Castles

Discussion in 'Architecture & Engineering' started by KilljoyKlown, Sep 23, 2011.

  1. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I like the way you think.

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  3. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Is that your way of complaining about the rainbow? I thought it was a nice touch. It can't be very often that a photographer gets a shot like that.

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  5. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Another hill top Spanish castle, Casares Spain, getting crowded by the locals.

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    Last edited: Sep 24, 2011
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  7. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I like the reflection of the castle in the water and the floor plan was a nice bonus.
     
  8. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    This looks like a castle made out of clay, Casbah Ruins Dades Gorge Morocco.
    I really like the reddish color of it.

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  9. Telemachus Rex Protesting Mod Stupidity Registered Senior Member

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    It took about a century after gunpowder weapons appeared for castles to adapt fully, just as it took a century or more for tactics to adapt in light of the new weapons. Early cannon were not as powerful as one might think because gunpowder mixtures varied in quality, the original cannon fired stone projectiles that shattered on impact with a stone wall, and cannon production was uneven because metallurgy wasn't as advanced in the early days (and bad cannon would often explode).

    Primitive cannons were used in the Battle of Crecy (1346), but the 14th century is the earliest documented use we know of in Europe in war. (There are some indications they may have been used prior to Crecy, particularly in Spain by Muslims against Christians in the 13th century, but no direct evidence of their use in significant combat in Europe has yet been uncovered of use prior to the Hundred Years War, and specifically 1346.)

    Krak des Chavaliers is thus a in the style of pre-gunpowder castles. When the Knights Hospitalar lost it in the late 13th century (when Middle Eastern opponents may have had some access to cannon), it was still catapults that were used to recapture that castle.
     
  10. Anti-Flag Pun intended Registered Senior Member

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    Gunpowder forced a more drastic re-designing of fortifications.


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    Bourtange Fort in Groningen. A Star Fort with a system of Redoubts/Lunettes.

    Whilst medieval fortresses depended on increased defensive range from being on hills to enable arrows to fly further whilst forcing the enemy to close in, making use of moats and curtain walls to protect an inner bailey; Modern fortresses became closer to ground level to become harder to hit and focused on fields of fire to provide a maximum killing zone.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_fortification

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_forts


    Anyways, from an engineering point of view the nicest ones are the ones most effective for their job - Dominating the landscape, installing fear, showing power, and being effective defensive sites.

    From an Architectural point of view I think these are also fascinating, particularly the Japanese Castles made for the Warring Shogunate as these are expert examples of how to design a castle for killing an enemy. Its outward beauty is almost a facade for the reality of what it's designed for.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_castle


    Of course there are many "stately home" style castles that are little more than attractively designed - frankly I find these a waste of stone.

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  11. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Nice presentation, the Bourtange Fort in Groningen is very functional and yet it looks like a great place to spend time. Also, I saw a program that highlighted the killing functions of the Japanese castles. I would have thought they would be easy to burn down, but apparently that's not the case.
     
  12. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Let's not forget French castles, Carcassonne France, very nice.

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    Burgundy Castle Bourgogne France

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  13. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    Clifden Castle County Galway Ireland. Makes me think of a little getaway castle tucked away on somebodies ranch.

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  14. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    There's eloquence. And then there's verbosity.

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  15. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    I do concede the occasional display of rhetoric co-mingled with hyperbole.

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  16. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    And the converse. We have a number of posters who class as incoherent and/ or barely literate.
     
  17. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    That's a cute little castle, KJ, in a pleasing pastoral setting. Here's another near Kilgarvan, Ireland.

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  18. wynn ˙ Valued Senior Member

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    Oh, Ireland ...
     
  19. KilljoyKlown Whatever Valued Senior Member

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    I wonder if Ireland has any big castles. I'm trying to figure out what good small castles are? Seems like a small force could put on a seige and starve them out in a few days if they have enough water to drink.
     
  20. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    Siege was one of the strategies by which castles could be taken, depending on the time of year and how much food was put by inside the walls. Depending on the weather and availability of food and shelter, the party laying siege was also discomfited. I believe the advantage of castles is that a relatively small number of people can hold a larger party at bay, depending on it's construction and location.

    This is a rather interestingly shaped castle, moated all around.

    Caerlaverock Castle is a moated triangular castle, built in the 13th century, in the Caerlaverock National Nature Reserve area at the Solway Firth, south of Dumfries in the southwest of Scotland.

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  21. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    One of the largest castles in Ireland is Cahir Castle.

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  22. Dywyddyr Penguinaciously duckalicious. Valued Senior Member

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    Oh noes not ANOTHER one!
    I'm fed up of the way we do that.
    Cahir is a corruption of an Chathair = fort or castle, so the place is called Castle Castle.
    Much like (for example) Conisbrough Castle = Cyningesburh = King's Castle/ Fort. So we've got King's Castle Castle.

    Aaargh!

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  23. scheherazade Northern Horse Whisperer Valued Senior Member

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    Sorry!

    I'm just a virtual tourist, scoping out pictures and going by what's printed in the brochure, lol.

    Apparently Fraggle is not the only one at this forum with a background in Etymology.

    Thank you very much for that observation and clarification, Dywyddyr.
     

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