Rochester Castle featuring a massive turreted Norman keep

A keep is a strong central tower which is used as a dungeon or a fortress. Towers are tall human-made Structures that are always taller than they are wide usually by a significant Margin. Often, the keep is the most defended area of a castle, and as such may form the main habitation area, or contain important stores such as the armoury, food, and the main water well, which would ensure survival during a siege. A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term habitat comes from Ecology, and includes many interrelated features especially the immediate physical environment, the Urban environment or the An armory (Armoury is a Military depot used for the storage of Weapons and Ammunition.

An earlier word for a keep, still used for some medieval monuments, especially in France, is donjon; a derivative word is dungeon. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. This is about European castles For other uses see Dungeon (disambiguation A dungeon is a place where Prisoners are kept In Germany, this type of structure commonly is referred to as a bergfried.

Development

Early thirteenth century cylindrical keep, Tour Jeanne D'Arc, at Rouen, in France

Keeps exist in a remarkable variety of shapes and sizes. Joan of Arc (c 1412 Joan asserted that she had visions from God that told her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' Rouen (ʁwɑ̃ in French) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital They may be of 'square' variety, generally found on the British Isles, cylindrical, octagonal, both regular and irregular polygonal forms, or a combination or several of these features. The British Isles (Irish variously Na hOileáin Bhriotanacha, Oileáin Iarthair Eorpa, Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór; Ellanyn Goaldagh Eileanan Effectively, some castles in fact, were no more than a keep and often these are referred to simply as tower houses. A tower house is a particular type of stone structure built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.

Often early keeps were just square towers with very thick walls, scarcely more than a residential hall, such as Château de Langeais. The Château de Langeais Indre-et-Loire, France was built on a promontory created by the small valley of the Roumer River at the opening to the Val This structure later developed into the more recognizable rectangular residential keep by the eleventh century.

The form and function of the keep changed with time and varied depending upon the region where it was built. As the keep was a defensive structure, the shaping trend changed to adapt to the developments in weapon technology. For example, the round or cylindrical keep was first introduced as a defense against the battering ram. A battering ram could cause severe damage to a side of a square tower, but merely would glance off the side of a rounded one. Also, a round tower is much harder to undermine successfully than a square one. Rounded towers also have the advantage of less "dead ground", or, areas not visible from the tower summit.

By the early twelfth century, cylindrical keeps had become popular and they remained prominent in France until the end of the medieval period (e. g. Montlhéry, Rouen). Montlhéry is a commune of the Essonne département, in France. Rouen (ʁwɑ̃ in French) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital Variations on the rounded type began to appear at the same time. These included towers with triangular, prow-like projections (such as Chateau Gaillard), polygonal keeps such as at Orford, or "multi-lobed" keeps such as Clifford's Tower. Château-Gaillard is a ruined medieval Castle, located above the town of Les Andelys, in the Eure département of Orford Castle is a Castle in the village of Orford Suffolk, England, located northeast of Ipswich, with views over Orford Ness York Castle (also known as Clifford's Tower) is a fortification in the city of York, England.

From the early thirteenth century onward many castles were designed without traditional keeps, instead the preferred plans for defensive structures were concentrated in the walls and towers of the enceinte, or in a gatehouse. Enceinte ( Lat. in, within cinctus, girdled to be distinguished from the word meaning pregnant, from in, not and cinctus A gatehouse is a feature of European Castles Manor houses and Mansions Originally a gatehouse was a fortified structure built over the gateway Early examples may be seen at Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer, in Boulogne, France and Bolingbroke Castle in Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire, and later, at The Bastille. The Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer is a Castle in the French seaport of Boulogne-sur-Mer, in the Pas-de-Calais département. Bolingbroke Castle is at Bolingbroke (or Old Bolingbroke) in Lincolnshire ( Bolingbroke, now called Old Bolingbroke, is a village near Spilsby in Lincolnshire, England. The Bastille was a Fortress - Prison in Paris, known formally as Bastille Saint-Antoine —Number 232 Rue Saint-Antoine—best known today In some castles the gatehouse took over the functions of the keep, serving as refuge, residence, and command post, such as at Harlech Castle. A gatehouse is a feature of European Castles Manor houses and Mansions Originally a gatehouse was a fortified structure built over the gateway Harlech Castle, located in Harlech, Gwynedd, Wales, is a Concentric castle, constructed atop a cliff close to the Irish Sea.

The fourteenth century residential keep, Château de Largoët, in France

As nobles became more interested in grand halls and comfortable living quarters, the keep lost its domestic role. The Château de Largoët, also known as the Tours d’Elven (Elven Towers is a medieval castle in Elven, in the Morbihan Département Although keeps continued to be used and built, there is evidence that many had a reduced role, demonstrated by the lack of residential amenities in the tower plans, such as latrines and chimneys.

