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Castles in the air. (NEW CONCEPTS)
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Wile E. Coyote


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wiki wrote:
A visionary project or scheme; a day-dream; an idle fancy; a pipe dream; any plan, desire, or idea that is unlikely to be ever realized; a near impossibility.


I recently discovered some imaginary castles.

The Bayeux Tapestry, made within about ten years of the Battle of Hastings, splendidly illustrates the military architecture of the time. There are five depictions on the tapestry of ‘motte-and-bailey’ castles – those that consisted not of battlemented stone walls and lofty towers, which are characteristic of a later period, but of earthworks and wooden palisades.


In some of the early panels of the Tapestry, we see Harold and William participating in a minor campaign in Brittany. The artist depicts the Breton castles of Dol, Rennes and Dinan, which he would never have seen, as typical motte-and-bailey castles, though all three were probably at least partially built of stone. The ducal castle at Bayeux is also credited with a motte which, in reality, it never had.


See what I mean imagined....

http://www.rupertwilloughby.co.uk/the-norman-conquest/mottes-baileys-and-the-bayeux-tapestry/
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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Further on, we see the construction, within days of the landing, of a motte-and-bailey castle at Hastings – ‘at Hestenga caestra’, according to the caption. (The Latin should have read ‘ad Hestenga castra’; by slipping into his own tongue, the artist reveals his nationality.) The Englishmen conscripted to perform the task, all armed with shovels, seem thoroughly disgruntled. Such unhappy scenes were soon to be enacted across the land.


Here we are on firmer land. Hastings Castle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hastings_Castle

A real castle close to (err) an imaginary battle.

Immediately after landing in England in 1066 William of Normandy ordered three fortifications to be built, Pevensey Castle in September 1066, Hastings (before the Battle of Hastings) and Dover, a few days after the battle. Hastings Castle was originally built as a motte-and-bailey castle near the sea. In 1070 William issued orders for the Castle to be rebuilt in stone, along with the St Mary's Chapel.


Hastings castle was originally recorded by Charles Dawson in 1909. Dawson is an interesting figure, known for uncovering a remarkable series of finds in and after the 1890s.

In 1889 Dawson was a co-founder of the Hastings and St Leonards Museum Association, one of the first voluntary museum friends groups established in Britain. Dawson worked on a voluntary basis as a member of the Museum Committee, in charge of the acquisition of artefacts and documents. His interest in archaeology developed and he had an uncanny knack of making spectacular discoveries, The Sussex Daily News named him the "Wizard of Sussex" for his success.


Some of the Wizard's notable finds included
In 1893 Dawson investigated a curious flint mine full of prehistoric, Roman and mediaeval artefacts at Lavant, near Chichester and probed in inner depths of two tunnels beneath Hastings Castle. In the same year, he presented the British Museum with a Roman statuette from Beauport Park, which was made, uniquely for the period, of cast iron. Other discoveries followed, including a strange form of hafted Neolithic stone axe and a well-preserved ancient timber boat.[2]

Toad in the hole, claimed by Dawson to have been found by workmen in a Lewes quarry
He studied ancient quarries, re-analysed the Bayeux Tapestry and, in 1909, produced what was then the definitive study of Hastings Castle. He later found faked evidence for the final phases of Roman occupation in Britain at Pevensey Castle in Sussex.[2] Investigating unusual elements of the natural world, Dawson found a toad petrified inside a flint nodule, discovered a large supply of natural gas at Heathfield in East Sussex, reported on a sea-serpent in the English Channel, observed a new species of human and found a strange goldfish/carp hybrid. It was even reported that he was experimenting with phosphorescent bullets as a deterrent to Zeppelin attacks on London.


His greatest find was perhaps the Piltdown Man.

Oh Dear.
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Mick Harper
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The Bayeux Tapestry, made within about ten years of the Battle of Hastings,

The earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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Further on, we see the construction, within days of the landing, of a motte-and-bailey castle at Hastings – ‘at Hestenga caestra’, according to the caption. (The Latin should have read ‘ad Hestenga castra’; by slipping into his own tongue, the artist reveals his nationality.) The Englishmen conscripted to perform the task, all armed with shovels, seem thoroughly disgruntled. Such unhappy scenes were soon to be enacted across the land.


This draws a compelling imaginary picture in the reader's eye.

http://www.rupertwilloughby.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Hastings-Castle-in-Bayeux-Tapestry.jpg

But why are these conscripted Saxons dressed as civilians with Norman haircuts?

Perhaps all is not as it seems?

