Editing Castle (section)

===Terminology===
''Castle'' is sometimes used as a catch-all term for all kinds of [[fortification]]s, and as a result has been misapplied in the technical sense. An example of this is [[Maiden Castle, Dorset|Maiden Castle]] which, despite the name, is an [[Iron Age]] [[hill fort]] which had a very different origin and purpose.<ref>{{Harvnb|Creighton|Higham|2003|pp=6–7}}</ref>

[[File:Lisbon BW 2018-10-03 11-13-42.jpg|thumb|[[São Jorge Castle]] in [[Lisbon]], Portugal, with a bridge over a moat]]

Although ''castle'' has not become a generic term for a [[manor house]] (like ''[[château]]'' in French and ''[[Schloss]]'' in German), many manor houses contain ''castle'' in their name while having few if any of the architectural characteristics, usually as their owners liked to maintain a link to the past and felt the term ''castle'' was a masculine expression of their power.<ref>{{harvnb|Thompson|1987|pp=1–2, 158–159}}</ref> In scholarship the castle, as defined above, is generally accepted as a coherent concept, originating in Europe and later spreading to parts of the Middle East, where they were introduced by European Crusaders. This coherent group shared a common origin, dealt with a particular mode of warfare, and exchanged influences.<ref>{{harvnb|Allen Brown|1976|pp=2–6}}</ref>

In different areas of the world, analogous structures shared features of fortification and other defining characteristics associated with the concept of a castle, though they originated in different periods and circumstances and experienced differing evolutions and influences. For example, [[Japanese castles|''shiro'']] in Japan, described as castles by historian [[Stephen Turnbull (historian)|Stephen Turnbull]], underwent "a completely different developmental history, were built in a completely different way and were designed to withstand attacks of a completely different nature".<ref name="Turnbull5">{{harvnb|Turnbull|2003|p=5}}</ref> While European castles built from the late 12th and early 13th&nbsp;century onwards were generally stone, ''shiro'' were predominantly timber buildings into the 16th&nbsp;century.<ref>{{harvnb|Turnbull|2003|p=4}}</ref>

By the 16th century, when Japanese and European cultures met, fortification in Europe had moved beyond castles and relied on innovations such as the Italian ''trace italienne'' and [[star fort]]s.<ref name="Turnbull5"/>