In Western Europe, however, the defensible residential keep experienced a resurgence before the end of the medieval period, as towers were built to house nobles and their retinues securely, but at a very high level of comfort and luxury (e. g. Raglan Castle, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, Chateau de Vincennes, and Château de Largoët). Raglan Castle (Castell Rhaglan is a significant late Medieval Castle located just north of the village of at Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire Ashby de la Zouch Castle is in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England ( The Château de Vincennes is a massive 14th and 17th century French royal castle in the town of Vincennes, to the The Château de Largoët, also known as the Tours d’Elven (Elven Towers is a medieval castle in Elven, in the Morbihan Département This luxurious type was particularly popular in late medieval Scotland up until the 1600s (e. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. g. Craigievar Castle). Craigievar Castle is a pinkish harled Castle six miles south of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Another word for this type of keep is the tower house. A tower house is a particular type of stone structure built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.

Notable types

Norman or Romanesque keep

An archetypical form for the keep in the British Isles is the Norman keep, so-called because they were built throughout England and Ireland by Norman nobles. For other buildings in Normandy see Architecture of Normandy. Regional characteristics of Romanesque architecture|Romanesque art Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which An archetype ( pronounced: /ˈɑːkɪtaɪp/ (Brit or /ˈɑrkɪtaɪp/ (Amer Norman keeps usually have several distinguishing features in common and the type was very popular during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Most have towers at each corner, which usually extend above the main keep to form watchtowers. A watchtower is a type of Fortification used in many parts of the world In many cases spiral staircases were contained in or near these corner towers. Another common feature was the forebuilding, which contained the entryway to the keep, its most vulnerable point. This structure extended from the side of the keep and often, was approached by stairs, as the entryway usually was above ground level. Sometimes a drawbridge guarded the top of the stairs. A drawbridge is a type of Movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a Castle.

The shell keep at Gisors on the top of a motte

Inside, there usually is a central dividing wall that divides the interior in two parts. The living quarters for the noble or castellan of the castle were usually at the top of the keep, the great hall or halls were below the keep, and storage rooms were at the bottom of the structure. A castellan was the Governor or caretaker of a Castle or Keep. Keeps on this general plan may be seen throughout England and Ireland, with many examples in France as well, where they are known by the names donjon carré (a square keep) or donjon roman (a romanesque keep). Regional characteristics of Romanesque architecture|Romanesque art Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which Examples include the Tower of London and Rochester Castle in England and, Domfront and Loches in France. The White Tower is a central tower at the Tower of London. The great central keep was started in 1078 by William the Conqueror who ordered the White Rochester Castle ( stands on the east bank of the River Medway, in Rochester Kent. The Château de Domfront is a ruined Castle in the town of Domfront Orne, in the Orne département of France. The Château de Loches is located in the département of Indre-et-Loire in the Loire Valley in France and is a very ancient

Shell-keep

A unique form of keep is the shell keep which essentially, is a masonry 'fossilization' of a palisade lining the top of a castle defensive mound or motte. palisade is a steel or wooden Fence or wall of variable height usually used as a defensive structure nA motte-and-bailey is a form of Castle. Many were built in Britain, Ireland and France in the 11th and 12th centuries favored as a relatively In a shell keep a strong wall was built around the top of the motte, and the domestic buildings were built against it, leaving a round courtyard in the middle. These differ from most keeps in that they are not a tower, but a defensive enclosure, although their purpose as a last refuge, as well as living quarters, is similar to other keeps. Good examples are Restormel Castle in Cornwall and Gisors Castle in Normandy. Restormel Castle is situated on the River Fowey near Lostwithiel, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar Gisors is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. Normandy (Normandie Norman: Normaundie) is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy.

Famous keeps

The keep of Vincennes protected by its own isolated enceinte

One of the most famous keeps in Europe is the White Tower of The Tower of London, constructed by William the Conqueror in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest. Enceinte ( Lat. in, within cinctus, girdled to be distinguished from the word meaning pregnant, from in, not and cinctus The White Tower is a central tower at the Tower of London. The great central keep was started in 1078 by William the Conqueror who ordered the White Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically as The Tower) is a historic monument in central London William I of England ( 1027 His reign which brought Norman culture to England had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages

The cylindrical donjon of Rouen, shown above, is all that remains of the large city fortress where Joan of Arc was imprisoned during her trial for heresy. Rouen (ʁwɑ̃ in French) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital Joan of Arc (c 1412 Joan asserted that she had visions from God that told her to recover her homeland from English domination late in the Hundred Years' Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief especially a religion that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief

Shown to the right is the tallest keep remaining in existence, the donjon of Château de Vincennes, which is located in a suburb of contemporary Paris. The Château de Vincennes is a massive 14th and 17th century French royal castle in the town of Vincennes, to the Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Previously this distinction was held the donjon of Coucy in Picardy. The Château de Coucy is a French Castle in the commune of Coucy-le-Château-Auffrique, in the département of Aisne

References

• Matarasso, Francois (1995). The English Castle. London: Cassell, 224 pp. ISBN 0-34753-1.  

• Mesqui, Jean (1997). Chateaux-forts et fortifications en France. Paris: Flammarion, 493 pp. ISBN 2080122711.  

See also

• Castle architecture
• Medieval architecture
• Japanese castle buildings for tenshaku, the Japanese castle keep