Editing Castle (section)

===Innovation and scientific design (12th century)===
:''See also ''[[maison forte]]'', French article [[:fr:Maison forte|here]]''

Until the 12th&nbsp;century, stone-built and earth and timber castles were contemporary,<ref>{{harvnb|Allen Brown|1976|p=13}}</ref> but by the late 12th&nbsp;century the number of castles being built went into decline. This has been partly attributed to the higher cost of stone-built fortifications, and the obsolescence of timber and earthwork sites, which meant it was preferable to build in more durable stone.<ref>{{harvnb|Allen Brown|1976|pp=108–109}}</ref> Although superseded by their stone successors, timber and earthwork castles were by no means useless.<ref>{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1988|pp=29–30}}</ref> This is evidenced by the continual maintenance of timber castles over long periods, sometimes several centuries; [[Owain Glyndŵr]]'s 11th-century timber castle at [[Sycharth]] was still in use by the start of the 15th&nbsp;century, its structure having been maintained for four centuries.<ref>{{harvnb|Friar|2003|p=215}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Norris|2004|pp=122–123}}</ref>

At the same time there was a change in castle architecture. Until the late 12th&nbsp;century castles generally had few towers; a gateway with few defensive features such as arrowslits or a portcullis; a great keep or donjon, usually square and without arrowslits; and the shape would have been dictated by the lay of the land (the result was often irregular or [[curvilinear]] structures). The design of castles was not uniform, but these were features that could be found in a typical castle in the mid-12th&nbsp;century.<ref>{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1988|p=77}}</ref> By the end of the 12th&nbsp;century or the early 13th&nbsp;century, a newly constructed castle could be expected to be polygonal in shape, with towers at the corners to provide [[enfilade|enfilading]] fire for the walls. The towers would have protruded from the walls and featured arrowslits on each level to allow archers to target anyone nearing or at the curtain wall.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1988|pp=77–78}}</ref>

[[File:Paderne_Castle.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|right|Albarrana tower in [[Castle of Paderne|Paderne Castle]], Portugal]]
These later castles did not always have a keep, but this may have been because the more complex design of the castle as a whole drove up costs and the keep was sacrificed to save money. The larger towers provided space for habitation to make up for the loss of the donjon. Where keeps did exist, they were no longer square but polygonal or cylindrical. Gateways were more strongly defended, with the entrance to the castle usually between two half-round towers which were connected by a passage above the gateway&nbsp;– although there was great variety in the styles of gateway and entrances&nbsp;– and one or more portcullis.<ref name=autogenerated1 />

A peculiar feature of Muslim castles in the Iberian Peninsula was the use of detached towers, called [[Albarrana tower]]s, around the perimeter as can be seen at the [[Alcazaba of Badajoz]]. Probably developed in the 12th&nbsp;century, the towers provided flanking fire. They were connected to the castle by removable wooden bridges, so if the towers were captured the rest of the castle was not accessible.<ref name="Burton 241-243">{{harvnb|Burton|2007–2008|pp=241–243}}</ref>

[[File:Beeston Castle Gate House and Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 442721.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Two round towers of light yellow stone at the bottom and dark orangy stone at the top on either side of an arched entrance. A bridge leads from the entrance to allow access.|The gatehouse to the inner ward of [[Beeston Castle]] in [[Cheshire]], England, was built in the 1220s, and has an entrance between two D-shaped towers.<ref>{{harvnb|Allen Brown|1976|pp=64, 67}}</ref>]]
When seeking to explain this change in the complexity and style of castles, [[antiquarian]]s found their answer in the Crusades. It seemed that the Crusaders had learned much about fortification from their conflicts with the [[Saracen]]s and exposure to [[Byzantine architecture]]. There were legends such as that of Lalys&nbsp;– an architect from [[Palestine (region)#Middle Ages|Palestine]] who reputedly went to Wales after the Crusades and greatly enhanced the castles in the south of the country&nbsp;– and it was assumed that great architects such as [[James of Saint George]] originated in the East. In the mid-20th&nbsp;century this view was cast into doubt. Legends were discredited, and in the case of James of Saint George it was proven that he came from [[Saint-Georges-d'Espéranche]], in France. If the innovations in fortification had derived from the East, it would have been expected for their influence to be seen from 1100 onwards, immediately after the Christians were victorious in the [[First Crusade]] (1096–1099), rather than nearly 100&nbsp;years later.<ref name="Cathcart King 78-79">{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1988|pp=78–79}}</ref> Remains of Roman structures in Western Europe were still standing in many places, some of which had flanking round-towers and entrances between two flanking towers.

