English Castles

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Stephen Brumwell, The House Impregnable; Medieval fortresses that today seem picturesque were built as instruments of domination. Wall Street Journal, Apr 16, 2011.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704471904576228484203247462.html
(book review on John Goodall, The English Castle. Yale Univ Press, 2011)

Note:
(a) Portsmouth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth
(in Hampshire county; for name origin, see section 1 History: (i) "mouth of the Portus harbour" thanks to Portus Adurni and (ii) founded by a Saxon warrior called Port)

Ten km northwest of Portsmouth is Porchester
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portchester
(The name Portchester is of partly Roman origin, from Latin portus (a harbour) and Old English ceaster (Roman town or castle))

, where a Roman fort Portus Adurni ("the best preserved Roman fort north of the Alps") stood, which was expanded into Porchester Castle "probably in the late 11th century, in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest (1066 AD)."

* The noun chester--alone or in combination--means a "Roman fort" (Latin castrum fortified place, from which Spanish surname Castro comes).

castle (n; from Latin castellum fortress, diminutive of castrum)
www.m-w.com

(b) keep (n): "one that keeps or protects: as FORTRESS, CASTLE; specifically : the strongest and securest part of a medieval castle"
(c) Sussex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sussex
(Old English meaning 'South Saxons'; an historic county, corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex; bounded on the west by Hampshire; divided for local government into West Sussex and East Sussex and )
(d) Bodiam Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodiam_Castle
(a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge [who owned the manor of Bodiam], a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area against French invasion during the Hundred Years' War

Richard II of England
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_II_of_England
(1367-c 1400; his grandfather was Edward III)
(e) battlement
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battlement
(f) turquoise dragonfly (Austrosynthemis cyanitincta)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/momnurse/1064411285/
(g) cutawy drawing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutaway_drawing
(h) The review mentions "atmospheric images of castles."

atmospheric (adj): "having, marked by, or contributing aesthetic or emotional atmosphere <an atmospheric inn>"
(i) Herstmonceaux Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herstmonceux_Castle
(a brick-built Tudor castle near [village of] Herstmonceux, East Sussex; one of the oldest significant brick buildings still standing in England--brick was a relatively unusual material for the time; Roger was appointed Treasurer of the Household of Henry VI of England and needed a house fitting a man of his position, so construction of the castle on the site of the old manor house began in 1441. It was this position as treasurer which enabled him to afford the &pound;3,800 construction of the original castle. The result is not a defensive structure, but a palatial residence in a self-consciously archaising castle style)

* Herstmonceux
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herstmonceux
(The name ’’Herstmonceux’’ comes from Anglo-Saxon hyrst, "wooded hill", plus the name of the Monceux family who were lords of the manor here in the 12th century)

In modern English hyrst is spelled hurst, as in Oakhurst Dairy based in Maine.

(j) John, King of England
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John,_King_of_England
(1166-1216; reign 1199-1216; During John's reign, England lost the duchy of Normandy to the French king Philip II; John remains a recurring character within Western popular culture, primarily as a villain in films and stories depicting the Robin Hood legends)
(k) Dover Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_Castle
(It was during the reign of Henry II that the castle began to take recognisable shape; In 1216, a group of rebel barons invited Louis VIII of France to come and take the English crown. He had some success breaching the walls but was unable ultimately to take the castle (see The First Barons' War))

* Henry II (1133-1189; reign 1154–1189)
* First Barons' War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Barons%27_War
(1215–17; a civil war in the Kingdom of England, between a group of rebellious barons--led by Robert Fitzwalter and supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France--and King John of England. The war resulted from the king's refusal to accept and abide by the Magna Carta he had sealed (not signed) on 15 June 1215; section 2.2 First siege of Dover: began on July 19, 1216)

King John was not at castles of Dover or Odiham in either siege.
(l) Odiham
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odiham
(a village in Hampshire county; King John decided in 1204 to build Odiham Castle and it was built during the years 1207 to 1214 at a cost of over &pound;1000)

* Dauphin of France
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dauphin_of_France
(the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word is literally the French for dolphin, as a reference to the animal they bore on their flag./ section 1 Gallery of Arms)

The English nouns dauphin and dolphin has identical etymology: Middle English dolphin, from Anglo-French dolphyn, from Old French dalfin.

