ATESTAT engleza

Colegiul National “Calistrat Hogas” Tecuci

LUCRARE DE ATESTAT LIMBA ENGLEZA

Sima Danut Clasa a XII-a A Matematica – informatica Bilingv limba engleza Profesor coordonator: Marin Oa na

2012

1

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CONTENTS

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….. 3 Chapter I – British Castles ……………………………………………………………….. 4 1. Mediev Medieval al Castle Castles…… s……………… …………………… …………………… …………………… ………………..… ……..…..… ..… 4 2. The Decl Decline ine of Cast Castles les………… …………………… …………………… …………………… …………………. ………...… ..… 6 Chapter II –Castels from Scotland………………..…………………………………….… 8 1. Edinbur Edinburgh gh Castl Castle……… e………………… …………………… …………………… …………………… ……………….. ……..….. ….. 8 1.1. David’s Tower…… Tower………………………………… ………………………………….………………….. …….………………….. 9 1.2. Half Moon Battery………… Battery……………………………………… …………………………………….…........ ……….…........ 10

1.3. The Crown Crown Room…………………………….………… Room…………………………….……………………….… …………….… 10 1.4. The One O’Clock O’Clock Gun…………………………………………. Gun………………………………………….……..… ……..… 11

2. Dornoch Dornoch Cast Castle le ………………… …………………………… …………………… ……………….. ……..………… ………….….. .….... 12 3. Inverar Inveraray ay Castle…… Castle……………… …………………… …………………… …………………… ………………... ……......…… ...…… 15

Chapter III –Castels from England……………………………………………………....... 19 1. Eastnor Eastnor Castl Castle……… e………………… …………………… ……………...… …...…………… …………………… …………..... ......… .… 19 1.1. The First Earl Earl Somers…………………………… Somers…………………………………………….….….. ……………….….….. 20 1.2. The Construction Construction of the Castle……………………………… Castle…………………………………..…….... …..…….... 20

1.3. The Interior Interior of the Castle…………………… Castle…………………………………...……... ……………...……...….… ….… 21 2. Warwic Warwick k Castle……… Castle………

.. 22













Introduction

Britain is strewn with ruins of castles, rubble from the centuries of her existence. Castles are tangible relics of a remarkable past, a lengthy heritage etched in stone, as well as with the blood and sweat of those who built, labored, fought, and died in their shadow. Ruins stir up in us a profound profound awareness awareness of those those past lives. lives. Castles Castles have a timeles timelessness sness that is awe-inspir awe-inspiring. ing. That they they have endured centuries of warfare and the effects of weather is a testimony to the creativity and power of their their medieval medieval owners. owners. Most of the fortificati fortifications ons that we consider consider as 'proper' 'proper' castles castles were built during the Middle Middle Ages (c.1000-150 (c.1000-1500). 0). Unlike most other buildings, buildings, such as a church, a house or an inn, they served more than one purpose. A castle was a home for its owner and family, a place where guests could be entertained and often the local centre for administration and justice, but it was also built strong enough to defend its occupants occupants while acting as a base from which attacks on neighbors or more distant enemies could be launched. Later buildings, which are often still referred to as a castle or have the word castle in their name, served only a single purpose, as forts built purely for defense or stately homes built solely as a residence. The word castle has become a generic term used to describe many types of fortification, and there are many structures that pre-date pre-date the Middle Middle Ages that are often referred to as castles. castles. In the 13th century BC, the Hittites built stone walls with square towers around their capital in Turkey. The Egyptians built a fortress out of mud bricks, with massive gatehouses and square towers, to defend their southern borders, 1500 years BC. From the 16th to the 12th centuries BC, small, separate kingdoms dominated much of mainland Greece, each with its own fortified citadel. The first fortifications began to appear in Britain from the 5th century BC, with the construction of Iron Age hill-forts. Maiden Castle in Dorset is one of the most impressive examples. These great earthworks (a series of ditches and raised earth banks) were topped by a wooden wall (palisade), and usually protected protected a settlement. settlement. However, However, they proved no match for the Romans when they invaded England in the 1st century AD. They quickly overpowered the hill forts and imposed their own authority by constructing forts, built to a stand standar ard d recta rectangu ngula larr plan, plan, acro across ss much much of the the country. Some were built quickly out of wood while others were more permanent structures built of brick or stone.













