What Are Castles and Why Are They Important

Originally, a castle was a fortress built to protect strategic locations from enemy attack or to serve as a military base for invading armies. Some dictionaries describe a castle simply as a fortified habitation. The earliest modern castle design dates from Roman Legionary Camps. The medieval castles we know in Europe were constructed of earthwork and timber. Dating as far back as the 9th century, these early structures were often built over ancient Roman foundations. Over the next three centuries, wooden fortifications evolved into imposing stone walls. High parapets, or battlements, had narrow openings (embrasures) for shooting. By the 13th century, lofty stone towers were popping up across Europe. The Medieval castle at Penaranda de Duero, northern Spain is often how we imagine castles. People seeking protection from invading armies built villages around established castles. Local nobility took the safest residences for themselves — inside the castle walls. Castles became homes, and also served as important political centers. As Europe moved into the Renaissance, the role of castles expanded. Some were used as military fortresses and were controlled by a monarch. Others were unfortified palaces, mansions, or manor homes and served no military function. Still others, like the plantation castles of Northern Ireland, were large homes, fortified to protect immigrants like the Scots from the resentful local Irish inhabitants. The ruins of Tully Castle  in County Fermanagh, uninhabited since attacked and destroyed in 1641, exemplify the 17th century fortified house. Although Europe and Great Britain are famous for their castles, imposing fortresses and grand palaces have played an important role in most countries around the world. Japan is home to many impressive castles. Even the United States claims hundreds of modern castles built by wealthy businessmen. Some of the homes built during Americas Gilded Age resemble fortified habitations designed to keep out perceived enemies. Other Names for Castles A castle built as a military stronghold may be called a fort, fortress, stronghold, or stronghouse. A castle built as a home for nobility is a palace. In France, a castle built for nobility may be called a chateau (the plural is chateaux). Schlà ¶sser is the plural of Schlà ¶ss, which is the German equivalent of a castle or manor house. Why Do We Care About Castles? From the Middle Ages to todays world, the planned communities and system of the social order of medieval life have become romanticized, transformed into a time of honor, chivalry, and other knightly virtues. Americas fascination with wizardry didnt begin with Harry Potter or even Camelot.  The 15th-century British writer Sir Thomas Malory compiled the medieval legends weve come to know — the stories of King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Sir Lancelot and the Knights of the Round Table. Much later, Medieval life was satirized by the popular American author Mark Twain in the 1889 novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs Court. Later still, Walt Disney placed the castle, modeled after Neuschwanstein in Germany, at the heart of his theme parks. The castle, or the fantasy of the fortified habitation, has become part of our American culture. It has also influenced our architecture and house design. The Example of Castle Ashby Watching a cricket match on the grounds of Castle Ashby, the casual travel might have little sense of the historical architecture in the background. Sir William Compton (1482-1528), an advisor and soldier in the court of King Henry VIII, bought Castle Ashby in 1512. The estate has been in the Compton family ever since. However, in 1574 the original castle was demolished by Sir Williams grandson, Henry, and the present fortification began being constructed. The first-floor plan was shaped like an E to celebrate the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. In 1635, additions squared off the design to create the inner courtyard — a more traditional floor plan for a fortified habitation (view floor plan of Castle Ashbys first floor). Today the private estate is not open to the public, although its gardens are a popular tourist destination (aerial view of Compton Estates, aka Castle Ashby). The design ideas behind the European architecture of England, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Italy, and France traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World along with the pilgrims, pioneers, and immigrants from those lands. European or Western architecture (as opposed to the Eastern architecture of China and Japan) was built on a European historical heritage — the architecture of castles changed as technology and the needs of the inheritors changed. So, there is no one style of fortification, but elements and details keep reappearing in architectural history. Castle Details Handed Down The English word castle is from the Latin word castrum, meaning a fort or fortified habitation. The Roman castrum had a particular design — rectangular, enclosed by walls with towers and four gates, the interior space divided into four quadrants by two main streets. In architectural history, design often repeats itself as it did in 1695 when King William III visited Castle Ashby — grand boulevards were created in the four directions, although they were built outside the castle walls. Looking at the modern Castle Ashby (aerial view of Castle Ashby courtesy Charles Ward Photography and White Mills Marina), note the architectural details. Castles and fortified estates have given our own homes details that they may not otherwise have: Great Hall: Is your living room ever big enough? Thats why we finish off basement spaces. A communal living area is a tradition handed down for centuries. Australian architect Glenn Murcutt designed the floor plan of the Marika-Alderton House in a way that is strikingly similar to a quarter section of Castle Ashby.Tower: The tower is directly related to the Queen Anne style Victorian home. The protected stairway protrusion of the 1888 Rookery Building in Chicago is remarkably similar to the towers set in the courtyard of Castle Ashby.Keep: Castles often had one large, self-contained tower, as a retreat of last resort. Today, many homes have storm cellars or a safe room in case of emergencies.Center Chimney: What reason do we have for a fireplace in todays centrally heated home? Houses today may not have as many chimneys (or chimney pots) as has Castle Ashby, but the tradition remains.Habitation by Function (wings): Areas of a castle or fortified mansion are often divided by activitie s, public and private. Bedrooms and servant quarters are private functions while grand halls and ballrooms are public functions. American architect Frank Lloyd Wright took this design idea to heart, most notably with Hollyhock house in California and Wingspread in Wisconsin. More recently, two wings of separation can be found in Perfect Little Houses by Brachvogel and Carosso.Courtyard: The enclosed courtyard was part of the design for early luxury apartment buildings like the Dakota in New York City and for office buildings like the Rookery in Chicago. Secondarily for safety, the inner courtyard afforded larger buildings with natural light to more of the inner spaces.Landscaping: Why do we cut our lawns and manicure the land surrounding our homes? The original reason was to keep an eye on our enemies and potential attackers. While that may still be the reason in some communities, todays landscaping is more of a tradition and social expectation. Sources: Castle and Castrum, The Penguin Dictionary of Architecture, Third Edition, by John Fleming, Hugh Honour, and Nikolaus Pevsner, Penguin, 1980, pp. 68, 70; Floor plan image of Castle Ashby in the public domain from Arttoday.com; History, Castle Ashby Gardens; Family and History, Compton Estates [accessed July 7, 2016]

