoc and the south of France, there were more serious attempts, the Peace and Truce of God movements, to curb feudal warfare. But with the spread of heresy came the spread of castles as fortresses to which heretic barons could flee, such as the "five sons of Carcassonne."

Italy

In Italy, the process of encastellation is known as incastellamento. It has a specific notion, as the incastellamento describes less the building of castles than the change towards fortified settlements, in which the castle proper (rocca) is a separate part. The term 'incastellamento' for this process was coined by Pierre Toubert.^[3] As in France, it was a different process in the north and the south.

In the north, the castles were originally the seats of the barons. They spread quickly after the disruption of royal authority in Italy in the mid-tenth century. By the eleventh century, the territorial magnates, like the

In the centre of the peninsula, the Papal States, the agents of encastellation were not large territorial magnates, but the petty nobles who belonged to various families and factions usually associated with Rome in some way. The Crescentii and the Tusculani constructed fortresses throughout Latium to dominate the roads leading to the Eternal City and the Vatican. During the papal nadir of the tenth and eleventh centuries, their hilltop fortresses gave these minor lords far more power than their territories would otherwise permit. In Rome itself, encastellation often led to the fortifying of the ancient monuments which had fallen into disuses, such as the Arch of Constantine and the Colosseum. These fortresses were usually in the hands of one of the powerful lay families, but sometimes of the popes.

In the

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Spain

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The encastellation of Spain is inextricably linked to the Reconquista. That said, encastellation occurred mostly in the centre of the peninsula. This region, originally a county of the Kingdom of León, even adopted the name Castile because of its many castles. The castles first began to spread quickly in the tenth century, in light of the increasing power of the Castilian counts vis-à-vis the king. During the long reign of Count Fernán González, Castile became de facto independent and its castles multiplied.

Britain

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True medieval castles were a somewhat later arrival in Britain than in continental Europe. The process of encastellation in Britain is as inextricably linked to

.

England

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Normanisation began in England before the Conquest primarily through the Norman sojourn of Ethelred II and the influence of his Norman queen Emma. During the reign of Edward the Confessor (1042–1066), definite strides were taken in spreading Norman ideas to England. Castles were first built in England in his reign under the direction especially of his Norman marcher lord Ralph the Timid.

Encastellation began in earnest under William the Conqueror in the years immediately following the Battle of Hastings. Castles of the motte-and-bailey were erected quickly all over the country to subdue the locals and prevent foreign invasions by rival claimants to the throne. Within a matter of years, England was fully castled. Most of these castles belonged to the king or one of his tenants-in-chief. The construction of numerous castles by minor lords was a feature, as in most places, of the reign of weaker kings. After the iron hand of William's sons had passed, Stephen took the throne and the Anarchy (1135–1152) of civil war which characterised his reign saw the proliferation of adulterine (unauthorised) castles: to the number of 1,115, according to one chronicler.^{[citation needed]}

Wales

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The

Motte-and-bailey castles existed from before the thirteenth century in those parts of Wales which fell under English authority and they spread in south Wales after its conquest, but the most famous encastellation of Wales occurred in the north under Edward I of England (1272–1307). His famous Edwardian concentric castles, large stoneworks with multiple rings of defences, grew up at strategic locations throughout the north and the local populace was placed securely under English authority. In this case, encastellation was the result, not of weak central authority, but of a strong royal hand and direction.

Scotland

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In Scotland, the spread of castles came with the Normans who, in the twelfth century, began constructing castles of the motte-and-bailey type in the south, where they received royal support, especially in Galloway. At about the same time, the first stone castles appeared in the north, in Orkney, built not by Normans but by the Norse.

Ireland

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In Ireland, as in Britain and most of Europe, encastellation was primarily a Norman venture. The first castles were motte-and-baileys built on the expanding frontier of the English Pale and within it to control the local population, according to Gerald of Wales. Stone castles were slow to develop, appearing in the late thirteenth century.

Germany

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As in France, so in Germany: the impetus for encastellation was provided, not by a strong monarch, but by the weakening of royal authority. During the eleventh-century Investiture Controversy in Germany and the resulting decline of the royal power, castle-building exploded as local warlords staked claims to formerly royal prerogatives in their petty states.

In

Sources

• Gravett, Christopher, and Nicolle, David. The Normans: Warrior Knights and their Castles. Osprey Publishing: Oxford, 2006.
• Incastellamento. Archived 2010-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
• Hariulf. Gesta ecclesiae Centulensis.
• Painter, Sidney. A History of the Middle Ages 284-1500. New York, 1953.
• Loud, G. A.
  The American Historical Review, Vol. 98, No. 2. (Apr., 1993), pp 480–481.
• Kreutz, Barbara M. Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991.
• Pierre Toubert: Les structures du Latium médiéval. Le Latium méridional et la Sabine du 9e siècle à la fin du 12e siècle, Rom 1973.