Chapter I – British Castels

1. Medieval castles In medieval Europe the first castles appeared in the 9th century, when the Carolingian empire was collapsing as a result of Viking and Magyar raids. As central authority disintegrated, nobles fought for power and territory. They built castles so that they could control and defend their land. These castles started out as simple, wooden structures, relying on natural defenses such as rivers or hills, but soon builders were adding earthworks - mounds, banks and ditches - for extra defense. Earthworks could be mounds, called mottes , or round, raised enclosures, called ring works. A motte was topped by a wooden tower; while a ring work contained buildings protected by a wooden palisade. In each case earth was dug from the perimeter area, leaving a protective ditch. The fragmentation of land into separate estates or domains, and the the mann manneer in which hich they hey wer were rule uled, led to the the devel develop opme ment nt of feuda feudali lism sm.. The most most powe powerfu rfull men, men, the the counts, dukes and kings, controlled more than one estate. They would keep some of the land for themselves and give control of the rest to other lords. In return these lords promised to provide provide knights for their overlord's overlord's wars and for the garrisoning of their overlord's castles. In theory, a person's allegiance was always to their overlord, however there were constant battles for land and power and some men became almost as powerful as their overlord. Castles played an important part in European warfare, and William the Conqueror brought this knowledge with him. He built his first defensive structure within the walls of the old Roman Fort at Pevensey where his invasion force had landed. He then continued to build castles to defend his line of retreat and within two weeks of landing had built castles at Hastings and Dover. After his victory at the battle of Hastings he went to London where he was crowned King of England, on Christmas Day 1066. The period of Norman castle building had begun. As William's forces spread across the county they built castles as a means to subdue and control the populace. William claimed all the land as his own but gave grants of land (fiefs) to the Norman lords that had provided provided him with military military assistance assistance during the invasion. invasion. In order to prevent prevent any of them achieving the level of power that he had acquired in France, he gave them many separate estates spread across the country so that it would be difficult for any one lord to join all his forces together in a single power base. In order to protect and control their new lands the lords built castles on each of their estates. By the time of William's death, in 1087, there were 86 Norman castles in England. The early castles were mainly 'ring works' or 'motte and baileys' which were quick to construct. A 'motte and bailey' castle consisted of a large mound, or motte, where possible based on solid













old earthworks. Stone castles needed more workers, were more expensive, and took much longer to build than wooden ones, but they were fireproof and much more secure. The first stone castles were usually centered on a large tower. The earliest known stone tower was built at Doué-laFontaine, France, in c.950. In 1079, work started on a great stone tower at London, now known as the White Tower, at the Tower of London, and at a similar time at Colchester Castle. The great stone tower, donjon, or keep was much stronge strongerr than its timber timber predece predecesso ssor, r, and its height height gave defending soldiers a good view and better line of fire. A grea greatt towe towerr provi rovide ded d secu secure re stor storag agee for money oney and doc documents nts as well as offe ffering more comf omfort ortable ble accommodation for the nobles. Castle builders turned the unique character of each site to their advantage, and keeps were built too many different designs, including rectangular, circular, square, multi-sided and D-shaped. At Portchester, the Norman keep was built inside the walls of an existing Roman fort. Others, like Chepstow, turned turned natural natural featur features es such as sheer sheer cliffs cliffs to their their advantag advantage, e, using the added protection they provided on one or more of the castle's flanks. A variation on the standard keep was the shell keep. A tall circular wall was built around the top of a motte, and all the most important buildings were placed inside, against the walls of the shell. shell. The best best exampl examplee is Restor Restormel mel Castle Castle in Cornwal Cornwall, l, and other otherss can can be seen seen at Totne Totness in Devon Devon and Lewes Lewes Cast Castle le in Sussex. Curtain walls with projecting towers (so that the area in front of the walls could be shot at by defenders in the towers) became a standard of castle design. A great tower was not a necessity with this type of defense because a hall and other rooms could be built inside inside the courtyard, courtyard, or in the the wall towers towers or gatehouse. gatehouse. The weakest weakest part part of these castles castles was













