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Castle
Part of a Castle Terminology
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Allure
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Stone
path running slong the top of a wall bejind the castle battlements.
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Apse
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is a semi circular extension to a rectangular
building. Sometimes found on Norman chapels.
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Arcading
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A
row of columns supporting arches.
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Arrow
Loop
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Vertical
slits in a wall through which arrows can be fired. The horizontal
slits were added to enable crossbows to have a better range.
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Ashlar
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A
stone block finished with squared sides.
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Artillery
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Collective
name for firearms such as cannons and handguns.
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Aumbry
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A
cupboard built into brick or stone walls.
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Bailey
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Inner
courtyard area of a castle. Often associated with a motte (motte
and bailey castle) Also known as a Ward as art
of a medieval castle
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Ballista
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A
huge crossbow that fired iron bolts.
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Barbican
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An
extension to the outside of a gateway which improved the entrance's
defence.
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Barrel
Vault
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A
half barrel shaped arch which makes a stone ceiling.
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Bartizan
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is a Small turret on the top corner
of a wall or tower.
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Bastion
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A
defensive tower or turret along the top of a wall.
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Batter
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Flared
out stone base of a wall or keep to increase stability. Also known
as a Talus.
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Battering
Ram
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Large,
heavy beam used to breach castle walls. Often decorated with a ram's
head.
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Battlements
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Parapet
along the top of walls where soldiers could stand and fire at attackers.
Also known as crenellations.
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Belfry
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is a siege tower.
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Berm
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A
flat strip of land between a ditch and bank or between the castle
walls and moat.
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Bombard
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Cannon
that fires large stone balls.
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Brattice
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Generally
temporary wooden platforms on the top of towers or walls upon which
soldiers could stand to drop missiles. Also known as hoards or hoardings.
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Brewhouse
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Room
or building where ale was brewed.
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Buttery
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A
room where casks of beer and other drinks were stored. The main
stock being kept in the cellars. A butler was in charge of the buttery.
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Buttress
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Vertical
stone support built against a wall to strengthen it.
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Castellan
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An
official in charge of a castle.
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Catapult
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A
seige engine used for throwing large rocks.
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Chainmail
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Armour
made from small interlocking metal rings.
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Concentric
Defensive Walls
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The
second outer ring of walling seen on some castles.
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Chivalry
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A
knight's code of honour - covering such things as social, religious
and moral ideals.
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Citadel
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A
fortress guarding a city.
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Coat
of Arms
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A
visual representation of a noble family using heraldic symbols.
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Constable
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An
official in charge of a castle in the absence of his master.
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Corbel
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A
support - usually stone - to hold up wooden beams such as roofs
or floor as art
of a medieval castle
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Courtyard
Castle
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A
castle with a courtyard inside a stone curtain wall.
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Crennel
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Vertical
opening along battlements from which an archer can load his bow
and fire, and a gun can be positioned.. Also known as an embrasure.
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Crennellation
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is a Battlements along the top of a
castle wall through which soldiers can fire.
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Cross
Wall
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Internal
dividing wall inside a large keep used to help support floors and
roofs, as well as to further impede attackers.
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Curtain
Wall
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Short
outer walls of a castle between towers.
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Dog
Legged Passage
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Narrow
passageway with angled turns, often found leading to the Garderobe.
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Domesday
Book
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Record
of the details of all buildings, land and resources of an estate
for tax collecting purposes. Enacted by William I (William the Conqueror)
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Donjon
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As
Part of a Castle Terminology Donjon
is another word for a keep or great tower. Prisoners were often
held here and this is where it is thought that the word Dungeon
derives from.
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Drawbridge
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A
wooden bridge that could be raised or lowered, by the use of chains,
to shut off or open up the castle entrance.
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Dubbing
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The
ceremony which creates a knight, by the monarch tapping the shoulders
with a sword.
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Dungeon
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Dank,
dark room for holding prisoners.
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Earthwork
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A
fortification made up of earth mounds, banks and ditches.
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Embrasure
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is the same as Cremel
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Feudal
System
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A
political and economic system of Europe from the 9th to about the
15th century, based on the holding of all land in fief or fee and
the resulting relation of lord to vassal and characterized by homage,
legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.
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Forebuilding
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A
protective building at the front of a keep which often housed the
chapel and stairs.
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Fort
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A
defensive stronghold usually housing soldiers and other non residents.
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Garderobe
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a
Garderobe Part of a Castle Terminology was the Toilet.
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Garrison
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Company
of soliders stationed in a fortress.
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Gatehouse
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Heavily
fortified building set into the castle walls to protect the main
entrance.
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Gauntlet
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Armoured
glove with a long cuff worn as part of a suit of Armour. To" throw
down the gauntlet" means to issue a challenge.
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Great
Tower
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology the great tower is also known as a
Keep, the main tower of a castle which would have contained the
great hall and the private quarters of the castle's owner.
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Gun
Loop
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A
hole in a wall through which guns could be fired.
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Hall
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The
main reception room of a castle. Used to hold meetings, banquets
and also where the servants would have slept.
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Heraldry
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A
system of specific patterns, colours and symbols used to identify
a family in their coat of arms.
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Herisson
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A
beam or bar armed with iron spikes, and turning on a pivot used
to block up a passage. From the French word for hedgehog.
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Hoarding
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is the same as the Brattice
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Joust
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A
competition between two knights in which they ride towards each
other and try to knock one another off their horse with a large
pole.
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Keep
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Name
commonly used for the Great Tower or Donjon.
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Knight
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Highly
trained, armoured soldier on horseback. Usually of noble birth.
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Lance
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Weapon.
A long pole made of wood with a pointed metal end.
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Lintel
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Horizontal
support at the top of a window. Usually stone.
