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Machicolation

 
Machicolation

 
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Machicolation
 
 
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A machicolation is a floor
Floor

A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal, or other material that can hold a person's weight....
 opening between the supporting corbel
Corbel

In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger"....
s of a 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....
, through which stones
Rock (geology)

In geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock....
 could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall
Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements....
. The design was developed in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
 when the Norman
Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock....
 crusaders
Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious war waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents. Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, though campaigns were also directed against Paganism Slavic peoples, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Church, Mongols, Catharism, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemi...
 returned. A machicolated battlement projects outwards from the supporting wall in order to facilitate this. A hoarding
Hoarding (castles)

A hoarding was a temporary wooden construction that was placed on the exterior of the ramparts of a castle during a siege.The purpose of a hoarding was to allow the defenders to improve their field of fire along the length of a wall and, most particularly, directly downwards to the wall base....
 is a similar structure made of wood, usually temporarily constructed in the event of a siege.






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A machicolation is a floor
Floor

A floor is the walking surface of a room or vehicle. Floors vary from simple dirt in a cave to many-layered surfaces using modern technology. Floors may be stone, wood, bamboo, metal, or other material that can hold a person's weight....
 opening between the supporting corbel
Corbel

In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger"....
s of a 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....
, through which stones
Rock (geology)

In geology, rock is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock....
 could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall
Defensive wall

A defensive wall is a fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements....
. The design was developed in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
 when the Norman
Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their names to Normandy, a region in northern France. They descended from Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of mostly Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock....
 crusaders
Crusades

The Crusades were a series of religious war waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents. Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, though campaigns were also directed against Paganism Slavic peoples, Jews, Eastern Orthodox Church, Mongols, Catharism, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemi...
 returned. A machicolated battlement projects outwards from the supporting wall in order to facilitate this. A hoarding
Hoarding (castles)

A hoarding was a temporary wooden construction that was placed on the exterior of the ramparts of a castle during a siege.The purpose of a hoarding was to allow the defenders to improve their field of fire along the length of a wall and, most particularly, directly downwards to the wall base....
 is a similar structure made of wood, usually temporarily constructed in the event of a siege. Advantages of machicolations over wooden hoardings include the greater strength of stone battlements, as well the fireproof properties.

The word derives from the Old French
Old French

Old French was the Romance languages dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300....
 word machicoller, derived from Old Provençal
Provençal

Proven?al may refer to*Proven?al, meaning "of Provence", a region of France*The Proven?al of the Occitan language, spoken in the south of France...
 machacol, and ultimately from Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 *maccare (to crush) + collum (the neck). A variant of machicolations set in the ceiling
Ceiling

A ceiling is an overhead interior surface that bounds the upper limit of a room . It is generally not a structural element, but a finished surface concealing the underside of the floor or roof structure above....
 of a passage was also colloquially known as murder-hole
Murder-hole

A murder-hole or meurtri?re is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders can fire, throw or pour dangerous or noxious substances at attackers....
s.

Post-medieval use

Machicolation was later used for decorative effect with spaces between the corbel
Corbel

In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger"....
s but without the openings, and subsequently became a characteristic of the many non-military buildings, for example, Scottish
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 baronial style
Scottish baronial style

The Scottish Baronial style is part of the Gothic revival in architecture styles, drawing on stylistic elements and forms from castles, tower houses and mansions of the Renaissance period in Scotland, such as Craigievar Castle and Newark Castle, Port Glasgow....
, and Gothic Revival architecture
Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an Architectural style which began in the 1740s in England. Its popularity grew rapidly in the early nineteenth century, when increasingly serious and learned admirers of neo-Gothic styles sought to revive Middle Ages forms in contrast to the Neoclassical architecture styles which were then prevalent....
 of the 19th and 20th Centuries.

See also

  • 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...
  • Arrow slit
  • Murder-hole
    Murder-hole

    A murder-hole or meurtri?re is a hole in the ceiling of a gateway or passageway in a fortification through which the defenders can fire, throw or pour dangerous or noxious substances at attackers....
  • Blarney Stone
    Blarney Stone

    The Blarney Stone is a block of bluestone built into the battlements of Blarney Castle, Blarney about 8 km from Cork , Republic of Ireland. According to legend, kissing the stone endows the kisser with the gift of wikt:gab ....


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