During the 13th century, fortifications built to a concentric design began to appear. These castles had an inner circuit of curtain walls completely encircled by an outer circuit of walls that were built low enough to allow an unobstructed line-of-fire from the inner walls. Beyond the outer walls, moats and further defenses were often constructed. The idea may have come from knights who had seen the twin walls of the city of Constantinople during the crusades. Concentric castles had two main advantages: firstly, attackers had to get through more barriers; secondly, defending archers could stand on more than one set of walls, thus unleashing more firepower. Good examples of concentric castles can be seen at Beaumaris and Caerphilly in Wales, and at Dover Castle in Kent, generally considered to be the first British castle to feature a concentric design. Once the Normans were firmly established in power, castle building proceeded at a more leisurely pace. However, at later points in history, there were sudden spates of castle building, in order to enforce the king's rule over a rebellious population or to protect the country from the threat of invasion. A good example is Edward I's campaigns in Wales between 1277 and 1284, which led to an extensive period of castle building, with mighty castles at Caernarfon, Conwy, Harlech and Beaumaris built to enforce English rule over the Welsh. In Scotland castles developed several distinctive distinctive features. The border country was subject to raids by both Scots and English English for many centuries. centuries. In the 14th century small fortified towers, or 'peles', were built to protect local areas in northern England from these raids, while in Scotland, the distinctive 'towerhouse' began to emerge. Scottish tower-houses had thick walls, battlemented parapets and strong turrets on the the corne corners rs.. Many Many were were give given n the the addit additio ional nal protection protection of extra walls, walls, called 'barmkins', 'barmkins', and ditches and banks. Iron gates called 'yetts' often protected the small doorways.

2. The decline of castles Changes in society gradually gradually led to the decline of the castle. castle. Where the castle castle had once served an important defensive, administrative and residential role these functions were now being better served by other buildings. Nobles looked for more comfortable homes while forts manned by professional professional soldiers soldiers took over the defensive defensive duties. duties. Some castles castles remained remained a centre for local administration and many served as prisons long after they had ceased to serve a residential role. Some castles were were turn turned ed into into luxu luxuri riou ouss pala palace ces, s, but but this this was was expensive, and it was often cheaper to construct a new home, often using building material from the old castle. The fate of many castles was sealed by their role in















Changes in the way that battles were fought and advances in weaponry weaponry also contributed to the decline of castles. The design of the older castles meant they could not stand up to assault from cannon-fire, and this led to the development of new defensive structures. In the 16th and 17th centuries, forts were constructed that could withstand canon-fire while providing a base for their own batteries of guns. Forts, such as St Mawes Castle in Cornwall, were built by the state at strategic points, purely for the purpose of defense. The last great fortifications to be built in Britain were initiated by Prime Minister Palmerston in the 1840s. Designed to protect the south coast from the threat of France, they were made obsolete by advances in artillery almost as fast as they were built. Good examples are Fort Brockhurst and Fort Nelson in Hampshire.