This Way To The Gas versus On My First Son Essay - 858 Words

The short story, â€Å"This Way To The Gas, Ladies And Gentlemen† by Tadeusz Borowski and the poem â€Å"On My First Son† by Ben Johnson, both deal with death. They are very different types of death and are told in different ways but through some similar approaches, a similar feeling is portrayed to the reader of each. One of the first similarities of the two is that they are both told in the first person as well as being personal accounts. Ben speaks, as himself, about the death of his son and Borowski tells of events at a death camp that he was in during WWII. They both tell their stories through their own voices which adds a lot to the experience of reading. It allows the reader to except just how real the story is. Once the reader accepts†¦show more content†¦The realness and intimacy that the first-person voice gives us makes the reader more able to relate and understand the feelings and ideas being expressed. Both authors also set a mood with their writing to help the reader understand their feelings on the deaths occurring around them. Borowski set a mood that showed the numbness he developed surrounding death through his descriptions of the events occurring at the station. â€Å"The whip flies, the woman screams, stumbles, and falls under the feet of the surging crowd. Behind her, a child cries in a thin little voice ‘Mamele!’-a very small girl with black tangled curls.† (Borowski, 115) This quote seems almost as though Borowski is writing a report about the incident. Actions are simply listed. There is no obvious written feeling in it, even though what is being described is horrible. This shows his numbness to sights of horror and death. Johnson uses mood to show his view on death, which is much more sorrowful and passionate. â€Å"Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy; My sin was too much hope of thee, loved boy.† (Johnson, ln1-2) These lines clearl y set a mood of grief. Its expressed through the choice of words, like â€Å"Farewell†, and phrases like â€Å"too much hope of thee, loved boy†. There is one major difference surrounding death in the two pieces. Both authors have a different outcome on the way they view deaths. Borowski only remains numb to deaths for a small time. By the end,Show MoreRelated Turns and Twists in Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find1230 Words   |  5 Pagesis a useful tool for giving stories unexpected turns and twists. In Flannery OConnors A Good Man Is Hard to Find, irony is used as a very effective literary tool; to guide the story in and out of what we think will happen. OConnor uses irony in this story to contradict statements and situations to expose a truth very much different from what we the reader would think to be true. 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Autism Spectrum Disorder ( Asd ) - 1180 Words

