Castles of God: Fortified Religious Buildings of the World

Castles of God: Fortified Religious Buildings of the World / Peter Harrison......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
Illustrations (Placed between pages 150-151)......Page 7
Figures......Page 8
Acknowledgements......Page 9
Introduction......Page 12
The literature......Page 13
Presentation......Page 14
The principles of selection......Page 15
Origins......Page 18
The fortified Coptic monasteries......Page 21
The monasteries of the Wadi al-Natrun......Page 23
The monasteries of Palestine......Page 25
The fortified pilgrimage sites and the tower churches of Syria......Page 29
Survival and destruction in hostile environments......Page 32
The early Gaelic monasteries......Page 34
The enigma of the Irish round tower......Page 35
The role and origins of the Irish round tower......Page 37
St Patrick’s Rock and the town of Cashel, Co. Tipperary......Page 39
The crossing towers of the Cistercians......Page 43
The fortified residential attachments to churches within and without the Pale......Page 44
Summary......Page 47
The Holy Land......Page 49
The origins of the military orders of the Templars and the Hospitallers and the development of the conventual castle......Page 50
Fortified churches, pilgrimage sites and monasteries in Outremer......Page 54
The Iberian peninsula......Page 58
Sancho Ramírez and the origin of the conventual castle......Page 59
The conventual castles of the military orders in Spain......Page 60
The fortress monasteries of the kings......Page 62
Portuguese independence and the establishment of the kingdom: castles and cathedrals......Page 63
The crusades against the Cathars and the great cathedrals......Page 66
The Brethren of the Sword and the Teutonic Knights......Page 69
Teutonic Knights and their brick-built conventual castles of Prussia......Page 71
The capitular castles of the bishoprics in Livonia......Page 74
Summary......Page 76
The English Marches......Page 77
The pele towers......Page 81
Monastic fortifications in the north of England......Page 84
The ecclesiastical fortifications of the Scottish Marches......Page 88
Church fortifications of the Anglo-Welsh border and the Southern Marches......Page 91
The western towers of the marcher villages......Page 92
The arcaded parapets of Bishop Henry of Gower......Page 95
The monastic gatehouse......Page 96
Summary......Page 97
Introduction......Page 99
The free-standing fortified church towers of Gotland......Page 100
The parish forts of Öland and their archers’ galleries......Page 102
The fortified round-tower churches of Denmark......Page 104
Summary......Page 107
Introduction......Page 108
Vikings, pirates, Islamic raiders and heretics......Page 109
The Romanesque fortress churches of the south of France......Page 110
The bastides......Page 111
The fortified rural parish churches of the south and west of France and the ‘scourge of God’......Page 114
The fortifications of the rural population......Page 115
The manner of church fortifications......Page 116
Souterrains......Page 120
Normandy......Page 121
Aisne......Page 122
Soissonais......Page 123
The Ardennes......Page 124
The Dordogne region of Aquitaine in south-western France......Page 125
Monastic fortifications......Page 126
Summary......Page 131
Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain......Page 132
The fortress monasteries of the islands of the Aegean Sea and Crete......Page 135
The sky monasteries of Meteora......Page 137
The painted monasteries of Bukovnia, ‘the country of beech trees’......Page 140
The Saxon fortress and fortified churches of Siebenland in Transylvania......Page 141
The fortified monasteries of Bulgaria, Serbia and the Dalmatian coast......Page 144
Summary......Page 146
The episcopal palaces of the prince bishops......Page 148
The fortified monasteries......Page 150
The fortified churches of Germany......Page 153
‘A defiant third-rate fortress; a chicken coop’......Page 154
A response to the Turkish threat......Page 155
Ecclesiastical fortifications in the Czech and Slovak Republics......Page 156
The fortified churches of Austria......Page 157
Background......Page 159
Monastic fortifications......Page 160
Cefalù, Sicily, a fortified cathedral......Page 161
Fortified churches and the cortinas of Friuli......Page 178