Edinburgh Castle is an ancient fortress which, from its position atop Castle Rock, dominates the sky-line of the city of Edinburgh, and is Scotland's most famous (and most visited) landmark. Human habitation habitation of the site is dated back as far as the 9th century BC. As it stands today though, few of the castle's structures pre-date the 16th century. As with all castles, Edinburgh's fortress has been a centre of military activity. Uniquely as an ancient fortress within Britain, Edinburgh castle still has a military garrison albeit mostly for ceremonial purposes, and is home to the headquarters of the Royal Regiment of Scotland, as well as the regimental museum of the Royal Scots and Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. The military governor is Major General Euan Buchanan Loudon, GOC of the British Army's 2nd Division. Direct administration of the castle by the Ministry of Defense only came to an end in 1923 when the army moved to the the city's Redford Barracks. Nevertheless, the Castle continues to have a strong connection with the Army. Serving soldiers still stand watch at the castle gatehouse between 6 pm













commercially viable tourist attraction whilst simultaneously having responsibility for conservation of the site. At the top of the Royal Mile, in front of the castle, is a long sloping forecourt known as the Esplana Esplanade. de. It is upon upon this Esplanade Esplanade that the famous famous Edinbur Edinburgh gh Milita Military ry Tattoo Tattoo takes takes place place annually. From the Esplanade may be seen the Half Moon Battery, which is a dominant feature visible in Nasmyth's painting. This drum-shaped building, 1574, incorporates parts of the keep of 1364, known as David's Tower. The castle proper is entered through a gatehouse in front of the Half Moon Battery. The road leads upward and around to the right of the battery and through an older portcullis gatehouse, to reach the courtyard known as Crown Square.

1.1. David's Tower David's Tower was commissioned in 1386 by Robert the Bruce's son, David II of Scotland. David's tower was enormous by standards of the time, standing on the site of the present Half Moon Battery at 30 m high, with three stories (Twice as high as the Half Moon Battery). The tower initially served as the principal entrance to the castle, but by later years the tower was expanded to include many more rooms for guests and visiting nobility, and the original main entrance became boxed off by a guest guest room. When the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots married James Hepburn in 1567, a large proportion of the (Protestant) nobility rebelled, resulting ultimately in the imprisonment of Mary in Loch Leven Castle. Although she eventually escaped and fled to England, some of the nobility remained faithful to Mary, retaining Edinburgh Castle. Sir William Kirkcaldy of Grange held the castle under Lang Siege (Long Siege) for a year, until 1573, when the infant King James VI's regent, Regent Morton, requested assistance from Queen Elizabeth. Heavy guns were dispatched to the castle from Berwick, Berwick, and within ten days of the commencement commencement of the bombardment bombardment of the castle with these guns in May of that year, David's Tower collapsed. The collapse of this tower blocked off the single source of water for the castle, the well, and within a few days the castle surrendered, around two weeks after the arrival of the new guns. Sir William was soon hanged, and much of the castle rebuilt, including the new Half Moon Battery.

1.2. Half Moon Battery













The Half Moon Battery was duly constructed on the site of the old David's Tower. This magnificent magnificent set of defenses, defenses, prominent on the East side of the castle today, sits over the old ruins, and several rooms from the ground and first floors of the tower still exist underneath the Battery, windows facing out onto the interior wall of the Battery. Several of these are accessible to the public, public, although although the lower lower (Ground (Ground Floor) Floor) elements elements are generally generally closed. closed. The inaccessible areas include a former master Guest Bedroom, and a three-story room outside the original David's Tower (with large portions of the exterior wall still visible) created by the imposition of the Battery formerly used to house Pigeons for consumption during the winter months. The walls of this section are correspondingly pitted with chunks of stone removed to provide provide nesting places for the birds. The The Half Moon Moon Battery Battery was completed completed in 1588. 1588.

