Where does the word castle come from? Strangely enough, medieval
writers never made up a new word to describe this new building type.
They continued to use Latin words like castrum (pl. castra) and castellum
(castella), meaning a town, a walled enclosure, a stronghold, or sometimes
simply a tower. Ancient Romans called any stronghold or walled place a
castrum, and used the diminutive form, castellum, for everything from a
fortress to a dwelling on a hill. Ancient Roman military camps with
ditches and palisades, for example, were also called castra. In the early
Middle Ages, authors used these words for any inhabited place. But
meanings changed, and from a rather vague designation for any walled
enclosure, “castle” came to mean a specific kind of building. By the
eleventh century castellum had entered the vernacular languages of Europe
as castle (English), castillo (Spanish), castello (Italian), or chateau
(French), although burh, burg, borg, berg, or burgh remained the preferred
form in Germanic languages.
As we use the word today, a castle is not a palace, which is unfortified,
although a castle and a palace are both imposing residences. Nor is
it a fort, for that word implies a purely military function and a garrison.
Neither is a castle a walled city, although a royal castle may house as
many people as a town, for the castle—even with all its buildings and
inhabitants—has a single owner. In short, a castle combines a variety of
building types in a new way, often using the same kind of sophisticated
decoration and fine masonry to be found in religious architecture. A castle
was a secure place to live and to administer the surrounding estate,
and as a headquarters and court of justice, it became the visible symbol
of its owner’s authority.
World History