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Autism defines as a developmental disability affecting verbal, and non-verbal communication and social interaction. Many experts estimated that 1 out of 68 children are diagnosed with autism and researchers are not sure about what causes it? There are numerous treatment to support children with autism but there is no known cure (Mash and Wolfe, 2015). In article,The Kid Who Beat Autism, Ruth Padawer states that autism can be cured with A.B.A therapy whereas The Kid Who Don t Beat Autism Joel Yanofsky refers that autism cannot be cured. I believe it depends upon an individual. One patient can significantly develop while other remains the same. Both articles helped me to draw a conclusion for my claim. As Padawer mentioned B who was the patient of Autism recovered with the help of ABA therapy. According to the Yanofsky, Matthew who recieved the same therapy as B did not recovered. 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Short Talks free essay sample

On Stereotypes- â€Å"All black people like chicken,† is one of the most commonly known stereotypes but recently I ran into some really interesting stereotypes; like all black people have gaps, if your black your house has roaches, black people were more helpful to America as slaves, all black people are ugly when they’re babies, and black girls put weave in their hair because they don’t have any. When I hear people talk like this all I can do is laugh at the ignorance, you have to be on a whole other level of stupid to even think like that and then to let that stupidity slip out of your mouth. People let statements like that get to them and get them all roweled up over it but, you have to sit back sometimes and think about where they get their point of view on African Americans people from. I find that a lot of it comes from the older generations in their family where the racism is still alive and brewing, and once again I laugh because it is 2013 and if you still feel African Americans should be slaves and they’re ignorant monkeys then go ahead and do you. We will write a custom essay sample on Short Talks or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As far as those other statements though I have a gap I know plenty of â€Å"black people† who don’t, my house doesn’t have roaches and never will, I wouldn’t be a good slave because I’m way too strong willed and I only work for pay, I was a beautiful baby, and plenty of African American girls have long beautiful hair. On Savannah State- â€Å"You are so rachet with your power outs, slow wifi, bad cable connection, rude faculty and staff, and rising tuition that’s mostly going to athletic fees for teams that aren’t even good. † -Anonymous I love my SSU but I hate it too, it has so much potential to be a great school but there has to be some major changes first. The first thing that the people over the school should take a good look into is the way a lot of their staff members act towards current and future students; some of them are rude and nasty every day to everybody. Next, they should move to the â€Å"problem professors†, which are the ones who the students complain the most about, they have the highest rate of students dropping out, and they have the highest failure rate. Lastly, would be what they use the budget for the school on I feel some of the funding for certain things could be used for more important things that the school needs, like a full time doctor for example. On Self-Respect- â€Å"How can you expect anybody to respect you if you’re half naked on Facebook for likes? † Girls are always crying on Facebook, twitter, instagram, and other social sites about how they want a â€Å"real man† but yet they have all of these lewd, distasteful pictures up for the whole internet to see. On top of that they get mad when they get a bunch of sexual comments and messages, it’s kind of baffling because what else would they expect to get if that’s how they present themselves. On the struggle- It’s hard being in college with no form of income coming in, eating ramen noodles every night, and borrowing paper from other students in class. Being broke makes your refund check, no matter how big or small, look like a little slice of heaven. Refund check time is when all of the ballers come out, when the mall is packed with college students going on a spending spree for themselves and for the homies who don’t get a refund, and when all the parties you go to have a bunch of alcohol and weed; but a month later it’s back to the struggle. The month after refund is when people go back to begging for things, back to one or two bottles of liquor at the party, and back to those stupid ramen noodles. On my first fight- I remember when I was a little, sweet, loving, only child living in Yonkers, NY. I got everything I wanted and I never had to share anything, unless I wanted to and I was always kind enough to do it anyway. My mother came home one day with these new glitter crayons for me, since I loved to draw and color; and I loved them. I brought them to school the next day to show my best friend and we colored with them during breakfast, before class. One of the older students saw us and came over, she took all of my friends crayons and pushed her out of her seat and proceeded to reach for mine. I grabbed my things, backed away and told her she couldn’t have my crayons. I saw a little bit of rage in her eyes as her friends laughed at her for not being able to take a kindergartener’s crayons; so she pushed me and went to take my things. I wanted to sit there and cry like my friend was doing but instead I got mad, I got real mad just thinking about the fact my mother just bought me some new â€Å"special† glitter crayons and some hood rat with no manners was going to have them for free wasn’t sitting right with me. I got up and punched her in the face and I could tell by the look in her eyes that it hurt, so I punched her again and again and again; I even started to scratch at her face. Her friends who were at first laughing saw how serious I was about those crayons and went to get the school’s officer, who eventually stopped me. I didn’t get in trouble that day but I got a newly found confidence that would lead me into trouble with anyone willing to cross the wrong path with me.