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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1235: What Really Was a Castle?: Tightening the Borders of Elusive Interpretation, I

Wednesday 8 July 2020, 14.15-15.45

Sponsor:Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków / University of Chester
Organisers:Michał Rzepiela, Institute of Polish Language, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków
Rachel Elizabeth Swallow, Department of History & Archaeology, University of Chester
Moderator/Chair:Michał Rzepiela, Institute of Polish Language, Polish Academy of Sciences, Kraków
Paper 1235-aCapturing the Castle: The Semantics of Meaning in Castle Studies
(Language: English)
David Mercer, Independent Scholar Sheffield
Index terms: Architecture - Secular, Historiography - Medieval, Historiography - Modern Scholarship, Medievalism and Antiquarianism
Paper 1235-bRising with Walls: Castles as a Resource for German Lower Nobility
(Language: English)
Jonas Froehlich, Sonderforschungsbereich 1070 'RessourcenKulturen', Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen
Index terms: Military History, Social History
Paper 1235-cClassical with a Twist?: A Re-Examination of the Anglo-Norman Use of, and Differentiation between, Castrum and Castellum for 'Castle' in England
(Language: English)
Rachel Elizabeth Swallow, Department of History & Archaeology, University of Chester
Index terms: Archaeology - Sites, Architecture - Secular, Historiography - Medieval, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Abstract

Scholars still debate the unresolved contemporary definition of 'castle', generally resorting to the ill-defined 'private fortified residence of a lord' for a variety of elite residences, fortified buildings and associated landscapes - including earthwork, timber and masonry fortifications, palaces, manor houses, crenellated church towers, and hunting lodges. By crossing both medieval geographical borders and current research disciplines, this session aims to tighten current unnuanced definitional boundaries. Through innovative research, new interpretations will be proposed for the contemporary meaning(s) of scribed Medieval Latin words such as castrum, castellum, and domus defensibilis, all commonly translated by later international generations as simply 'castle'.