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Abattlement, in defensive architecture, such as that ofcity walls orcastles, comprises aparapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals to allow for the launch of arrows or other projectiles from within the defences.[1] These gaps are termedembrasures, also calledcrenels orcrenelles, and a wall or building with them is described ascrenellated; alternative older terms arecastellated andembattled. The act of adding crenels to a previously unbroken parapet is termed crenellation.
The function of battlements in war is to protect the defenders by giving them part of the parapet to hide behind, from which they can quickly expose themselves to launch projectiles, then retreat behind the parapet. A defensive building might be designed and built with battlements, or amanor house might be fortified by adding battlements, where no parapet previously existed, or cutting crenellations into its existing parapet wall. A distinctive feature of late medieval English church architecture is to crenellate the tops of church towers, and often the tops of lower walls. These are essentially decorative rather than functional, as are many examples on secular buildings.
The solid widths between the crenels are calledmerlons. Battlements on walls have protected walkways, termedchemin de ronde behind them. On tower or building tops, the often flat roof is used as a protectedfighting platform.
The term originated in about the 14th century from theOld French wordbatailler, "to fortify withbatailles" (fixed or movableturrets of defence). The wordcrenel derives from the ancient Frenchcren (modern Frenchcran), Latincrena, meaning a notch,mortice or other gap cut out often to receive another element or fixing; see alsocrenation. The modern French word for crenel iscréneau, also used to describe a gap of any kind, for example a parking space at the side of the road between two cars, interval between groups of marching troops or a timeslot in a broadcast.[2]
In medieval England and Wales a licence to crenellate granted the holder permission to fortify their property. Such licences were granted by the king, and by the rulers of thecounties palatine within their jurisdictions, e.g. by theBishops of Durham and theEarls of Chester and after 1351 by theDukes of Lancaster. The castles in England vastly outnumbered the licences to crenellate.[3] Royal pardons were obtainable on the payment of an arbitrarily-determined fine by a person who had fortified without licence. The surviving records of such licences, generally issued byletters patent, provide valuable evidence for the dating of ancient buildings. A list of licences issued by the English Crown between the 12th and the 16th centuries was compiled by Turner & Parker and expanded and corrected by Philip Davis and published inThe Castle Studies Group Journal.[4]
There has been academic debate over the purpose of licensing. The view of military-focused historians is that licensing restricted the number of fortifications that could be used against a royal army. The modern view, proposed notably by Charles Coulson, is that battlements became an architectural status-symbol much sought after by the socially ambitious, in Coulson's words: "Licences to crenellate were mainly symbolic representations of lordly status: castellation was the architectural expression of noble rank".[5][4] They indicated to the observer that the grantee had obtained "royal recognition, acknowledgment and compliment".[6][4] They could, however, provide a basic deterrent against wandering bands of thieves, and it is suggested that the function of battlements was comparable to the modern practice of householders fitting highly visibleCCTV and burglar alarms, often merely dummies. The crown usually did not charge for the granting of such licences, but occasionally charged a fee of about half amark.[4]
Battlements may be stepped out to overhang the wall below, and may have openings at their bases between the supportingcorbels, through which stones or burning objects could be dropped onto attackers or besiegers; these are known asmachicolations.
Battlements have been used for thousands of years; the earliest known example is in the fortress atBuhen inEgypt. Battlements were used in the walls surroundingAssyrian towns, as shown onbas reliefs fromNimrud and elsewhere. Traces of them remain atMycenae inGreece, and someancient Greek vases suggest the existence of battlements. TheGreat Wall of China has battlements.
In the European battlements of theMiddle Ages the crenel comprised one-third of the width of the merlon: the latter, in addition, could be provided with arrow-loops of various shapes (from simply round to cruciform), depending on the weapon being utilized. Late merlons permitted fire from the firstfirearms. From the 13th century, the merlons could be connected with wooden shutters (mantlets) that provided added protection when closed. The shutters were designed to be opened to allow shooters to fire against the attackers, and closed during reloading.
TheRomans used low wooden pinnacles for their firstaggeres (terrepleins). In the battlements ofPompeii, additional protection derived from small internal buttresses or spur walls, against which the defender might stand so as to gain complete protection on one side.
Loop-holes were frequent in Italian battlements, where the merlon has much greater height and a distinctive cap. Italian military architects used the so-calledGhibelline orswallowtail battlement, with V-shaped notches in the tops of the merlon, giving a horn-like effect. This would allow the defender to be protected whilst shooting standing fully upright. The normal rectangular merlons were later nicknamed Guelph.
Many South Asian battlements are made up of parapets with peculiarly shapedmerlons and complicated systems of loopholes, which differ substantially from rest of the world.[7] Typical Indian merlons were semicircular and pointed at the top, although they could sometimes be fake: the parapet may be solid and the merlons shown in relief on the outside, as is the case inChittorgarh. Loopholes could be made both in the merlons themselves, and under the crenels. They could either look forward (to command distant approaches) or downward (to command the foot of the wall). Sometimes a merlon was pierced with two or three loopholes, but typically, only one loophole was divided into two or three slits by horizontal or vertical partitions. The shape of loopholes, as well as the shape of merlons, need not have been the same everywhere in the castle, as shown byKumbhalgarh.[7]
InMuslim andAfrican fortifications, the merlons often were rounded. The battlements of theArabs had a more decorative and varied character, and were continued from the 13th century onwards not so much for defensive purposes as for a crowning feature to the walls. They serve a function similar to thecresting found in theSpanish Renaissance architecture.
"Irish" crenellations are a distinctive form that appeared inIreland between the 14th and 17th centuries. These were battlements of a "stepped" form, with each merlon shaped like an inverted 'T'.[8][9][10][11][12]
European architects persistently used battlements as a purely decorative feature throughout theDecorated andPerpendicular periods of Gothic architecture. They not only occur on parapets but on thetransoms of windows and on the tie-beams of roofs and on screens, and even onTudor chimney-pots. A further decorative treatment appears in the elaborate paneling of the merlons and that portion of the parapet walls rising above thecornice, by the introduction ofquatrefoils and other conventional forms filled with foliage and shield.
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