Home » Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War
Product Image

Few Well-Positioned Castles: The Norman Art of War

Stuart Prior
€23.99
Quantity:
Ships in 10-20 days
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
Shipping & Delivery
A01=Stuart Prior
architecture
Author_Stuart Prior
castles
Category=JWK
Category=NHDJ
Category=NHW
Category=NKD
county meath
english history
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
landscape archaeology
medieval
monmouthshire
norman castles
norman conquest
somerset
the normans
welsh history
welsh history|norman conquest

Product details

  • ISBN 9780752436517
  • Weight: 690g
  • Dimensions: 172 x 248mm
  • Publication Date: 01 Nov 2006
  • Publisher: The History Press Ltd
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
Secure checkout Fast Shipping Easy returns
Description

Despite years of military castle studies, and a recent shift in emphasis towards studying the political, social, economic, symbolic, iconographic or aesthetic considerations associated with castles, the strategies, tactics and stratagems that underpinned Norman castle warfare remain largley unexplored. This book outlines a strategic approach to castles, arguing that 'it was not what was built, but where it was built' that was the key to Norman success.

Castles are placed into context via landscape archaeology, and a study of contemporary and later sources. Historic military manuals are examined to establish strategic and tactical criteria, against which the positions of castles in the landscape can be tested and understood. Castle positioning in the landscapes of Somerset, Monmouthshire and Co. Meath is examined in detail, and the results integrated into historic narratives. Above all, the author argues, it is necessary to see the Normans as part of a wider European phenomenon that drew its inspiration from the Roman Empire.
About Stuart Prior
Dr STUART PRIOR is a Lecturer in Archaeological Practice at the University of Bristol. He has a BA in Archaeology and an MA in Landscape Archaeology and in 2005 completed a PhD on Early Castles in the Landscape. Previous to this he worked as a professional contract archaeologist for nine years. Dr Prior is currently directing excavations at Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, and has published articles on both castle archaeology and experimental archaeology, which is his other passion.

More from this author