Ing the inhabited parts. Examples can be seen in the castles Wassenburg, Brack, Kinzheim and Andlau.
In the 12th century, active defense of castles and keeps was increased by new architectural elements. One such element was the echauguette (sentry-box), which served as both an observation post and a combat emplacement. Intended for one guard, it was a small round or polygonal masonry tower fixed on corbels, a buttress or a cul-de-lampe, and overhanging the angle formed by two walls on top of a tower, a donjon or a belfry. It was fitted with loopholes, and its summit was either covered by a roof or open and fitted with crenellation. The echauguette also offered a nice decoration with its detached silhouette and its elegant curves.
Protection of the entrance was increased by the installation of a brattice. This element was a small projecting balcony of either masonry or timber, resting on corbels. Its floor was fitted with an opening permitting defenders to throw missiles down upon assailants. Its summit was either roofed or open and furnished with one or two crenels. The brattice originates from the Middle East.
Throughout the 12th century, the donjon remained the most important defensive work, but its vicinity became more and more fortified by various elements influenced by the Middle East. At the same time that the castle builders were experimenting with round, multiangular and four-lobed donjons, they were devoting more and more attention to the walls around the fortress. The previously discussed shirt and the bailey enclosure became in certain cases an external wall. The purpose of the external wall was to protect hall, chapel, and ancillary huts and stores, and to provide a first line of defense. The external enclosure was composed of a masonry wall (called a curtain) fitted with a wall-walk, a crenellated breastwork, echauguettes and projecting towers, allowing the rebirth of the principle of flanking.
Flanking was one of the essential principles of fortification. It was the disposition of two parts of a defense work in such a way that enemies attacking one part were exposed to fire coming from the second. There were two main forms of flanking: vertical (as previously discussed, i. e., from an upper position
Niort Castle (France). The castle of Niort (Deux-Sevres in France) was constructed by the duke of Aquitaine and the king of England, Henry II, about 1170. It was composed of a huge donjon enclosed by an enceinte with sixteen towers. Niort became French in 1436 by the end of the Hundred Years’ War. The castle was dismantled in the beginning of the 17 th century by order of cardinal Richelieu, minister of King Louis XIII. Only the keep has been preserved, one of the best examples of the 12th century Romanesque great-tower.
View of donjon ofFalaise (France). Falaise, in the Calvados (Normandy), was one of the medieval residences of the dukes of Normandy. The donjon, built in 1123, was situated on a rocky spur dominating the river Ante. It was a massive rectangular building 23 m wide, 26.60 m long with walls 3.50 m thick. The donjon housed a hall, a cistern, supply rooms and the chapel Saint-Prix. About 1207, the king of France, Philippe Auguste, retook Normandy and had a cylindrical tower built. Called Tour Talbot, it was 35 m high with six stories and walls 4 m thick. The donjon was surrounded by a bailey 600 m in perimeter, flanked by 14 towers, housing a residence, a guard-house, stables, various service buildings, a garden and a well. At the foot of the keep and its bailey, the old town ofFalaise was enclosed by walls, towers and gatehouses. In 1418, the chateau was taken by the English, who occupied it until 1450. By the end of the 15th century the castle was adapted to firearms with embrasures and bulwarks. In 1590, Falaise was besieged and taken by Henry IV. After this time the castle was abandoned. Until 1864 it served as a stone quarry.
Downwards) and horizontal. Horizontal flanking was an enfilade fire nearly parallel to the wall and ditch coming from a projecting element perpendicularly placed in relation to the target. This method was very convenient and allowed economical use of personnel: Indeed, it took only a few soldiers armed with bows or crossbows, placed in a projecting tower, to defend a whole length of wall.
The distance between two towers was extremely variable, but as a general rule it was equal to the effective range of bows and crossbows, about 50 m or 100 m. Towers were square, semi-circular or round, fitted with
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