A battlement, (also called a crenellation) in defensive architecture such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i. Crenellation (or crenelation, also known as castellation) is the name for the distinctive pattern that frames the tops of the walls of many medieval Castles The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a Roof or structure. e. a short wall), in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles. These cut-out portions form crenels (also known as carnels, embrasures, loops or wheelers). The term embrasure, in Military architecture, refers to the opening in a Crenellation or Battlement between the two raised solid portions or Merlons The solid widths between the crenels are called merlons (also called cops or kneelers). A merlon, in Architecture, forms the solid part of an embattled Parapet, sometimes pierced by Embrasures The word comes from the Battlements often have openings between the supporting corbels, through which stones or burning objects could be dropped on attackers; these are known as machicolations. In Architecture a corbel (or console) is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight A machicolation is a Floor opening between the supporting Corbels of a Battlement, through which stones and lethally hot liquids and substances A wall with battlements is said to be crenellated or embattled.

The term originated around the 14th century from the Old French word batailler, "to fortify with batailles" (fixed or movable turrets of defence). Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium

The Palais des papes in Avignon shows characteristic battlements. The Palais des Papes is a historical palace in Avignon, southern France, one of the largest and most important Medieval Gothic buildings in Avignon (/aviɲɔ̃/ in French) ( Provençal: Avinhon in classical norm or Avignoun in Mistralian norm is a commune

Battlements have been used for thousands of years; the earliest known example is in the palace at Medinet-Abu at Thebes in Egypt, which allegedly derives from Syrian fortresses. Thebes ( Thēbai) was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean on the east bank of the river Nile ( This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Syria ( سوريّة or) officially the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic ar الجمهورية العربية السورية Battlements were used in the walls surrounding Assyrian towns, as shown on bas reliefs from Nimrud and elsewhere. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris. Traces of them remain at Mycenae in Greece, and some ancient Greek vases suggest the existence of battlement. "Lion Gate" redirects here For other uses see Lions' Gate (disambiguation. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca

Cutaway diagram of a tower of Château de Pierrefonds showing its three levels of battlements

The Romans used low wooden pinnacles for their first aggeres (terreplains). The Château de Pierrefonds is an imposing Castle situated in the commune of Pierrefonds in the Oise département Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC In the battlements of Pompeii, additional protection derived from small internal buttresses or spur walls against which the defender might place himself so as to gain complete protection on one side. Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples and Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, in In the battlements of the Middle Ages the crenel comprised one-third of the width of the merlon: the latter, in addition, could be provided with arrow-loops of various shapes (from simply round to cruciform), depending from the weapon to fire. Late merlons permitted fire from the first firearms. A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion From the 13th century the merlons, moreover, could be connected with wooden shutters that provided added protection when closed. The shutters were designed to be opened to allow fire backwards against the attackers, and closed during reloading.

Loop-holes were frequent in Italian battlements, where the merlon has much greater height and a distinctive cap. Italian military architects devised the Ghibelline or swallowtail battlement, with V-shaped notches in the tops of the merlon, giving a horn-like effect. The normal rectangular-shaped merlons were called Guelphic. In Muslim and African fortifications the merlons often had a rounded shape. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion

The Mediaeval Torre dei Guattari in Asti (Piedmont), showing Ghibelline crenellation. Asti is a city and Comune in the Piemonte or Piedmont region, in north-western Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro Piedmont ( Piemonte; Piedmontese and Occitan: Piemont; French: Piémont) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy.

The battlements of the Arabs had a more decorative and varied character, and continued from the 13th century onwards not so much for defensive purposes as for a crowning feature to their walls. The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding They appear therefore in the same light as the cresting found in the Spanish renaissance. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Similarly, European architects persistently used battlements as a purely decorative feature throughout the Decorated and Perpendicular periods. English Gothic is the name of the Architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520 English Gothic is the name of the Architectural style that flourished in England from about 1180 until about 1520 They not only occur on parapets but on the transoms of windows and on the tie-beams of roofs and on screens, and even on Tudor chimney-pots. The Tudor style in architecture is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period (1485&ndash1603 and even beyond for conservative college

A further decorative treatment appears in the elaborate panelling of the merlons and that portion of the parapet walls rising above the cornice, by the introduction of quatrefoils and other conventional forms filled with foliage and shield. The term cornice comes from Italian cornice, meaning “ledge The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves" and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts

See also merlon