(m) The review says, "John's tower at Odiham also proved its worth. Held by a resolute band of just 13 fighters, it defied the entire French army for two weeks. Odiham Castle is now a shattered ruin, jutting up like a broken tooth, but enough still stands to evoke what happened there 800 years ago."

* The French laid siege of Odiham Castle with overwhelming force: 140 knights and 7,000 men. The siege lasted 15 days and then the [English] defenders gave in on condition that they could go free. The French were surprised to find that the garrison consisted only of 13 men all told.

* Odiham Castle "is the only octagonal keep in England."  "The siege and capture of the castle in 1216, by Prince Louis of France, led to the destruction of most of the early buildings." From two different sources.)

(n) The review then talked about King John's siege of Rochester Castle.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester_Castle
(section 1.1 The siege of 1215)

The section remarks that there were merely 100 defender in the castle (against a tremendouos force), causing the Barnwell chronicler to write "Our age has not known a siege so hard pressed nor so strongly resisted." It was a year before teh siege of Odiham Castle. The section also says, "King John died on 19 October 1216, so it fell to [John's son] Henry III to repair the castle. He spent over a &pound;1000 on rebuilding, with new stables and gateways, and a further ditch to strengthen the defences.

* Rochester, Kent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochester,_Kent
(town)

(o) Harlech Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlech_Castle
(in Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales; a concentric castle; held by Lancastrians in Wars of the Roses (1455-1485))

Quote: "In 1468 it was the last Lancastrian fortress to surrender; it was able to withstand the seven-year siege through its being provisioned from the sea. It is the longest known siege in the history of the British Isles. This famous siege inspired the song 'Men of Harlech' according to tradition.

* "The town is best known for the landmark Harlech Castle, begun in 1283 by Edward I of England, captured by Owain Glyndŵr, and later the stronghold of Henry Tudor.[2] The castle was originally built next to the sea, but geological processes have changed the shape of the coastline, and the castle now lies on a cliff face, about half a mile (800 m) inland."
Harlech
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlech

(p) Warwick Castle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle
(built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick)

* Warwick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick
(county town of Warwickshire, England; lies upon the River Avon; The name 'Warwick' means "dwellings by the weir")

weir (n):
"1: a fence or enclosure set in a waterway for taking fish
2: a dam in a stream or river to raise the water level or divert its flow"
* Guy of Warwick
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_of_Warwick

(q) English Civil War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War
(1642-1651; between Parliamentarians (Roundheads) and Royalists (Cavaliers); The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651./ The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I [in 1649], the exile of his son, Charles II [reign:1649-1651], and replacement of English monarchy with first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–53), and then with a Protectorate (1653–59), under Oliver Cromwell's personal rule.)

* ROUNDHEAD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundhead
(England's many Puritans and Presbyterians were almost invariably roundhead supporters; Some of the Puritans, but by no means all, wore their hair closely cropped round the head, and there was thus an obvious contrast between them and the men of courtly fashion with their long ringlets)

(R) Buckden Towers. PastScape, English Heritage, undated.
http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=363084
("The Great Tower was constructed by Bishop Rotherham in 1472-80 however Bishop John Russell (1480-94) was responsible for the majority of the rebuilding on the site")

Please click the + sign to the right of "PICTURES."

* Buckden, Cambridgeshire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckden,_Cambridgeshire
(a village in Cambridgeshire (historically in Huntingdonshire))
* Cambridgeshire borders Lincolnshire to the north, whose administrative headquarters is City of Lincoln.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln,_England
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