History of Castles 古堡情缘

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Around 4000 BC， ancient Asian， Middle Eastern and North African civilizations started fortifying their smaller settlements with natural walls （rocks， cliffs）， stones and wooden walls. Around the 2nd century BC， European dwellers started creating Opidas， hill forts that were heavily used in the defense against advancing Roman armies that started conquering France， Germany and England. However， the Romans' capability to create durable stone and wooden forts and the access to advanced siege2） weapons proved to be much more effective than simple hill forts.

The tradition of building castles was not common in Europe during and after the end of the Roman Empire. Their first mass appearance happened in the 9th and 10th centuries AD after the fall of the Carolingian Empire， which left a large amount of military nobility responsible for the lands of France and Germany. Wanting to secure their rule， each of those lords started building their own wooden defensive structures， which were used not only for military purposes， but also as the centers of their local government， economy and justice. They were usually created from wood， placed on top of a manually created motte3）， sometimes with circular ditches， ramparts4）， banks and stone walls. A central structure （the personal residence of the lord， sometimes with public rooms for government work） was often made from stone， but was not usually secure against fire because of its wooden doors， roof and windows. During the 9th and 10th centuries， the creation of forts and castles was not usually controlled by any government （anyone could make one and claim the land theirs， or use it to protect their own land against invaders）， which led to the creation of tens of thousands castles in central Europe （4000 in Switzerland alone）.

After 1000 AD， castle construction started spreading across Europe with ever rising speed. The biggest rise happened in Italy， with a brief spike5） happening in Spain after 1020 after skirmishes6） between the Spanish with Muslims from Africa. The majority of the castles created in that time were constructed from timber7） （the Spanish used mud-bricks）， with some of them managing to remain standing and fully functional for 4～5 centuries. As the 11th and 12th centuries plunged8） Europe into almost constant warfare between smaller lords， and national fights， castles made from stone emerged everywhere. Viking9） war parties forced England and Denmark to start building their first stone castles around 1066， mostly as coastal defenses. As crafting technology evolved， 12th century castles in England， Scotland and Ireland started taking the form of donjons10）， large castles with functions that shifted from functional to decorative. However， at the end of the 12th century， the number of new castles dropped significantly， mostly because of the expenses of stonework. The basic shape of castles was rectangular， with large walls that housed towers that had arrow slits11） on several levels.

在公元前4000年左右，古代亚细亚、中东和北非地区的文明开始利用天然屏障（岩石、峭壁）、石堆和木墙为小一点儿的定居地构筑防御工事。公元前2世纪左右，欧洲居民开始修建山丘堡垒Opitas。当时，罗马大军开始征服法国、德国和英格兰，人们大量使用这种堡垒来抵御正在挺进的罗马大军。不过，罗马人有能力建造坚固耐用的石制和木制堡垒，也有机会使用先进的攻城武器，而事实证明，这两者都要比这种构造简易的山丘堡垒更为有效。

在罗马帝国时期和帝国灭亡后的一段时间内，建造城堡的传统并不普遍。城堡的首次大规模涌现是在公元9～10世纪，此前加洛林王朝的覆灭遗留了一大批对法国和德国的土地负有统治责任的军事贵族。为了稳固统治，所有这些领主全都开始建造各自的木制防御性建筑，这些建筑不仅用于军事用途，而且还被用作当地的行政管理、经济和司法中心。这些城堡通常建于人工修建的护堤之上，用木头造就，有时城堡周围还环绕有壕沟、土墙、坡堤和石墙。城堡的中心建筑是领主的私人住所，有时也设有管理办公的公用房间。它常常由石头砌成，但是由于它的门窗和屋顶都是木制的，因此通常并不防火。在9～10世纪期间，修建堡垒和城堡基本不受任何政府的管控：任何人都可以建造城堡，占据一方领地，或用其保护自己的领地不受侵犯。这使得中欧地区建起了数以万计的城堡，仅在瑞士就有4000座。

