Castle Glossary

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Barbacan - Defense works at the gateway of a castle or city. There is a specacular semi-circular barbican at the Château Comtal at Carcassonne.			Barbacane - Ouvrage fortifi� avanc�, servant � d�fendre la porte d'une ville ou d'un ch�teau.
Basse-Cour - The outer court of a castle.			Basse-Cour - Cour ext�rieure prot�g�e par les murailles d'un ch�teau.
Bastille - A temporary fortified position used by besiegers to provide cover.			Bastille - Ouvrage temporaire plac� par l'assaillant lors d'un si�ge.
Bastion - Ouvrage avanc� � deux flancs et deux faces faisant saillie, plac� g�n�ralement sur l'enceinte d'un ch�teau.			Bastion - Ouvrage avanc� � deux flancs et deux faces faisant saillie, plac� g�n�ralement sur l'enceinte d'un ch�teau.
Belfry- A siege tower (now used of bell towers because of an invalid assumption that the word had something to do with bells).			Beffroi : Tour d'attaque mobile. Elle est pouss�e par l'assaillant contre l'enceinte d'un ch�teau
Bossing - Rough projecting surfaces to the building blocks, typically found external walls of castles of a certain age. According to several text on catapults, bossing was a means of strengthening a wall against heavy shot. The projection dispersed the energy of the stone shot and prevented a direct energy transfer to the wall. It was also possibly used to give an impression of strength and possibly to save costs of stone cutting.			Bossage - Parement de pierre formant une bosse plus ou moins saillante par rapport � ses ar�tes.
Breteche- A pojecting piece of wall, generally over a doorway, acting as a maciolation or murther hole..				Brattice- Logette � m�chicoulis faisant saillie, utilis�e comme ouvrage de d�fense.
Canonnier: A gun round or oval port built into a wall - the natural successor to a loophole for arrows after the untroduction of firearms.		'		Canonni�re : Meurtri�re pour le tir au canon, elle est g�n�ralement ovale ou ronde
Ch�telet - A small fortification designed to defend an access route such as bridge or road.			Ch�telet - Petit ch�teau fort destin� � la d�fense d'un pont, d'une route ou d'une voie d'acc�s.
Chemin de ronde - A walkway on top of a castle wall, generally protected by the battlements, allowing forces to move around the upper levels of the outer walls of a castle or city without descending to ground level.				Chemin de ronde - Chemin au sommet des murs, souvent prot�g� par un parapet.
Cistern : A stone water tank, indispensible for fortified positions without a well.			Citerne : R�servoir dans lequel on recueille et conserve les eaux de pluie.
Citadel- A refuge of final defence within a castle or city. Typically dominating the fortifications, the citadel could hold out even after the rest of the castle or city had fallen.			Citadelle - Ouvrage fortifi�, situ� dans l'enceinte des remparts de la ville, disposant de puissants moyens de d�fense et dominant la ville antique ou m�di�vale.
Colombage : Wattle and daub.			Colombage : Technique de charpente en pan de bois.
Conciergerie : The guard room of a castle, often situated over the main gateway from where the portcullis was controlled. Also used of the guard themselves.			Conciergerie : Logement des soldats de la garde, nomm�e �galement le corps de garde
Constable : Originally the "Count of the stable" in charge of the horses, later a military advisor of the king.			Conn�table : Initialement charg� de l'entretien des chevaux, le conn�table devient le conseiller militaire du roi ou du prince. Parfois v�ritable chef des arm�es, il peut jouer un r�le politique.
Courtine - A wall linking bastions or towers.			Courtine - El�ment de muraille reliant deux bastions ou deux tours flanquantes.
Crenel. Battlement on top of a castle wall. The built up parts are merlons and the gaps crenels, together making a crenalation.		Crenelations		Cr�neau (du latin crena, entaille) - Partie creuse d'un rempart.
Curtain Wall : A wall around a tower, castle, city or other fortified place.			Chemise : Muraille enveloppant une tour ou quelque �difice fortifi�.
Dovecot, where pigeons (not doves) were kept - both eggs and fledglings were eaten. Sometimes separate buildings, sometimes housed in a tower of a castle.			Colombier : Pigeonnier, souvent circulaire et d�tach� mais parfois incorpor� dans une tour ou autre partie de la r�sidence seigneuriale
Draw Bridge- Pont mobile au dessus d'un foss�, dont le tablier se rel�ve pour fermer l'acc�s au ch�teau.			Pont-Levis - Pont mobile au dessus d'un foss�, dont le tablier se rel�ve pour fermer l'acc�s au ch�teau.
Echauguette - a small tower built into the wall or more usually a corner. Can be described as an encorbelled brattice.			Echauguette - Gu�rite plac�e en surplomb sur une muraille fortifi�e ou une tour.
Garderobes or Latrines - Lieu d'aisance.			Latrines - Lieu d'aisance.
Hoard A wooden gallery built on top of castle walls in times of siege, fulfilling the role later fulfilled by crenalations and machicoulis. (Our modern word hoarding is a derivative of this term)		Hourds on a tower at Carcassonne		Hourd (hurdel, du Francique hurd, palissade) - Galerie de bois �tablie en surplomb autour du sommet des murs d'un ch�teau.