1.3. The Crown Room This vaulted chamber contains the Honours of Scotland. These are the Crown jewels jewels and regalia. They include the crown, scepter scepter and sword of state. The crown dates from 1540, is made of Scottish gold and is set with 94 pearls pearls,, ten diamond diamondss and 33 other other preciou preciouss and semi-p semi-prec recious ious gemstones. The Scepter is also made of gold, and topped with a large Rock Crystal (Quartz). The most treasured possession of Scotland is also located among the honors. It is the Stone of Destiny, otherwise otherwise known as the Stone of Scone and upon which the monarchs of Scotland are traditionally crowned. It had been taken to England and incorporated into the Coronation Throne in Westminster Abbey but was returned to Scotland in 1996 on the understanding that it be returned to the Abbey for subsequent coronations.

1.4. The One O’clock Gun The One O'Clock Gun is fired every day (except Sunday) at precisely 13:00, allowing citizens













The gun could be easily heard by ships in Leith Harbour (2 miles away) The cannon was replaced with a 25 pound Howitzer in 1953, and more recently by the L118 Light Gun. It is now fired from Mill's Mount Battery on the North face of the Castle by the District Gunner from 105th Regiment Royal Artillery (Volunteers). Because sound travels slowly (approx. 343 m/s), maps have been produced to show the actual time when the sound of the gun was heard at various locations in Edinburgh. Edinburgh. Although the gun is no longer required for its original purpose, purpose, the ceremony has become a popular tourist attraction. One of the District Gunners, Staff Sergeant Thomas McKay MBE - popularly known as "Tam the

Gun" - was the longest running District Gunner to fire the One O'Clock Gun, from 1979 until his death in 2005. He also opened a small museum about the Gun in the castle and was seen every Hogmanay signaling the New Year by firing his gun. The Gun is also fired to mark the arrival of















The original Dornoch Castle Castle was built by the Bishops of Caithness, with the cathedral is close by (literally across the street). The castle was built as a 13th century Bishop's Bishop's palace, not really really a fortress, but a comfortable residence. It currently contains an altered 14th century keep with a round 16th century stair tower, which still houses a staircase for the hotel. It has two open rounds and a gabled roof. Many of the













In 1812 the new work began and the centre of Dornoch as it stands today with wide, clean attractive squares and places was created. The residential part of the Castle was pulled down to make way for the present Courthouse and Public Buildings, however there was a hitch in acquiring some of the old houses nearby, so the Jail and Courthouse were not built until 1850. In the meantime, the Castle Tower, with its spiral stone staircase, was re-roofed, and hurriedly turned into the Courthouse and Jail.

A new building was erected over the vaulted kitchens, next to the great Bishop's Chimney, and became the schoolhouse. schoolhouse. The Castle Castle appears appears to have been free from the taint of witchcraft witchcraft which had caused concern locally. The Witch of Assynt, who flew from Assynt on her broomstick and lighted on the Cathedral Tower in the early 17th century, left the Castle strictly alone.













The Castle passed into private hands in 1922 and the new owner took the precaution of having the Castle exorcised. This must be wearing off as there have been several sightings in the last 5 years. When some old pipes were being dug up in the Castle area near where the hanging is supposed to have taken place, some bones were found, believed to be those of the Covenanter. Also found were some pieces of church plate which are now in a museum in Edinburgh. Tradition Tradition has it that during the troubles of the Reformation, Reformation, the Cathedral Cathedral clergy hid the valuables valuables













In 1970, a southeast southeast wing was added when the castle was bought and made into a hotel (where we stayed). Inside, the old tower contains a few rooms, but most of the work was done in the "new" wing, which has a number of pretty standard hotel rooms. It has been very altered inside, although the old cellars remain, and the staircases are intact. Some of the hallways wind through the original rooms, making a trip to the restaurant from any of the hotel rooms exciting.













