Fortified house
A fortified house or fortified mansion, from French maison forte, is a type of building which developed in Europe during the Middle Ages, generally with significant fortifications added. During the earlier Roman period it was common for wealthy landowners to construct unfortified villas on their lands. After the fall of Rome, increased social instability and military conflict necessitated more austere, defensible types of structures. A castle is a type of particularly well-fortified residence. In English-language academic works of castellology, the French term maison-forte is also used,[1] more seldom unhyphenated (maison forte[2]).
See also
- Bastle house, fortified farmhouses on the Anglo-Scottish border
- Block house
- Fortified houses in Ireland
- Fortification: Frontier forts in N America, including forts, stations and fortified homesteads
- Manor house
- Tower house
Literature
- Bur, Michel (1986). "La maison forte au Moyen Age" (in French). Actes de la table ronde de Nancy, Pont-à-Mousson, 1984, Paris: Ed. CNRS.
- Cayot, Fabrice (2003). "Les maisons seigneuriales rurales à la fin du Moyen Age (XIVe–XVIe s.) dans l'Yonne" (in French). Annales de Bourgogne, 75, pp. 259–288.
- Mouillebouche, Hervé (2002). Les maisons fortes en Bourgogne du Nord du XIIIe au XVIe siècle (in French). Dijon: EUD.
References
- ^ Harper, Richard P.; Pringle, Denys; Grey, Anthony; Will, Robert (2000). Belmont Castle: The Excavation of a Crusader Stronghold in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. British Academy monographs in archaeology (Vol. 10). Oxford University Press for the Council for British Research in the Levant. ISBN 0197270093. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
- ^ Pringle, Denys (2023). "Hospitaller Castles and Fortifications in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, 1136-1291". Medievalista [Online] (33). Instituto de Estudos Medievais - FCSH-UNL. doi:10.4000/medievalista.6292. Retrieved 5 October 2025. (See abstract.)