Keep or Donjon The master tower of a castle, the Lord's residence. In early medieval times it would be the only tower.		The donjon at Arques in the Languedoc		Donjon (du latin dominus, tour du seigneur) - Tour ma�tresse d'un ch�teau fort m�di�val, demeure du seigneur.
Loophole- The classic arrow-slit, long and thin, in a castle wall, often in the form of a cross.		Two examples of loopholes		Arch�re - Ouverture longue et �troite dans un mur pour tirer � l'arc ou � l'arbal�te (v. Meurtri�re).
Lice - Originally a palissade, later the area between the inner and outer city walls, used for a variety purposes including tilting. There is a spectacular example at Carcassonne.	Plan of Carcassonne				Lice - Palissade de bois entourant les ch�teaux ou les sites fortifi�s.
Machicolations - A projecting galerie, built in stone on top of a defensive wall, and allowing defenders to shoot down at besiegers, or drop things onto them. Specular examples at Foix.			M�chicoulis ( de m�cher - �craser- et coulis -action de couler) - Galerie de pierre en surplomb au sommet d'une courtine. Les ouvertures dans le sol permettent le jet vertical de projectiles.
Meurtri�re- A hole through wich people can be killed. A term that covers both arrow loopholes and cannoniers.		Examples of an arrow loop and* a cannonier*		Meurtri�re : Fente, droite ou en forme de croix, pratiqu�e dans les tours, donjons ou murs de fortification pour lancer des fl�ches ou pour tirer des boulets de canon
Murder Hole or Murther Hole- A defensive opening through which defenders could shoot attackers, or drop things on them (such as dead animals, sand or hot water - not, as far as is known, boiling oil)			Assommoir - Ouverture d�fendant g�n�ralement une porte permettant de jeter des projectiles verticalement.
Moat - a ditch usually outside the outer defensive walls of a town or castle. Often filled with water on flat land near rivers.			Douves (du grec dokh�, r�cipient) - Foss� souvent rempli d'eau entourant le ch�teau.
Manor - A large house without a keep or towers. Often the home of the owner of a fief. without a licence to build a castle.			Manoir - Habitation d'un propri�taire de fief qui ne poss�de pas le droit d'�lever un ch�teau avec tours et donjon.
Merlon - the part of the top of a castle wall built up higher than the rest. Crenellations consist of alternating merlons and creneaux.			Merlon - Partie pleine d'un rempart entre deux cr�neaux.
Moat : A ditch, generally filled with water, surrounding a castle or fortified building.			Douve : Foss� profond rempli d'eau ou sec entourant un ch�teau ou un manoir
Motte - A defensive hillock - often man-made.			Motte - Terre-plein sur�lev� circulaire, �tabli artificiellement.
Motte and Bailey. An early form of fortification favoured by the Normans - with a large tower of a hill (Motte) and surrounded by a ditch and palisade (Bailey).			Donjon � motte : Ancien type de ch�teau dans lequel un donjon s'�l�ve au sommet d'un monticule de terre avec d'autres b�timents � l'int�rieur et � l'ext�rieur des bailles, le tout �tant prot�g� par une palissade ou un mur.
Oubliette- A small prison, often in a cellar. The idea is that it was aplace where people could be put and then forgotten about (Oublier=to forget)			Oubliettes - Fosses, ou cachots souterrains dans lesquels les prisonniers sont "oubli�s" jusqu'� leur mort.
Parement - Face visible du mur fait de pierres de tailles.			Parement - Face visible du mur fait de pierres de tailles.
Port Cullis - An iron or wooden grill which can be lowered quickly to block a gateway.		Port cullis at Puivert.		Herse (du latin hirpex) - Grille de fer ou de bois coulissant de haut en bas.
Postern a gate, usually small and discrete in an external wall of a town or castle, allowing the defenders to sneak out. Used either to escape or more often to mount a surprise counter attack.			Poterne (posterle, du latin posterala, porte de derri�re) - Petite porte d�rob�e qui servait � fuir ou � faire entrer des renforts � l'insu des assi�geants.
Puttock Hole: A hole cut into a stone wall to act as a socket into which the end of wooden scaffolding spar would fit. They were used in the construction of castles, and were often left - presumable so that the scaffolding could be re-erecred for later maintenence.			Trou de boulin : Trou ou encastrement taill� dans un mur et destin� � recevoir une poutre
Ravelin : A large defensive work, generally triangular of lozenge shaped, and filled with earth, designed to protect a vulnerable point, such as a door, from direct fire. Developed by the great de Vauban in the seventeenth century.			Ravelin : Important ouvrage d�fensif triangulaire, souvent enti�rement solide, destin� � prot�ger un point vuln�rable (par exemple un portail) du tir direct
Redoute - A small defensive position, isolated from the main fortification and self contained.			Redoute - Petit ouvrage de fortification isol� et ferm�.
Spiral staircase : A helical staircase with a vertical axis.			Escalier en vis : Escalier tournant o� l'axe est plein
Tour flanquante - Tour permettant d'effectuer des tirs parall�les au mur � d�fendre..			Tour flanquante - Tour permettant d'effectuer des tirs parall�les au mur � d�fendre.
Trebuchet : A military siege engine used for throwing large stones..			Tr�buchet : Lance-pierres militaire.