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Longbow
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Weapon.
Large, powerful, long range bow.
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Loophole
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See
arrow loop.
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Lord
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Male
noble or knight. Often owner of a castle and estate, feudal superior.
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Mace
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Weapon.
A vicious club with a metal end which was often spiked.
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Machicolations
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Stone
hoardings or brattices with holes for dropping missiles onto attackers
below.
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Manacle
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Metal
rings that could be locked to secure the hands of a prisoner.
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Mangonel
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Seige
engine.Used to hurl large stones and other missiles.
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Master
mason
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Skilled
craftsman in the use of stone. Would have designed castles.
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Merlon
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Vertical
solid parts of battlements which stood between the crenels.
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Moat
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A
defensive ditch surrounding a castle. Usually filled with water.
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Motte
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The
mound - manmade or natural - upon which a castle was built. Usually
associated with a bailey.
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Murder
Holes
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Murder
holese are sections between the cullis where arrows, rocks, and
hot oil can be dropped from the roof though holes.
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Newel
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The
Centre post of spiral staircase or the main post supporting the
end of a balustrade
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Oriel
Window
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A
bay window located above the first floor, usually supported by brackets
or corbels, it is a window, the structure of which projects out
from its wall's surface
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Oubliette
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A
dungeon reached by a trap door.To exit an oubliette was impossible
under any circumstances, without outside help.
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Page
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in
castle terminology a page is a young male servant.
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Palisade
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is a palisade or a a Medieval wooden
fence or wall of variable height, used as a defensive structure
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Pantry
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A
pantry in castle terminology is a room , usually near a kitchen
in which provisions, crockery, cutlery etc. are kept
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Parapet
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A
portion of a vertical wall of a building that extends above the
roofline,consists of a dwarf wall along the edge of a roof, or round
a lead flat, terrace walk, etc., to prevent persons from falling
over, and as a protection to the defenders in case of a siege
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Peasants
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A
peasant is an agricultural worker or farmer with roots in the countryside
in which he dwells, either working for others or, more specifically,
owning or renting and working by his own labour a small plot of
ground
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Pele
Tower /
Peel Towers
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology
is small fortified keep intended as watch tower where signal fires
could be lit to warn of approaching danger.
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Plate
Armour
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Plate
armour is personal armour made from large metal plates,worn on the
chest and sometimes the entire body, it is fitted body armour made
of linked sheets of solid metal.
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Portcullis
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is a heavy timber or metal grill that
protected a castle entrance
a portcullis could be raised or lowered from within the castle.
It dropped vertically between grooves to block passage or barbican,
or to trap attackers.
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Postern
Gate
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology is a side gate or a castle gate that
is a less important entry gate into a castle; usually for peacetime
use by pedestrians
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Putlog
Hole
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A
hole intentionally left in the surface of a wall for insertion of
a horizontal pole.
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Quoin
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Dressed
stone at angle of building. this Part of a Castle Terminology its
a Rafter Part of the frame for a wooden roof, sloping down from
the ridge and establishing the pitch.
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Ribbed
Vault
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a
ribbed vault in castle terminology is a vault that resembles a groined
vault but has ribbed arches
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Rubble
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this
part of a castle terminology is an unsquared stone not laid in courses
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Sally
Port
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A
Sally port is a small, easily secured door in a castle wall or other
fortification,During a siege, defending raiding parties would "sally
forth" from these ports and attack the besiegers
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Sentry
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in
Castle Terminology a sentry is a lookout: a person employed to watch
for something to happen
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Siege
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a
sieges is a military blockade of a town or fortified place such
as a castle . The aim of a siege is to force its inhabitants to
surrender by cutting communications and supply lines
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Siege
Engine
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A
siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent
castle walls
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Siege
Tower
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A
siege tower is a specialized siege engine, constructed to protect
assailants and ladders whilst approaching the defensive walls of
a castle
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Slighting
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In
castle terminology a slighting is the deliberate destruction of
a castle without opposition from its builders, owners or its inhabitants
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Solar
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In
Castle Terminology a solar is an upper living room It is often situated
over the castles great hall
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Squint
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In
Castle Parts a squint is an observation hole in wall or room.
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Squire
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A
Squire is a young nobleman attendant on a knight
In medieval times a squire was a man-at-arms in the service of a
knight, often as his apprentice in training to become a knight between
the ages of 14 and 21
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Steward
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in
castle terminology a steward is the man responsible for running
the day-to-day affairs of the castle in the absence of the lord
of the castle
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Talus
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The
much thickened lower portion as art of a medieval castle
curtain wall, designed to prevent attackers
from getting too close to the base of the wall,where they might
be hidden from the line of fire
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Tournament
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in
castle terminology a tournament is a series of jousts between knights
contesting for a prize
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Trebuchet
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like
a catapult: medieval artillery used during sieges A Trebuchet is
literally a medieval siege engine used either to batter masonry
or to throw projectiles over walls that worked by counter balancing
weights or stones to generate propulsion for a swinging wooden arm
used launch giant stones at castle walls.
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Turret
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in
Castle terminology a turret is a small slender tower on the upper
part of a castle usually a used as a lookout. A Turret is often
placed at an angle
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Vault
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a
vault in parts of a castle is an arched roof usually of stone
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Visor
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in
castle terminology a helmet visor was used during the medieval times
as part of armor.
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Wall
Walk
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this
Part of a Castle Terminology the wall walk is the area along the
top of a castle's walls from which soldiers defended both castle
and town, like a fighting platform atop the Curtain Wall
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Ward
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in
parts of a castle a ward is another name for a castle courtyard
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Wing
Wall
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a
Wing wall of a Castle is an extension of a wall which projects out
beyond the building itself.
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