Still....
The observant artist
I think he means himself, does notice something of interest.

Wood is flammable, and the Normans have only to apply firebrands to the walls of Dinan in order to smoke out their enemy. Moreover, it is not possible to raise walls of wood to any great height: those at Dinan are so low that the surrendering rebel, Conan, is able to lean over them and pass the heavy keys of the castle to William at the end of his lance.


Cripes the Motte and Bailey had an inherent design flaw. You can set fire to it. You can, if you let yourself imagine the consequences.......perhaps in the past you already have

http://www.allabout1066.net/castles.htm

Smoking.
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Wile E. Coyote


In: Arizona
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As an aside the Normans are according to orthodoxy in part descendants of the North Men, aka the Vikings.

The Vikings were well known for burning things down (a particular favourite being churches) but have little form when it comes to building castles, or for that matter using heavy cavalry.

This seems strange. The Great Rollo certainly implemented radical changes, most notably in hair styles. Perhaps he was under the influence of his wife? Poppa of Bayeux?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rollo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppa_of_Bayeux

Anyway Rollo's descendent arrives in Hastings and builds a motte (!) to protect an army of knights.
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Wile E. Coyote


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So did the Bastard (William the Bastard) build a motte and bailey here?

The only real evidence is (dramatic pause) (drum roll) the Bayeux tapestry, which anyway portrays a bank and a palisade not a motte and a tower.

According to orthodoxy there is evidence of a previous iron age building, a promontory fort... a heretic thinks it was a Roman fort........The evidence is so dismal that an academic second line of defence now believes THE motte and bailey, ie the Bastard's, was built at another site, or the existing iron age fortification was maybe strengthened. Mysteriously within the walls it is believed are the remains of an early collegiate church. Hey it could be Saxon, Hats (Just joking)...

In short it's another imaginary motte and bailey castle woven into the historical record.
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Wile E. Coyote


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wiki wrote:
Immediately after landing in England in 1066 William of Normandy ordered three fortifications to be built, Pevensey Castle in September 1066, Hastings (before the Battle of Hastings) and Dover, a few days after the battle. Hastings Castle was originally built as a motte-and-bailey castle near the sea. In 1070 William issued orders for the Castle to be rebuilt in stone, along with the St Mary's Chapel.


In 1287 violent storms battered the south coast for many months and the soft sandstone cliffs eventually succumbed to the elements. Large sections of the face fell into the sea along with parts of the castle.


It seems that whilst the coastline is eroding the myths remain unaltered.

Next up Pevensey.
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Wile E. Coyote


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History teaches us that The Bastard crossed the channel and landed in Pevensey where he built a strongly entrenched fortification...which he entrusted to his warriors ....was this a motte and bailey?

Err no.... when William arrived he would have been confronted by Pevensey Castle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pevensey_Castle#/media/File:Pevensey_Castle_aerial_alt.jpg

It was a Roman Saxon shore fort, so in a clever twist orthodoxy argues that building a strongly entrenched fortification = strengthened the existing abandoned 4th century Roman Defences.

Still that does not the fit the history or the known M and B invasion model.

Unfortunately any Norman defences and interior wooden buildings are now largely beneath the later medieval castle making verification difficult.....if speculation easy.
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Wile E. Coyote


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After his imaginary victory at Hastings, the bastard William mysteriously (for a man who had burnt his ships) heads off to Dover to, err, secure his rear. Dover is an interesting site, another Iron Age hillfort, that contained a Roman Pharos https://thejournalofantiquities.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/roman-lighthouse-dover-1x1.jpg

The Roman pharos is situated bang next to a "saxon" church. (Hats)

Anyway William is supposed to have spent 8 days adding to the the fortifications (starting to see a pattern), afterwards it was entrusted to his half-brother Odo of ........Bayeux.

According to many sites, " immediately following the Norman Conquest it is known that Duke William, a Norman, spent eight days adding to the defences. Excavation has produced evidence of a bank and ditch cutting through the Saxon cemetery which probably dates from this phase of Norman occupation."

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1019075

http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/kcc.exploringkentspast.web.sites.public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE7003

Aha, after the Saxons came the Normans.

The history comes before the archaeology.

Please tell me I am wrong.
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Hatty
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No Saxon church has been unearthed at Dover. There is an explanation for the non-find

The church probably burnt down in the fire of 1066 and was rebuilt from about 1070

The cemetery is a burial ground with no information on the burials or reason given for the 'Saxon' label except some sherds of "late Saxon pottery" were found.

