Medieval Warfare

Flanking (?) tower (tour flanquante), as they were built at the end of the Roman empire.

From Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle (Reasoned dictionary of French architecture, from the XIth to the XVIth century), vol. 9 by E. Viollet-Le-Duc. Paris, 1875.

The “Black Legend” (la leyenda negra in Spanish) was a term coined in 1914 by Julian Juderias to describe the anti-Spanish sentiment that emerged from Spanish colonialism in the 16th century. English, Dutch, and German writers and artists used Black Legend propaganda to demonize the Spanish, depicting them as brutal and cruel in their treatment of indigenous people in the colonies. Many Black Legend representations of the Spanish were based on accounts like those of Bartolome de Las Casas, a Spanish priest who denounced the Spanish treatment of the natives, seeing it as inhumane and against his religious beliefs. Accounts like A Brief Account of the Devastation of the Indies, written by Las Casas in 1542, gave Europeans an idea of the brutality and violence that was inherent in the Spanish colonial system (Herrera-Sobek 117). These accounts added to the already present prejudices held by the English and Dutch toward the Spanish, and Protestant dissent from the Catholic Church helped solidify the Black Legend. By fueling the Black Legend, European powers demonized the Spanish in both New Spain and on the European continent to advance their own political and economic agendas. By depicting the Spanish as particularly cruel, especially by citing the violence inherent in the Spanish Inquisitions, other European powers could uphold themselves as morally superior and humane while shaming “barbaric” Spaniards. The Spaniard became a symbol of intolerance, tyranny, bloodthirstiness. and barbarity (DeGuzman 4-5). Violence, cruelty, and malice are at the heart of Black Legend imagery, which was effectively used as anti-Spanish propaganda well into the 18th century.

Guzman, Maria, Spain’s Long Shadow: The Black Legend, Off-whiteness, and Anglo-American Empire (University of Minnesota Press, 2005).

Aberystwyth Castle, Wales

Aberystwyth Castle is an Edwardian fortress located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Mid Wales that was built during the First Welsh War in the late 13th century. It was begun during Edward I’s first Welsh campaign at the same time as work started at Flint, Rhuddlan and Builth Wells. The inner ward was built in a diamond-shaped concentric castle, with a twin D-shaped gatehouse keep with mural towers at each corner. The outer ward consisted of twin D-shaped gatehouse, a barbican, a rock-cut ditch and a large curtain wall with towers.

Marcher lord Gilbert de Clare built an earlier Motte and bailey castle a mile south of the current site in c.1110. It was called Castell Tan-y-castell, Aberrheidol Castle and Old Aberystwyth. The earth and timber castle was later reinforced with stone. The castle was captured by Owain Gwynedd in 1136: it then changed hands at least three more times before being capturedl by the Welsh prince Llywelyn the Great in 1221. Llywelyn razed this castle and built another one in its place.

Aberystwyth Castle had not yet been completed when the Welsh briefly captured and burned it in 1282. Later work was overseen by master mason James of St George. Construction ceased in 1289. The castle was subjected to a lengthy siege during the revolt of Madog ap Llywelyn in 1294-5. By 1307 a town was thriving outside the castle walls; its Welsh name was Llanbadarn Gaerog (English: Fortified Llanbadarn). However historical accounts suggest that the castle had already begun to fall into disrepair by 1343.

Dinefwr Castle, Wales

Dinefwr was the ancient capital of Deheubarth from the early 10th century, from the time of Hywell ap Cadell (Hywell the Good). Rhys ap Tewdwr (d. 1093), a descendent of Hywell, was the last true king of Deheubarth. Rhys’s grandson, Rhys ap Gruffudd (Lord Rhys), took control of Dinefwr around 1160 and probably refortified the earlier fortress. Lord Rhys’s third son, Rhys Gryg, successfully challenged his elder brother Gruffudd for control of Dinefwr. Gruffudd’s son Rhys Ieunc launched an unsuccessful attack on Dinefwr in 1213.

Shortly after, however, Llewelyn ap Iorwerth marched south to enforce the terms of the Peace of Worcester, which would have made the Princes of Deheubarth vassals of King Henry III of England. Rhys Gryg refused to submit, and destroyed his own ancestral seat at Dinefwr as an act of defiance. In a remarkably quick turnabout, Rhys altered his stance only a few days later, and not only agreed to submit to Llewelyn, but became a vassal of Henry III and one of his staunchest supporters. Sometime between 1220 and Rhys’s death in 1234 Dinefwr was rebuilt, with the main addition being a strong round keep at the east end of the inner bailey. A later hall stands on the north side of the inner ward.

Rocca Sanvitale (Sanvitale Castle) Fontanellato, near Parma, Italy.

http://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com

Construction of the moated block, accessible through a drawbridge, was begun in the 13th century, mostly completed by 15th century, with embellishments continuing through to the 18th century. It is typical of the urban castle-houses of the turbulent medieval communes of Northern Italy. Until the 1930s it was the home of the descendants of the Count of Sanvitale.