The Medieval Castle in Britain and Ireland - 20 credits (HST935)
The module explores current debates concerning the definition, design and functions of castles in medieval Britain and Ireland between the Norman Conquest and c. 1550, looking at the sources of information for castles, the development of castle studies and the question of what is a castle, the origins of the medieval castle, the art of defending and attacking fortified places and its Roman and Byzantine background, the formal development of castles and their defences, literary and pictorial representations of castles, the domestic arrangements within castles, the non-military functions of castles, the development of gunpowder artillery and its effects on fortifications, and the decline of the castle and the development of the country house.