Until now we have discussed the medieval town in its ideal form: the free and independent city-republic, run by and for the bourgeois and dominating a wide area of the surrounding agriculture land. But this ideal was achieved by only a few cities, and in many cases the secular barons, dukes, and kings, the ecclesiastical princes, and their fortified residences remained a significant and characteristic part of medieval towns. The interests of the nobility and the bourgeoisie were often in fundamental contradiction, and both parties tried to settle down to a more or less mutually beneficial coexistence. As a voracious parasite, the feudal urban magnate took wealth from the citizens in return for “protection” from a very particular kind of fortification: the citadel.
The term citadel comes from the Italian word cit-tadellUy meaning small city. The citadel was a fortress built within a fortified city. It was placed in a dominant position inside the town and often overlapped the urban
Groningen (Netherlands). Oosterpoort 966
Hamburg (Austria). Vienna gatehouse, 1260 26Z
Templin (Germany). Preslau gatehouse 968
Marvejols (France) 969
Castles and Fortified Cities of Medieval Europe
La Rochelle (France). Tour Saint-Nicolas. Together with the Tour de la Chaine and the Tour de la Lanterne, the huge Saint-Nicolas tower was intended to defend the harbor of La Rochelle.
Maastricht (Netherlands). Helpoort gatehouse, 13th century
World History
