"At the end of the Middle Ages, castles began to lose their military function, but not their psychological impact as a symbol of authority. Gun powder and cannons supported armies of mercenary troops, and the garrison forts built to house them adopted the crenellated walls of private aristocratic castles. By the sixteenth century, professional soldiers lived in barracks, a few officers and the governor had finer quarters, and kings and nobles merely directed the operations from distant palaces where battlements had become purely symbolic decoration. The Battle of Crecy between France and England in 1346 is traditionally considered to be the first use of cannons on the battlefield. At first the noise and smoke created by the explosion terrified horses and men, and wreaked more havoc than the projectiles. Early cannons could be more dangerous for the gunners than for the enemy, but military engineers rapidly developed the weapons’ power and accuracy. A castle’s high walls and towers made easy targets for gunners whose power and accuracy reduced once formidable medieval buildings to rubble. Mining became more successful because the attackers could put explosives under the walls."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Ch. 5 : Impact and Consequences : The Afterlife of the Castle
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marilyn_Stokstad
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Marilyn Stokstad
Marilyn Stokstad (February 16, 1929 – March 4, 2016) was an American art historian of medieval and Spanish art, Judith Harris Murphy Distinguished Professor Emerita of Art History at the University of Kansas, and an author of art-history textbooks.
27 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Marilyn Stokstad →
Related Quotes
"Were castles really as rough and rugged as their owners? The answer seems to be, “not necessarily.” Castles were inde…"
"Never as neat or well organized as many descriptions suggest, in essence feudalism involved the exchange of grants of…"
"The Church attempted to regulate this rather violent society, and eventually a code of honor evolved known as the cod…"
"Women played a greater role than might be expected in this elite warrior society, as heiresses and chatelaines in cha…"
"An alternate career path for a woman lay in the Church, where as a nun she escaped the dangers of childbirth. In the …"
"Before we continue our story we must stop to ask, “What is a castle?” Once a castle was defined simply as the fortifi…"
"When a strong central authority protects borders and reduces internal crime, people have little need for fortified dw…"
"As they captured each territory, William and his men secured their camps with simple earth and timber defenses charac…"
"Ninth-century castles were relatively small and simple affairs designed to safeguard a relatively small number of peo…"
"The castle was far more than a walled and turreted fortress; it was an instrument of social control and the symbol of…"