World History
Topcastles - Robert Rongen presents images and brief details of hundreds of medieval castles, sorted by country, region and castle type. Includes a quick guide to castle types with plans, and a list of the top 100 castles, as rated by surfers.
Most of the castles listed are in Europe. However, there is a small collection of oriental castles featured if you look hard enough. I also like that the site has a link to the official Web address of castle sites.
From the site:
This site is about "real" medieval castles, synonym for strongholds, in german Burg, in french château médiéval and in dutch burcht. To be able to make out the real castles we need a good definition.
The book "1000 jaar kastelen in Nederland" [1] gives a useful definition of a castle:"A castle is a medieval building that combines defensive with domestic functions by providing a living space and a defence to a limited group of persons differing of a noble family with a few servants to a small court and a military garrison up to a maximum of approximately fifty persons. Essential hereby is that this group depends on a relation to one person or institution." Summarised, a real castle meets these criteria:
- it is build in the middle ages (appr. 500-1500)
- it provides a living space to a limited group of persons
- it provides a defence to a limited group of persons
- the group depends on a relation to one person or institution
- Siege – How To Take A Medieval Castle When You Don't Have A Catapult
I found this informative article at ezinearticles.com. As the site allows for the reproduction of articles by blogs and other websites, I am going to go ahead and reprint it here. The author of the article is Will Kalif. ----------------------------------------------...
- Weapons Of Medieval Destruction
Weapons of Medieval Destruction. Information on medieval siege weapons which were the "wmd" of their time! The site includes a history of siege weapons, an article (with pictures) of places to view siege weapons, tips on building a catapult, and information...
- Gondar The Camelot Of Ethiopia
Gondar the Camelot of Ethiopia - Includes legends associated with Gondar, comparisons to Camelot, description of its castles, Fasiladas and other rulers of the Gondar Period, and medieval paintings. Also has pictures of castles and paintings. The format...
- Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle - Detailed, illustrated history and description of this fine early 17th century castle and discussion of the technical orginality of its construction by a Japanese engineering company. From the site: A white castle tower looms high...
- Hwasong Fortress In Suwon
Hwasong Fortress in Suwon Henny Savenije describes the construction of this fortress built (1794-1796) in Suwon, Korea by King Jeongjo. He includes the original drawings for it from the manuscript book Hwasong Seongyeok Uigwe. From the site: The...
World History
Topcastles
Topcastles - Robert Rongen presents images and brief details of hundreds of medieval castles, sorted by country, region and castle type. Includes a quick guide to castle types with plans, and a list of the top 100 castles, as rated by surfers.
Most of the castles listed are in Europe. However, there is a small collection of oriental castles featured if you look hard enough. I also like that the site has a link to the official Web address of castle sites.
From the site:
This site is about "real" medieval castles, synonym for strongholds, in german Burg, in french château médiéval and in dutch burcht. To be able to make out the real castles we need a good definition.
The book "1000 jaar kastelen in Nederland" [1] gives a useful definition of a castle:"A castle is a medieval building that combines defensive with domestic functions by providing a living space and a defence to a limited group of persons differing of a noble family with a few servants to a small court and a military garrison up to a maximum of approximately fifty persons. Essential hereby is that this group depends on a relation to one person or institution." Summarised, a real castle meets these criteria:
- it is build in the middle ages (appr. 500-1500)
- it provides a living space to a limited group of persons
- it provides a defence to a limited group of persons
- the group depends on a relation to one person or institution
- Siege – How To Take A Medieval Castle When You Don't Have A Catapult
I found this informative article at ezinearticles.com. As the site allows for the reproduction of articles by blogs and other websites, I am going to go ahead and reprint it here. The author of the article is Will Kalif. ----------------------------------------------...
- Weapons Of Medieval Destruction
Weapons of Medieval Destruction. Information on medieval siege weapons which were the "wmd" of their time! The site includes a history of siege weapons, an article (with pictures) of places to view siege weapons, tips on building a catapult, and information...
- Gondar The Camelot Of Ethiopia
Gondar the Camelot of Ethiopia - Includes legends associated with Gondar, comparisons to Camelot, description of its castles, Fasiladas and other rulers of the Gondar Period, and medieval paintings. Also has pictures of castles and paintings. The format...
- Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle - Detailed, illustrated history and description of this fine early 17th century castle and discussion of the technical orginality of its construction by a Japanese engineering company. From the site: A white castle tower looms high...
- Hwasong Fortress In Suwon
Hwasong Fortress in Suwon Henny Savenije describes the construction of this fortress built (1794-1796) in Suwon, Korea by King Jeongjo. He includes the original drawings for it from the manuscript book Hwasong Seongyeok Uigwe. From the site: The...