Editing Medieval fortification (section)

===City walls===
{{Main|Defensive wall}}
[[File:Remains of Kommendemauer Burgsteinfurt.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Remains of a commandry (Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem) wall in [[Steinfurt]], Germany. The downward slope on the outer side is hidden behind a fence and shrubbery]]
[[File:Forteresse de Dubrovnik.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Walls of Dubrovnik]], [[Croatia]]]]
An exact nature of the walls of a medieval town or city would depend on the resources available for building them, the nature of the terrain, and the perceived threat. In northern [[Europe]], early in the period, walls were likely to have been constructed of wood and proofed against small forces. Especially where stone was readily available for building, the wood will have been replaced by stone to a higher or lower standard of security. This would have been the pattern of events in the [[Five Burghs|Five Boroughs]] of the [[Danelaw]] in [[England]].

In many cases, the wall would have had an internal and an external ''[[pomoerium]]''. This was a strip of clear ground immediately adjacent the wall. The word is from the late [[medieval]], derived from the classical [[Latin]] ''post murum'' ("behind the wall").

An external pomoerium, stripped of bushes and building, gave defenders a clear view of what was happening outside and an unobstructed field of shot. An internal pomoerium gave ready access to the rear of the [[curtain wall (fortification)|curtain wall]] to facilitate movement of the [[garrison]] to a point of need. By the end of the sixteenth century, the word had developed further in common use, into ''pomery''.

Also by that time, the medieval walls were no longer secure against a serious threat from an army, as they were not designed to be strong enough to resist cannon fire. They were sometimes rebuilt, as at [[Berwick on Tweed]], or retained for use against thieves and other threats of a lower order. Very elaborate and complex schemes for town defenses were developed in the [[Netherlands]] and [[France]], but these belong mainly to the post-medieval periods. By 1600, the medieval wall is likely to have been seen more as a platform for displaying hangings and the pomery as a gathering ground for spectators, or as a source of building stone and a site for its use, respectively. However, a few, such as those of [[Carcassonne]] and [[Dubrovnik]], survived fairly well and have been restored to a nearly complete state.

Medieval walls that were no longer adequate for defending were succeeded by the [[star fort]]. After the invention of the [[explosive shell]], star forts became obsolete as well.