The castle builders of Western Europe were aware of and influenced by Roman design; late Roman coastal forts on the English "[[Saxon Shore]]" were reused and in Spain the wall around the city of [[Ávila, Spain|Ávila]] imitated Roman architecture when it was built in 1091.<ref name="Cathcart King 78-79"/> Historian Smail in ''Crusading warfare'' argued that the case for the influence of Eastern fortification on the West has been overstated, and that Crusaders of the 12th&nbsp;century in fact learned very little about scientific design from Byzantine and Saracen defences.<ref name="Cathcart King 1988, 29">{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1988|p=29}}</ref> A well-sited castle that made use of natural defences and had strong ditches and walls had no need for a scientific design. An example of this approach is [[Kerak]]. Although there were no scientific elements to its design, it was almost impregnable, and in 1187 [[Saladin]] chose to lay siege to the castle and starve out its garrison rather than risk an assault.<ref name="Cathcart King 1988, 29"/>

During the late 11th and 12th centuries in what is now south-central Turkey the [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitallers]], [[Teutonic Order|Teutonic Knights]] and [[Knights Templar|Templars]] established themselves in the [[Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia]], where they discovered an extensive network of sophisticated fortifications which had a profound impact on the architecture of [[List of Crusader castles|Crusader castles]]. Most of the Armenian military sites in Cilicia are characterized by: multiple bailey walls laid with irregular plans to follow the sinuosities of the outcrops; rounded and especially horseshoe-shaped towers; finely-cut often rusticated ashlar facing stones with intricate poured cores; concealed postern gates and complex bent entrances with slot machicolations; embrasured loopholes for archers; barrel, pointed or groined vaults over undercrofts, gates and chapels; and cisterns with elaborate scarped drains.<ref name="edwards">{{cite book|last1=Edwards|first1=Robert W.| title=The Fortifications of Armenian Cilicia: Dumbarton Oaks Studies XXIII | date=1987|publisher=Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University| location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=0-88402-163-7|pages=3–282}}</ref> Civilian settlement are often found in the immediate proximity of these fortifications.<ref>Edwards, Robert W., "Settlements and Toponymy in Armenian Cilicia", Revue des Études Arméniennes 24, 1993, pp.181-204.</ref> After the First Crusade, Crusaders who did not return to their homes in Europe helped found the [[Crusader states]] of the [[Principality of Antioch]], the [[County of Edessa]], the [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], and the [[County of Tripoli]]. The castles they founded to secure their acquisitions were designed mostly by Syrian master-masons. Their design was very similar to that of a Roman fort or Byzantine ''tetrapyrgia'' which were square in plan and had square towers at each corner that did not project much beyond the curtain wall. The keep of these Crusader castles would have had a square plan and generally be undecorated.<ref>{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1988|p=80}}</ref>

While castles were used to hold a site and control movement of armies, in the Holy Land some key strategic positions were left unfortified.<ref>{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1983|pp=xx–xxii}}</ref> Castle architecture in the East became more complex around the late 12th and early 13th&nbsp;centuries after the stalemate of the [[Third Crusade]] (1189–1192). Both Christians and Muslims created fortifications, and the character of each was different. [[Saphadin]], the 13th-century ruler of the Saracens, created structures with large rectangular towers that influenced Muslim architecture and were copied again and again, however they had little influence on Crusader castles.<ref>{{harvnb|Cathcart King|1988|pp=81–82}}</ref>