The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England

In 1913 a set of leg shackles was recovered among skeletal remains during excavations at the east end of the ruinous cathedral of Old Sarum, Wiltshire. A recent examination of the excavation’s photographic record indicates that two further similar examples were recovered at the same time. Since the early twentieth century a body of scholarship has refined our understanding of the arrangement of the east end of the cathedral, and a closer examination of the archive in the light of this work allows for both skeletal remains and shackles to be confidently located in an archaeological context related to the tomb of Bishop Roger. This paper explores the value this evidence has for our understanding of the so-called ‘Arrest of the Bishops’, an event of notable constitutional significance in the tumultuous reign of King Stephen. It goes on to examine the shock with which the event was recalled by contemporary writers to reflect on the power of shaming and incarceration as a device of extortion, political manipulation and the infliction of social death. The integral nature of iron bonds in these strategies lends them a socio-symbolic role and the reception of their use in this well-recorded episode may facilitate the interpretation of such items from early and high medieval contexts when, frequently, primary provenance is lacking.

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Fortifications as Warfare Culture: the Hilltop Centre of Yayno (Ancash, Peru), AD 400–800

Lau

2010

CAJ

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This article evaluates defensive works at the ancient hilltop centre of Yayno, Pomabamba, north highlands, Peru. Survey, mapping and sampling excavations show that its primary occupation dates to cal. ad 400-800, by groups of the Recuay tradition. At the centre of a network articulating small nearby farming villages, Yayno features an impressive series of natural and built defensive strategies. These worked in concert to protect the community from outsiders and keep internal groups physically segregated. The fortifications are discussed in relation to local political organization and a martial aesthetic in northern Peru during the period. Recuay elite identity and monumentalism arose out of local corporate traditions of hilltop dwelling and defence. Although such traditions are now largely absent in contemporary patterns of settlement, an archaeology of warfare at Yayno has repercussions for local understandings of the past.

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The Idea of the Castle in Medieval England

Abstract: A new way of looking at the medieval castle - as a cultural reflection of the society that produced it, seen through art and literature.

Cited by 21 publications

References 7 publications

Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. Vol III: Southern England

Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. Vol III: Southern England

Three Sets of Shackles at Old Sarum, the ‘Arrest of the Bishops’ in 1139 and the Power of Shaming in the Anglo-Norman World

Fortifications as Warfare Culture: the Hilltop Centre of Yayno (Ancash, Peru), AD 400–800

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