The fortification of the Vatican......Page 179
Castel Sant’Angelo......Page 181
The pontifical castles of the Papal States......Page 182
An oddity......Page 183
Summary......Page 184
Introduction......Page 185
The defences of Moscow, the Kremlin and the fortress monasteries......Page 186
Novodevichy, the New Convent of the Virgin......Page 187
The Russian gate-church......Page 188
The fortress monasteries of the Golden Ring......Page 189
The fortress monasteries of Russia’s European borderlands......Page 192
The wooden fortress monasteries of Siberia......Page 194
Summary......Page 196
The fortress monasteries of New Spain......Page 197
The missions of Spanish New Mexico......Page 202
The missions of Texas and their relationship with the presidio......Page 206
The missions amongst the Maya of the Yucatan peninsula......Page 210
The reducciones of the Jesuit province of Paraguay......Page 212
The need for and manner of mission defences......Page 213
Comparisons between the missions of North and South America......Page 215
The fortified churches, convents and towers of the islands......Page 216
The fortified monastic complex......Page 218
The fortress monasteries of Greater Armenia......Page 222
Georgia......Page 223
The fortified monastic cave-city of Vardzia......Page 225
The fortified churches of Dzhvari, Ninocminda and Ananuri......Page 226
Summary......Page 232
Introduction......Page 233
The Portuguese expedition to Ethiopia and the fortress monastery of Debra Damo......Page 234
The influence of the Jesuits between 1543 and their expulsion in 1633......Page 236
The palace castle of Fasiladas and Debra Berhan Selassie church, the Trinity church of the Mountains of Light in Gondar......Page 237
The fortified rectangular and round churches......Page 239
Impressions......Page 241
The influences of early Roman and Byzantine fortifications......Page 242
Jihad, the ‘path of God’ and the role of the Murabitun, the ‘soldiers of the Faith’......Page 245
The role of the ribat......Page 247
The architecture and typography of the ribat, exemplified by the ribat of Sousse......Page 248
The ribats and ville-ribats of the Ifriqyan coast......Page 250
Summary......Page 252
Introduction......Page 254
The congregational mosque......Page 255
The mosque as part of urban fortifications......Page 257
The minaret, its origins and function......Page 258
Islamic monasticism and the khanaqah......Page 260
The citadel......Page 261
The caravanserai and its relationship to the Hajj......Page 262
The pilgrimage caravanserai......Page 263
Ukhaidir, a fortified palace in Mesopotamia......Page 264
The origins of the Ismaili sect of Islam......Page 266
The Assassins......Page 267
The castles of the valleys of Alamut......Page 269
The castle of Alamut and the ‘garden of streams’......Page 270
Expansion of the Assassins into Syria......Page 271
The arrival of Sinan, the ‘Old Man of the Mountains’......Page 272
The castles......Page 273
The relationship between the Assassins and the Crusaders......Page 274
The final years......Page 276
The origins of Tibetan Buddhism......Page 277
The rise of the sects and the ascendancy of the Gelukpas......Page 279
The monasteries......Page 280
Architectural techniques and form in the Tibetan cultural region......Page 281
Monastic types......Page 282
Monastic siting and defensive considerations......Page 283
The warring monks and the Dob Dobs......Page 284
Gyantse, the monastery of Pelkhor Chode......Page 285
The ‘Great Fifth’......Page 287
The Potala Palace......Page 288
The present situation......Page 290
The western Indian Himalayas......Page 291
Nepal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and China......Page 293
Ngawang Namgyal: the Shabdrung......Page 294
The development of the Bhutanese dzong......Page 295
The architecture of the dzong......Page 297
The ‘Palace of Great Happiness’: Punakha dzong......Page 298
Local variations and adaptations......Page 300
The fortified cantilevered bridges of Bhutan......Page 301
The dzongs today......Page 302
Religious fortifications: their reasons and purposes......Page 303
Architectural considerations......Page 304
The effectiveness of ecclesiastical fortifications......Page 305
Whither now?......Page 306
Glossary of Terms......Page 308
Bibliography......Page 312
Index......Page 318