Crenellation

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Crenellation

Crenellation (or crenelation, also known as castellation) is the name for the distinctive pattern that frames the tops of the walls of many medieval castle

Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
s, often called battlement

Battlement

A battlement, in defensive architecture such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet , in which portions have been cut out at intervals to allow the discharge of arrows or other missiles....
s. Crenellation most commonly takes the form of multiple, regular, rectangular spaces cut out of the top of the wall to allow defenders spaces to shoot arrows from and other spaces to hide behind full cover. The technical name for an opening in crenellations is embrasure

Embrasure

The term embrasure, in military architecture, refers to the opening in a crenellation or battlement between the two raised solid portions or merlons, sometimes called a crenel or crenelle....
or crenel (or crenelle), while the raised portions of the wall between them are called merlon

Merlon

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Crenellation (or crenelation, also known as castellation) is the name for the distinctive pattern that frames the tops of the walls of many medieval castle

Castle

Battlement

Embrasure

Merlon

A merlon, in architecture, forms the solid part of an battlement parapet, sometimes pierced by embrasures.The word comes from the French language, adapted from the Italian language merlone, possibly a shortened form of mergola, connected with Latin mergae , or from a diminutive moerulus, from murus or moerus ....
s. Crenellations would have been used originally on defensive walls built around a settlement (with or without a castle), but the modern experience of them is mainly their appearance on the tower

Tower

Towers are tall human-made structures that are always taller than they are wide, usually by a significant margin. Towers are generally built to take advantage of their height, and can stand alone or as part of a larger structure....
s and turret

Turret

In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of fort....
s of castles and mock-castles. They can also be seen in large numbers on the Great Wall of China

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China or is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the History of China from Xiongnu attacks during the rule of Dynasties in Chinese history....
.

License to crenellate

A license to crenellate was supposedly a grant that gave permission for a building to be fortified

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs....
. This may have started in the Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiography term sometimes used to refer to the Francia under the Carolingian dynasty. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany....
as a way to control castle building to prevent local lord

Lord

Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a Prince#Prince_as_a_generic_word_for_ruler or a Examples of feudalism . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'Courtesy titles in the U...
s from becoming over mighty or too strong but, in feudal society, the license was used both by king

King

King is a title for a head of state.King may also refer to:...
and baron

Baron

Baron is a specific title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English language beorn meaning "nobleman."...
as a symbol of their status. With "few exceptions at times of turbulence, the king's right as overlord to license was a right to grant, not to refuse, permission to crenellate" (Coulson 1982, 71) and "in reality, no feudal or sub-feudal ruler could either in law or in practice deny to his vassal

Vassal

A vassal in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudal of medieval Europe, is one who enters into mutual obligations with a monarch, usually of military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain guarantees, which came to include the terrain held as a fiefdom....
the protection by self-help fortifying which he, as lord, had failed to provide" (Coulson 1982, 97). It was not in reality necessary to obtain a license to crenellate to erect a fortified building. There was "very slight chance of interference by royal officials even in so intensively governed a realm as England, but a license was prestigious and could be had for the asking" (Coulson 1982, 70). Fortifications were not restricted by law, but the cost of building and, particularly, of providing a garrison restricted true military castles to a very limited number anyway.