公元1000年之后，城堡的修建开始蔓延至整个欧洲，增长速度前所未有。城堡数量增长最多的是意大利，而在1020年后，西班牙人在与来自非洲的穆斯林之间爆发了冲突后，西班牙的城堡数量也出现过短暂的激增。这一时期建造的城堡大多用木材建成（西班牙人用的则是泥砖），其中的一些城堡竟能四五百年都屹立不倒并充分发挥作用。到11～12世纪，随着欧洲陷入了较小领主之间几乎持续不断的纷争以及国家之间的战事，各地都出现了用石头建造的城堡。由于经常受到北欧海盗团伙的袭扰，英格兰和丹麦被迫于1066年前后开始建造当地的首批石头城堡，主要用于沿海防御。随着建造技术的发展，12世纪时英格兰、苏格兰和爱尔兰的城堡开始采用主塔式城堡的形式，这是一种功能从实用性转变为装饰性的大型城堡。不过，在12世纪末，新建城堡的数量显著减少，而这主要是因为石制建筑的费用太高。当时的城堡基本都是长方形的，还带着高高的围墙，围墙内有塔楼，塔楼上有好几层还都设有射箭孔。

1. fortify [?f??t?fa?] vt. 筑堡（或城）于，构筑防御工事

2. siege [si?d?] n. 围攻；包围

3. motte [m?t] n. （古代城堡的）护堤

4. rampart [?r?mpɑ?t] n. （城堡周围的）防御土墙

5. spike [spa?k] n. 激增

6. skirmish [?sk??m??] n. 小规模战斗；小冲突

7. timber [?t?mb?（r）] n. 木材

8. plunge [pl?nd?] vt. 使突然陷入

9. Viking [?va?k??] n. （8～11世纪时劫掠欧洲西北海岸的）北欧海盗

10. donjon [?d?nd??n] n. 中世纪城堡防御性极强的主塔

11. slit [sl?t] n. 狭长的切口；裂口

Three Crusade wars significantly changed the way Europeans viewed castles and fortifications. Advanced techniques they encountered in the Middle East were soon transferred to France， Germany， Italy， Spain and England， and castles built in Crusader states become templates12） for many castles built in Europe. The majority of 13th century European castles were created by military orders. These castles featured several rings of heavily fortified walls， towers for defense， and wooden or rope bridges between towers and ringed walls that could be destroyed to slow down the enemy and force them to fight against inner walls. These castles also featured machicolations13） （holes for dropping objects on the ground）. The most influential countries for castle innovation were England， France and Spain.

The 1320s was the decade when gunpowder artillery arrived in Europe， and this led to the construction of a new wave of fortified defenses that allowed the mounting of cannons and firing from behind the walls through vertical slits. Defensive artillery castles sprung up all across Europe， but the rise of destructive firepower cannons could create forced castle makers to concede14） that 100% defense was not possible. By the middle of the 15th century， heavy guns were the preferred weapons for attacking castles all across Europe. The only viable way of defense was much thicker walls and curved sides. Sadly， none of these techniques were easily adaptable to the castles created before the age of artillery. In 1500， Italian builders and technicians created angled bastion， which allowed bastions to have a heavy contingent15） of guns that could operate with a wide range of targeting. Some castles used bastions so much that their walls were shaped in the form of a star （so called "Star Forts"）.

By the end of the 16th century， Europe was home to 75，000～100，000 castles， some functional， some ruined. Across the Atlantic， colonial powers built several defensive castles， forts， citadels16） and fortified manor houses， mostly the Spanish and French. Their design and build quality mimicked17） those created in Europe.

