Battlements & Crenelations
Taluses
Bossing
Hourdes
Machiolations (Machicoulis)
The Brattice (Breteche)
Chemins de Rondes
Lists (Lices)
Slighting

 

 

Battlements & Crenellations

Battlements

 

Battlements

 

 

 

Taluses

Battlements

 

Bossing

Bossing

 

 

Hourdes

Battlements

 

Hourds

 

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Hourdes

 

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Hourdes

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Hourdes at Carcassonne

 

Machiolations (Machicoulis)

Battlements

 

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Macicoulis

 

Maciolations (Fr Machicoulis) are in effect stone versions of hourdes. They represent an additional level of sophistication and expense. Like hourdes they enabled defenders to shoot at and drop things on their attackers, while minimising the risk of danger themselves. The great advantages were machiolations were permanent features. They did not need to be constructed in anticipation of attack. They were always ready. Unlike hourdes, they could not be set on fire They were stronger than hourdes and would withstand crossbow quarrels and even stones hurled by stone throwing siege engines. They looked imposing - always a psychological benefit against attackers who had no such defenses Where the expense was too great for full scale machilations around a wall, an cheaper alternative was to build them just over weak spots like doors and gateways. This is the origin of the brattice - see below. Machiolations became such a common. and prestigious, feature of medieval architecture that they were used long after they were needed for military purposes. You will for example see them on many nineteenth century buidings, sometimes real machiolations but more often pretend ones. In the Languedoc you can see good examples on the unusaul triangular keep at Beaucaire in the Gard département.

machicoulis atop the triangular keep at Beaucaire

 

The Brattice (Breteche)

 

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machicoulis

 

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machicouloulis

 

 

Brattice

 

 

 

Chemins de Rondes

Chemin de Ronde

Chemin de Ronde

 

Chemin de Ronde

 

 

Lists (Lices)

Lists (Lices) at Carcassonne

 

 

Slighting

Often, once a castle was taken, it would be occupied by its new masters and it would continue its function of holding down a strategically important area.

Occasionally this was not done. Perhaps the castle could not be held because forces were needed elsewhere (as happened during the Cathar Wars), or because it was untenable with a large hostile population (again as happened during the Cathar Wars). Perhaps the castle was taken only for puniutive reasons (as happened during the Cathar Wars, Spanish incursions, and during the Hundred Year's Wars). Or perhaps the strategic importance diminished, as for Carcassonne and its five sons after the border between France and Spain was moved back under the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1649.

In each case there was good reason for destroying the castle before leaving it and allowing it to be re-occupied. But destroying a castle is not easy. Generally it was good enough to do just enough damage to make it not worth while for anyone to repair it. To damage a castle in this way is to "slight" it. By analogy we talk about slighting people too - not desroying them but damaging them.

The castle at Beaucaire was slighted by Richelieu in 1632, and so were the "Five Sons of Carcassonne", five Royal castles (Termes, Aguila, Peyrepertuse, Queribus and Puilaurens) strategically placed to defend the old border against Aragon. In 1652 Richelieu ordered the castle at Termes to be abandoned and slighted. The walls were destroyed by a master mason from Limoux, using explosives, between 1653-1654.