Was the Saxon Shore named for the mercenaries who manned the forts some of whom were presumably buried here?
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Wile E. Coyote


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Thanks for the steer.

My first thought was the cemetery /lighthouse would be for seafarers.
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Wile E. Coyote


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wiki wrote:
Emergence of the design


The motte-and-bailey castle is a particularly northern European phenomenon, most numerous in Normandy and Britain, but also seen in Denmark, Germany, Southern Italy and occasionally beyond.[41] European castles first emerged in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes and local territories became threatened by the Magyars and the Norse.[42] Against this background, various explanations have been put forward to explain the origins and spread of the motte-and-bailey design across northern Europe; there is often a tension among the academic community between explanations that stress military and social reasons for the rise of this design.[43] One suggestion is that these castles were built particularly in order to protect against external attack – the Angevins, it is argued, began to build them to protect against the Viking raids, and the design spread to deal with the attacks along the Slav and Hungarian frontiers.[44] Another argument is that, given the links between this style of castle and the Normans, who were of Viking descent, it was in fact originally a Viking design, transported to Normandy and Angers.[45] The motte-and-bailey castle was certainly effective against assault, although as
historian André Debord suggests, the historical and archaeological record of the military operation of motte-and-bailey castles remains relatively limited
.[46]

An alternative approach focuses on the links between this form of castle and what can be termed a feudal mode of society. The spread of motte-and-bailey castles was usually closely tied to the creation of local fiefdoms and feudal landowners, and areas without this method of governance rarely built these castles.[47] Yet another theory suggests that the design emerged as a result of the pressures of space on ringworks, and that the earliest motte-and-baileys were converted ringworks.[48][nb 1] Finally, there may be a link between the local geography and the building of motte-and-bailey castles, which are usually built on low-lying areas, in many cases subject to regular flooding.[49] Regardless of the reasons behind the initial popularity of the motte-and-bailey design, however, there is widespread agreement that the castles were first widely adopted in Normandy and Angevin territory in the 10th and 11th centuries.[50]



If like Wiley you were always a bit puzzled by the development and the function of the motte and bailey, (but were too cowardly to ask) it is because:

Nobody knows what's going on. Or rather everyone knows what's going on but can't actually agree what that is.

It's a typical example of an area where this produces a lot of fuzzy thinking, (nothing wrong with that when used knowingly, still) ......to justify a paradigm.


historian André Debord suggests, the historical and archaeological record of the military operation of motte-and-bailey castles remains relatively limited


Yes....these damn imaginary castles were used by the B'stard to conquer us, it is woven into the tapestry of our history.
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Mick Harper
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The 'conquer' bit is important. There is an ongoing need to defend England against foreign invasion but clearly motte-and-bailleys are unsuited for this purpose. They are admirable for domestic pacification but was there any need for this? Yes, if the Normans were foreign invaders replacing a centuries-old Anglo-Saxon society. No, if William was replacing Harold as the legitimate heir of Edward either via an actual battle, palace coup or whatever.

It's not just the motte-and-baileys, you have to examine all Norman history for what is real and what is in the annals. For instance, the 'harrying of the north' was either a necessity or it was dreamt up to account for why a whole bunch of monasteries (and other 'new men') had suddenly acquired vast ownership of land and why the former new men couldn't prove they maybe oughtn't have.
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Wile E. Coyote


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The most extensively excavated timber motte is Hen Domen supposedly the castle of Robert the Great Montgomery, First Earl of Shrewbury.


The focus of the castle was the motte, crowned a towering timber building connected by a bridge over the ditch to a hall within the bailey. The bailey was defended by double ramparts and ditches. Remains of a wooden palisade which stood on the bailey defences were recovered during excavations, and evidence of wooden towers was also uncovered. Many other buildings stood within the bailey in addition to the hall, including a granary and a possible chapel. (Coflein)


You can see the spectacular results here.

https://dlib.york.ac.uk/yodl/app/image/detail?id=york%3a791935&ref=browse

A reconstruction is here.

https://www.peoplescollection.wales/items/10463

After 100 year of settlements and 30 years of excavations they have only found 1 coin. Mind you, to be fair, during 30 years they only excavated one half, clearly all the high status finds will be found in the other.......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_Domen#/media/File:Hen_Domen_castle_mound_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1088002.jpg
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Wile E. Coyote


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Without being able to discern any strategic military reason for occupation, the reasoned inference is that Hen Domen might have been sited for the supply of water to horses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHapI1a2jgw
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