Bookshelf – When the locals don’t want you ...

BATTLE CASTLES By Dan Snow HARPER PRESS ASâ€Ë†ROMANTIC views go, there is little to compete with sunset behind a great castle. Perched on a hill, its ruined status hidden by the silhouette, the castle evokes images of bold knights and comely ladies. Now, when the word technology means computers and cars and powerful machinery, we do not associate the term with castles. Yet these buildings were the height of the military technology of their day, and their design was refined and perfected just as the design of cars or computers is refined in our time. We see castles as places of refuge, into which the occupiers could retreat in times of danger. The most prominent castle in these parts is that of Claregalway, magnificently restored by Eamon Oâ€â„¢Donoghue in a work that will remain in progress for quite some time to come. But Claregalway, and all other castles, while obviously built for defence, was not first and foremost a refuge. Instead it was a force multiplier. In modern military terms, a force multiplier is usually a weapon which offers superior firepower. The most obvious example is the machine gun: ten soldiers with machine guns equal a much greater number with rifles. Hence the term force multiplier. But as Dan Snow, the author of Battle Castles, subtitled 500 Years of Knights and Siege Warfare, explains, castles enabled relatively small numbers of soldiers to dominate much larger populations. He starts his account with the Norman conqest of England. As soon as he had gained a foothold in this new domain, William the Conqueror started to build castles. At first they were simple motte and bailey structures. The motte was an artificial mound of earth, with steeply sloping sides, crowned by a wooden (later stone) tower. It was surrounded by a bailey, an open space fenced by wooden stakes, usually surrounded by a ditch. This strongpoint enabled a small group of warriors to range throughout an area, imposing their will on the inhabitants, and retreat to it at night to rest, knowing they were safe from attack. To quote Snow:â€Ë†Ã¢€Å“Even at this stage their purpose and impact was clear. A castle was what you built if the locals didnâ€â„¢t really want you there.â€Â Later he adds: â€Å“What these castles did was make it possible for around 7,000 men to pacify a country of two million people: they were the most efficient force multiplier available in the period.â€Â While the book deals with six specific castles of major importance, none of which is in Ireland, he does refer to this country and the Norman conquest of part of it. Giraldus Cambrensis, the Welshman who wrote one of the earliest accounts of Ireland, lamented that it had not been wholly annexed by the Plantagenets because of their failure to build castles â€Å“from sea to seaâ€Â. There is another Irish connection in the first castle Snow deals with, the massive fortification at Dover. From around 1170 up to the 1960s Dover Castle was a linchpin of the defence of England. It withstood a siege by the French Prince Louis in 1216, and the D-Day landings were planned there in 1945. The hero of the siege of 1216 was Hubert de Burgh, or de Burgo. Yes, one of us. His elder brother was in Ireland with Prince John, and by the time John became king, Hubert was one of his right hand men. He was put in charge of Dover Castle in 1215, and conducted a spirited defence. Later he commanded a fleet which attacked the French fleet in the Channel and defeated it. The next castle on Snowâ€â„¢s list is the famous Chateau Gaillard in Normandy. Its ruins still tower on a cliff over the Seine, and while the outer walls are ruinous, the corrugated wall of the inner bailey, quarried from the stone on which they are built, are still magnificent. I saw this castle once from a distance, but it is now on my list of must-sees in northern France. Chateau Gaillard was taken by the French after a six-month siege when a soldier named Boggis spotted a weakness in a section of wall atop a steep cliff. He and a few companions climbed the cliff, made their way through the unguarded latrine vents, and created a diversion which allowed the main French attack to succeed. Another famous castle is Krak des Chevaliers, once the headquarters of the Knights Hospitaller. It was built by these crusader knights in the late 12th and early 13th centuries, and is still an amazingly impressive sight. Unfortunately it is off the visiting list for now, located as it is in Syria. Snow details the various phases of the building of the stronghold, which was twice affected by earthquake, but was eventually captured from the Hospitallers by Sultan Baybars after a six-week siege in which he took care not to do too much damage, as he wanted this castle for himself as a base to attack other targets. It remained in Muslim hands for nearly 650 years, and was visited by the famous Lawrence of Arabia, who pronounced it â€Å“the best preserved and most wholly admirable castle in the worldâ€Â. A chapter is devoted to a castle well known to generations of Irish travellers from Holyhead to central England. This is Conwy, one of a chain built by Edward I to subdue the rebellious Welsh. I visited it two years ago, and it is a wonderful experience. There are also chapters devoted to Malbork Castle in Poland, which has a story to tell of Eastern European history, and Gibralfaro Castle, near Malaga, which featured majorly in the reconquest of Spain from the Moors.