Inveraray Castle is a remarkable and unique piece of architecture incorporating Baroque, Palladian and Gothic. Featuring four imposing French influenced conical spires surmounting the stone castelated towers, this unmistakably Scottish Castle was the first of its size and type to be built (at the time of construction) in an extremely extremely remote part of Scotland. Scotland. The complicated complicated story of the design and construction of the castle began in 1720 with a sketch prepared prepared by















latter, as well as 18th century Scottish Broadswords date from the time of Queen Victoria's first visit to Inveraray in 1847. Situated Situated centrally centrally in this great hall, the showcases showcases contain a fascinating fascinating collection of treasures treasures associated with Inveraray and the Castle, which help illuminate the long and colorful history of the Campbell Clan. A highlight of the collection is the dirk and sporran belonging to Rob Roy MacGregor (1671-1734). When originally designed, the Castle was to be entered by the South and when work commenced commenced in 1746 the builders followed followed the architect's architect's plans. However, However, after the structure was complete, the 5th Duke changed his mind, and decided to move the entrance to the North side of the building. When completed in 1789 what had originally been intended as a long gallery running the entire length of the building had been sub-divided, sub-divided, forming forming the Tapestry Tapestry Drawing Room & State Dining













The North West Hall contains a collection of costumes worn by the family through history to the present day. The display includes includes the Coronation Coronation robes of HRH Princess Louise, Louise, the robes of the Knight of the Thistle Thistle and the 12th Duke's uniform of the Royal Company of of Archers. A more recent addition is the stunning cream gown designed by Bruce Oldfield and worn by the current Duchess at her wedding to the 13th Duke in June 2002. The Duke's Duke's Coro Coronat natio ion n robe robess and and coron coronet et are are also also on disp displa lay, y, as is the the baton baton of the the













Chapter III - Castels from England 1.













1.1. The First Earl Somers The family family line emanate emanatess from from two disting distinguis uished hed famili families, es, the Cocks and the Somers. The Cocks' family moved to Eastnor at the end of the 16th century. They bought the Manor of Castleditch and over the following 200 years gradually gained further land in the area. The Cocks' married into the Worcestershire Somers' family, and it was was the combi combinat nation ion of thei theirr estat estates es - inclu includin ding g the the valuab valuable le inheritance left by the Lord Chancellor Somers in the early 18th century and the banking wealth of the Cocks Biddulph Bank (now incorporated into Barclays Bank) - that gave the 1st Earl Somers the













1.3. The interior of

the castle

The The cost cost of the the cons constr truc ucti tion on of the the fabr fabric ic of the Cast Castle le was was so great great that that the decor decorat ation ion of the the interi interior or inevita inevitably bly held a lower lower priorit priority. y. When When the family family moved moved into the west west wing after after 1813, 1813, many parts of the Castle must have been little little more than a shell. Smirke's designs for the interior were simple and in keeping with the medieval style of the Castle. Details of his work remain in the Red Hall, Dining Room and Staircase Hall. Surviving furniture by Smirke includes the plain Gothic benches and chairs in the Entrance and Great Hall. Gradually over the course of the 19th century, the Castle was



























In the the year year 1264, 1264, the the castl castlee was was seize seized d by the force forcess of Simo Simon n de Mont Montfor fort, t, who consequently imprisoned the current Earl, William Mauduit, and his countess at Kenilworth (who were supporters of the king and loyals to the barons) until a ransom was paid.













Built on the orders of Thomas de Beauchamp, Caesar's tower is a masterpiece of 14th century military architecture. It has an irregular quatrefoil quatrefoil or cloverleaf cloverleaf shape and rises 44.8 metres from the solid rock just above the river level. Not including the dungeon, it has three storeys. These are topped by a platform













rooms – one a gardrobe (toilet), the other probably a bedchamber. The fifth storey is a hexagonal guardroom. During the Civil War the windows here were enlarged so that they could take small hand-held cannons.

The walkways that run along the curtain walls meant that crossbowmen and archers could













Advances in military military architecture, however, however, made it more and more of an outpost. outpost. By the 17th century, it had been absorbed within Sir Fulke Greville's garden, topped by a single Scots pine.

Today, it is the perfect vantage point, not for defending against marauding English troops but for taking in the beautiful unfolding views of these peaceful grounds.



























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