La Edad Media: Castillos, asedios y conflictos. Canal Historia.
Fundamentalmente este documental nos da una visión bastante clara sobre lo que era la materia militar en la Edad Media. Se nos presentan una serie de diferencias en la Alta Edad Media y la Baja, cambia el paisaje europeo y con la caída de la dinastía carolingia, aparecen miles de castillo
Se nos explica la importancia tanto simbólica como militar de los castillos, que dentro de ellos artículaban toda una “minisociedad”, ya que sus dimensiones eran notables.
Fundamentalmente este documental nos da una visión bastante clara sobre lo que era la materia militar en la Edad Media. Se nos presentan una serie de diferencias en la Alta Edad Media y la Baja, cambia el paisaje europeo y con la caída de la dinastía carolingia, aparecen miles de castillo
Se nos explica la importancia tanto simbólica como militar de los castillos, que dentro de ellos artículaban toda una “minisociedad”, ya que sus dimensiones eran notables.
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00:009th and 10th centuries
00:13From the 9th and 10th centuries onwards,
00:15in a process of transformation that extends over the next two centuries,
00:20the European panorama changes profoundly.
00:23Castles, fortresses, defensive walls that surround the rural towns arise,
00:29new walled cities are built to preside over the territory.
00:35The word castle is one of those words that, when we hear it pronounced,
00:40we think we know what it means.
00:43Instead, it is one of those words that, with the diversification of meanings
00:47that have occurred throughout history,
00:50has become an extremely ambiguous term.
00:54When we talk about a medieval castle,
00:57we add to an already ambiguous expression, castle,
01:00another equally ambiguous expression, medieval.
01:04Because when we talk about the Middle Ages,
01:07we refer to a period that lasted a thousand years,
01:09that is, practically twice the time that has elapsed
01:13from the end of the Middle Ages to our days.
01:28The diffusion of the feudal system
01:30and the consequent local restructuring of power
01:33make castles the new points of reference on the territory.
01:58The Middle Ages
02:06It is a response to the raids and incursions of the Saracens, Hungarians and Vikings
02:11that affect the continental areas in the south, north and east of Europe
02:16and that highlight the weakness of the defensive apparatus of the sedentary populations.
02:23Between the 10th and 11th centuries,
02:26all of Europe has been under a common phenomenon
02:29that has been called the last invasions,
02:32that is, the Vikings of the north, the Saracens of the south and the Hungarians of the east.
02:38For Europe, this means a transformation of the landscape,
02:42because the European landscape is covered with castles,
02:46of these structures that were often fortified
02:49with quite simple materials such as wood or simply with stone and masonry.
02:57But then, progressively, they adopt more sophisticated aspects.
03:20The Kingdom of Sardinia
03:24The Kingdom of Sardinia
03:48During his reign, Charlemagne organized the empire,
03:51leaving the peripheral administration in the hands of trusted people
03:55who must take account of their actions.
03:58With Charlemagne, Europe begins to acquire characteristics that resemble something of today's Europe.
04:04Someone has said that it is precisely the prelude to Europe, a false departure.
04:09Let's put this issue aside.
04:12The fact is that with Charlemagne, Europe knows a unification, in quotation marks,
04:17that had not been seen until that moment and that will not be seen until more recent times.
04:24But with the passage of time, the control of the central power loses strength
04:28and a personalist management of the territory prevails.
04:31The hereditary transmission of possessions initially becomes a custom
04:36and later it is legally legitimized.
04:40These lands, these possessions, these fiefs, let's call them by the name with which they are best known,
04:47should be a good of the sovereign.
04:50And therefore, in theory, the sovereign should be able to recover them at any time.
04:56But from theory to practice, there is no good deal.
05:00There are worlds of distance.
05:04When an aristocrat has obtained a land in concession,
05:07it is difficult that later he is willing to return it to the king,
05:11unless he has committed a very serious crime.
05:14This is due to the fact that the fiefs begin to be hereditary.
05:19At first they are only hereditary in fact.
05:23Later, as it is evident that this is the only effective system
05:29to maintain a complex and difficult management structure,
05:34they become officially and legally hereditary.
05:44The feudal system, in which a vassal offers a lord his own fidelity
05:48in exchange for protection and lands,
05:51extends and is increasingly more organized.
05:55Very complex hierarchical structures are created,
05:58often intertwined, which tend to become autonomies
06:02and stop being subject to a higher authority.
06:06In this way, many lay lords, but also many ecclesiastical authorities,
06:11acquire great power,
06:13to whose service groups of faithful knights are presented.
06:17I glorify my lord.
06:20I have entrusted myself to your piety,
06:23and your benevolence has granted me the power to trust and join your right.
06:30And so I have done.
06:32For this I will be able to serve you and well deserve.
06:36And while I live, I will have to lend you my service
06:40and due gift of a free man.
06:44And I will not be able to withdraw from your power and right for all my life.
