The vast majority of castles in England, Wales, Ireland, and France have virtually no military history' of sieges or physical conflict across the whole panorama of more than five centuries'. This is quite a sobering thought.

"Text and detailed drawings follow the planning and construction of a "typical" castle and adjoining town in thirteenth-century Wales."--Title page verso.

Library Friendly Edition of original- Find out who built castles, what knights did and what really went on inside castle walls in this entertaining and colourful look at medieval life.

This original and pioneering book examines the role of the castle in the Norman conquest of England and in the subsequent administration of the country. The castle is seen primarily as an instrument of peaceful administration which rarely had a garrison and was more often where the sheriff kept his files and employed his secretariat. In most cases the military significance of the castle was minimal, and only a very few ever saw military action. For the first time, the medieval castle in England is seen in a new light which will attract the general reader of history and archaeology as much as the specialist in economic and social history.

"The last decade has seen a revolution in our understanding of the castle. Previously scholars have viewed it as essentially a military structure: a building where the need to resist a siege determined both architecture and site. Academics now paint a more complex picture, emphasizing the castle's symbolic projection of power, its position in the wider landscape and even its aesthetic role. This wide-ranging book makes this re-evaluation available to a new generation of castle enthusiasts. Focusing on the rich heritage of castle archaeology in England and Wales, the author offers a fresh and holistic perspective on these enigmatic medieval buildings. He examines not just the architecture but its wider social and landscape context. As well as offering new insights into familiar themes such as the Norman Conquest and siege warfare, he also covers in detail more original areas of study: the designed, ornamental landscapes that have been found at castle sites; the depiction of castles in literature; and the symbolic values that found expression in castle architecture. His aim is to understand how people experienced castles in the Middle Ages, and therefore to explain why they were such potent icons of lordship."--Back cover.

A social history of the class system in the United States from the colonial period through the constitutional era that primarily concerns itself with the issue of slavery. Other legislative areas affected by the social structure of the times covered include laws of debt, land tenure, fair trade, and food supply...Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection of New York University (1953) 809.