Royal and baronial castles continued to be built, but in the fourteenth
century a new group of newly rich and politically powerful people began
to take on the trappings of aristocratic behavior and to build castellated
residences. While many castles dominate the countryside from hills and
cliffs, these newer castles might also be built in woods, forests, or water
meadows.
The forest castle served as a hunting lodge for noblemen and noblewomen
who engaged in the sport. At first the hunt with horses and
hounds (a type of hunting known as the chase) kept hunters and their
mounts in good physical condition for battle and incidentally augmented
the food supply. Later, professional hunters provided most of the deer,
boar, and rabbit meat for the cooks. Eventually hunting, as an exclusively
noble sport, was surrounded by elaborate rituals. Even cutting up a deer
and dividing the meat became a specialized skill, a ceremony known as
“breaking the stag.” Nobles fenced and walled large sections of woodland
near their castles for their private use in hunts and severely punished
peasants who poached game. The stories of Robin Hood and his band of
outlaws in Sherwood Forest reflect the importance and exclusive use of
the forests. (Later legends made Robin Hood a nobleman at the time of
Richard the Lion Hearted.) Ladies could join in the hunt with falcons,
that is, fowling, and the benefits of hunting with hounds versus birds
could be the subject of lively discussion. As early as the eleventh century
the image of a figure mounted on a horse and holding a falcon indicated
noble status.
Meadows and wetlands may seem like strange places to build castles,
but water was an effective barrier. Lake-bounded castles could be impregnable
fortresses—unless the lake was artificial and someone cut the
dam or dike. The lake castles put the walls beyond the reach of many
war engines and prevented both direct assault and mining or sapping operations.
Water-filled moats, ponds, and lakes not only protected castle
walls, but also provided a natural sewage system, because garderobes could
discharge directly into the water. Moats also provided a place to raise
frogs and fish for food. Finally, we should not overlook the sheer beauty
of the setting used so effectively at castles like Leeds (see Figure 24), Bodiam
(see Figure 26), and Kenilworth (see Figure 27). Reflections doubled
the size of the image of the castle. Water also lent enchantment;
then as now it had an almost magical appeal. The castles of Leeds southeast
of London and Vincennes in the outskirts of Paris are typical of the
new architecture and illustrate the forest and water meadow sites.
World History
