This book overturns many of the traditional assumptions about the nature and purpose of castle-building in the middle ages. It demolishes the traditional belief that castles were overwhelmingly military in their function, showing how this was simply one aspect of a more complicated whole, and sets out to recreate the medieval understanding of castles as symbolically fortified places of all kinds. It places castles in the context of medieval culture and society, as ancient walled post-Roman towns and prestigious religious enclaves to transitory campaign forts. Going back to the original sources ... More

This book overturns many of the traditional assumptions about the nature and purpose of castle-building in the middle ages. It demolishes the traditional belief that castles were overwhelmingly military in their function, showing how this was simply one aspect of a more complicated whole, and sets out to recreate the medieval understanding of castles as symbolically fortified places of all kinds. It places castles in the context of medieval culture and society, as ancient walled post-Roman towns and prestigious religious enclaves to transitory campaign forts. Going back to the original sources, the book proposes a new and subtler understanding of the function and symbolism of castles as well as 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. The book presents and explores this broad social panorama.