170

HISTORY OF ARCIIITECTUUE. Book 1.

this bull, lie sent two of his inost eloquent monks to proclaim it over all France and Flan-
ders ;
two other monks into Scotland; two into Denmark and Norway
;
two into Wales,
Cornwall, and Ireland; and others into dillerent parts of Kngland. 15y
this means (says
the historian) the wonderful benefits granted to the contributors to the building of this
3hurch were jmblished to the very ends of the earth; and great heaps of treasure, and
masses of yellow metal, Howed in from all countries upon the venerable abbot JoffVed, and
encouraged him to lay the foundations of his church. Having spent about four years in
collecting mountains of different kinds of marble from quarries, both at home and abroad,
together with great quantities of lime, iron, brass, and otlier materials for building, he fixed
a day for the great ceremony of laying the foundation, which he contrived to make a very
elleetual mean of raising tlie superstructure; for on the long-expected day, the feast of
the holy virgins Felicitas and l'er])etua, an immense multitude of earls, barons, and
knights, with their ladies and families, of abbots, priors, monks, nuns, clerks, and persons
of all ranks, arrived at Croyland to assist at this ceremony. The pious abbot JotlVed began
by saying certain prayers, and shedding a flood of tears on the foundation. Then each of the
carls, barons, knights, with their ladies, sons, and daughters, the abbots, clerks, and others,
laid a stone, and upon it deposited a sum of money, a grant of lands, titlies, or patronages,
or a ])romise of stone, lime, wood, labour, or carriages for building the church. After this
tlie abbot entertained the whole company, amounting to five thousand persons, to dinner.
To this entertainment they were well entitled
;
for the money and grants of difiTerent kinds
which they liad deposited on the foundation stones were alone sufficient to have raised a
very noble fabric." This sjjirit extended throughout the island
;
for, in Scotland, David I.
raised tliirteen abbeys and priories, some of them on a scale of considerable magnificence,
besides several cathedrals and other churches.
393. The common peojile of the country, and the burgesses in the towns, were not
much better lodged than in the previous age
;
their condition, indeed, was not i\n))roved.
In London, towards the end of the twelfth, century, the houses were still built of timber,
and covered with reeds or straw. The palaces, however, or rather castles, of the Anglo-
Norman kings, nobility, and prelates, were on a very superior construction. William of
INIalmesbury says that the .\nglo-Saxon nobility squandered their amjjle means in low and
mean dwellings
;
but that the French and Norman barons lived at less ex])ense, though
dwelling in large and magnificent palaces. The fact is, that among these latter the rage for
erecting fortified castles was quite as great as that of erecting ecclesiastical buildings
among the prelates. The system became necessary, and was induced as well by the pre-
vious habits of the country they had left, as by their situation in the island. Surrounded
by vassals whom they held in subjection, and whom they dejjressed and plundered in every
way, they were so detested by them that deep fosses and lofty walls were necessary for
their security. The Conqueror himself, aware that the want of fortified places had no less
assisted his conquest than it might his expulsion, resolved to guard against such a contin-
gency by the strong castles which he placed within the royal demesnes. IMatthew Paris
observes that William excelled all his predecessors in the erection of castles, in executing
which he harassed his subjects and vassals. So much was the practice a matter of course,
that the moment one of the nobility had the grant of an estate from the crown, a castle was
built u])on it for his defence and residence; and this spirit was not likely to be diminished
by the disjuites relative to the succession in the following reigns. William liufiis, accord-
ing to the statement of Henry Knighton, was as much addicted to the erection of royal
castles and ])alaces as his father, as the castles of Dover, Windsor, Norwich, and others
surticiently i)rove ;
and it is certain that no monarch befjre him erected so many and noble
edifices. Henry I. followed in his taste; but in the reign of Stejjhen, 1135 to 11.54, says
the author of the Su.ron C/irnnicle, every one who had the ability built a castle, and the
whole kingdom was covered with them, no fewer than 111.5 having been raised from their
foundations in the short space of nineteen years; so that the expression is by no means
stronger than is justified by the fact.
tiOl. It will he proper liere to give the reader some concise general description of these
structures, which served for residence and defence. Tlie situation chosen for a castle was
iLSUallv on an eminence near a river. Its figure on the jilan was often of great extent, and
irregular in form
;
and it was surrounded by a dee|) and broad ditch, called the
fosse,
which could be fillei with water. An outwork, called a barbican, which was a strong and
lofty wall, with turrets upon it, and designed for the defence of the great gate and draw-
bridge, was placed before the hitter. Within the ditch, towards the main building, was
placed its wall, about 8 or 10 ft. thick, and from
'20
to 30 ft. high, with a parapet and
embrasures, called crenneh, on the top. At proper intervals above the wall square towers
were raised, two or three stories in height, wherein were lodged some of the jnincipal
officers of the proprietor of the castle, besides their service for other purposes
;
and, on the
inside, were apartments for the common servants or retainers, granaries, storehouses, and
other necessary offices. On the top of the wall, and on the flat roofs of the towers, the
defenders were placed in the event of a siege ; and thence they discharged arrows, darts,