十字军的三次东征大大改变了欧洲人对城堡和堡垒的看法。他们在中东见识到的先进技术很快被带到了法国、德国、意大利、西班牙和英格兰，参与十字军东征的国家所建造的城堡成为欧洲众多城堡的模板。13世纪的欧洲城堡大多都是奉军令而建的，都具备以下几个特点：有好几圈极为坚固的围墙，有众多防御塔楼，在塔楼和围墙之间还有起连接作用的木桥或索桥——城堡内的人可以毁掉这些桥，以减缓敌人的进攻并迫使他们在内墙之间作困兽之斗。这些城堡还有另一大特点：都开有堞眼——用来向地面投掷东西的孔眼。在城堡建筑的创新方面，当时最具影响力的国家有英格兰、法国和西班牙。

14世纪20年代，火药大炮传入欧洲，掀起了加强城防建造的新浪潮，即可以让人们在围墙后面架设大炮，并通过墙上纵向的射击孔向外开火。装备大炮进行防守的城堡在欧洲遍地开花，但是随着火炮的破坏力不断上升，城堡的建设者们不得不承认，做到百分百的防御是不可能的。到15世纪中叶，重型火炮成为欧洲各地攻打城堡的首选武器。唯一可行的防守办法就是把围墙修得更厚，并且把城堡的边缘部分砌成弧线形的。遗憾的是，这些技术全都很难适用于火炮时代到来之前建造的那些城堡。1500年，意大利的建筑工人和技术人员发明了多角形的棱堡，在这种棱堡上可以部署重型火炮分队，进行大范围的瞄准射击。有些城堡修建了太多的棱堡，搞得它们的围墙都变成了星形，它们也因而被称为“星堡”。

到16世纪末，欧洲总计有7.5～10万座城堡，有的依然在使用中，有的已成为断壁残垣。在大西洋彼岸，以西班牙和法国为主的殖民政权也建造了一些防御性的城堡、要塞、堡垒和具备防御功能的庄园大宅。它们的设计和修筑质量都仿效了欧洲建造的那些城堡。

The arrival of the 17th century brought a sharp decline in the creation of new castles. However， old ones remained in use constantly， some remained in the ownership of aristocratic18） families， some were held by the military and many were converted to be centres of local administration， government or court. As open conflict between lords and countries started to subdue， fashion changes caused many nobles to move out from their castles and settle in large and expensive country houses. The popularity of castles returned in the 19th and early 20th century， when several of them were created for nostalgic19） purposes and admiration for the medieval time of chivalry， gothic architecture and renaissance. One of the most famous castles of that time was Castle Neuschwanstein that was built by Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1892. This castle served as an inspiration to all modern depictions of castles， most famously Disney's Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

随着17世纪的到来，新建城堡的数量急剧下降。不过，旧有的城堡仍在持续使用当中，有些继续归贵族家庭所有，有些由军队所有，还有许多被改造成了当地的行政中心、政府或是法院所在地。由于领主们和国家间的公开冲突渐趋平息，时尚的变迁引领着许多贵族纷纷搬离城堡，住进宽敞而造价不菲的乡间宅邸。19世纪到20世纪初，城堡才再次受到人们的欢迎。也就在那个时候，人们出于怀旧情结和对中世纪的骑士精神、哥特式建筑及文艺复兴时代的推崇，还新建了几座城堡。这个时期最著名的城堡之一要数巴伐利亚国王路德维希二世于1892年建造的新天鹅城堡。这座城堡是现代人对城堡的所有描绘的灵感之源，迪士尼的睡美人城堡即为其中最著名的一例。

12. template [?temple?t] n. 模板

13. machicolation [m??t??k???le???n] n. （中世纪城堡的）堞眼

14. concede [k?n?si?d] vt. （常指不情愿地）承认

15. contingent [k?n?t?nd??nt] n. （警察、士兵、军车的）小分队

16. citadel [?s?t?d?l] n. （古时建在城市里或城市附近、保护民众安全的）堡垒

17. mimic [?m?m?k] vt. 模仿

18. aristocratic [??r?st??kr?t?k] adj. 贵族的

19. nostalgic [n??st?ld??k] adj. 怀旧的