06:50I will remain alive under your power and protection.
07:03We can ask ourselves if these feuds were strictly subject to the power of the king,
07:08or if on the contrary they had a certain level of autonomy.
07:12Well, the answer, oddly enough, is that there were two situations.
07:17For the most important things, they are undoubtedly subject to the power of the king,
07:21in everything related to the administration of higher justice,
07:24the participation of the king in wars, and things like that.
07:28But logically, the lord also enjoyed a very high level of autonomy
07:33in all the less important matters for the general power.
07:37Through this autonomy and hereditary capacity,
07:41these territories end up forming isolated cells.
07:45Unique cells that increasingly live their own life.
07:50And slowly they are taking off from the central power.
08:03The minimum units in which society is organized are therefore the rural lordships,
08:09which no longer only represent a form of organization of agricultural production.
08:14In them, the lord becomes a reference point for the concrete management of power.
08:19From the exercise of judicial authority to the organization of military defense,
08:24from the collection of taxes to the exploitation of some monopolies,
08:28such as the control of the waters, but also the use of the mill and the oven.
08:34And we have given and we give with these present the full power, authority,
08:39faculty and capacity to process, agree and exercise the position of the aforementioned businesses,
08:46whatever may arise and arise in this our kingdom, populations, lands and lordships.
09:04The visible headquarters of the power of the lords are the castles.
09:08True core, around which revolves the political and economic life of the territory.
09:14The castles have a communicative impact on the population
09:18and have their own symbolic dimension.
09:21As well as the city council is the symbol of the municipal power,
09:25the castle is linked to the self-representation of an aristocratic caste,
09:29united to the military values, which does not hide its ambitions of dominion and power.
09:38The phenomenon that we tend to identify, that we relate to the castles,
09:44is the so-called phenomenon of chastisement.
09:47The phenomenon of chastisement is strictly linked to what is the structure of power.
09:54In Europe of this period, you can not talk about states or kingdoms that do not base their authority
10:00on a power that we call lordship power.
10:06Very widespread and fragmented by the territory.
10:12Specifically, the control of the territory is exercised by individual lords.
10:17They exercise it thanks to the concentration of the population within the castles.
10:24Normally the castles are constituted by lordship initiative.
10:29And from these centers, the surrounding territory is controlled.
10:36A power that extends to all those who live in a certain territory,
10:40which can be sold or divided, or given to a heir without the need for approval by the king.
10:47Local powers that, following the growing ambitions of the emerging families of the time,
10:53will end up entering into conflict, causing bloody wars for the control of the territory.
11:46THE CASTLES OF THE CENTURY
12:10The diffusion of the feudal system and the subsequent local restructuring of power,
12:15makes the castles become the new points of reference on the territory.
12:21The castle is a structure that frames the territory and represents a visible sign of authority.
12:27A point of strength that creates the conditions for the effective exercise of power.
12:35The enclosure of the old walls was almost entirely divided, all with adorned almenas,
12:41at every step interrupted by square towers, with their aeteras on the sides,
12:46with an imposing castle on a rock, and with the iron cataracts on the main door.
12:56Originally the castle is a defensive structure, but it also performs a residential function.
13:02As the headquarters of the few military garrisons commanded by a Castilian,
13:06as a refuge for the peasants in case of incursions,
13:09or as a passage of an army through the surrounding territories.
13:16We have some very clear, very explicit documents,
13:21which speak of fear of pagans and bad Christians.
13:28That is, protection can be needed because foreign populations arrive,
13:33but also, or perhaps above all, because in Europe there are also bad Christians.
13:41There are some gentlemen who are at war with each other for conquering even small plots of territory.
13:49And unfortunately, as almost always in these cases,
13:52it is the rural population that suffers the reciprocal violence of these people.
14:04The castles are located in strategic positions, to be able to control the entire territory.
14:10For this reason, they are often isolated, in heights that dominate large areas,
14:15or are also built near rivers or protected by swampy terrain.
14:22In the territory we can see, indeed, castles of this type,
14:26which dominate high areas and strategic passage areas, rather than entire valleys.
14:34Thanks to their strategic position,
14:36these castles have been preserved throughout the successive lordships,
14:40because they are useful for the control of certain key areas,
14:44from a commercial, road or simply military point of view.
14:50At first, the defensive wall was built with wooden planks.
14:55Over time, it is made up of stone walls reinforced with square or round towers,
15:00arranged at regular distances throughout the entire perimeter.
15:08At this time, the castles have a construction technique designed for a very high vertical elevation,
15:15and the presence of numerous curtain towers to support these vertical walls.
15:24The walls can even be more than one.
15:27An exterior, equipped with a fence through which the soldiers make their round,
15:31watch the surroundings and defend the castle from enemy assaults.
15:37When the enemy assaults a non-reinforced exterior wall,
15:41and therefore less efficient,
15:44the defense is activated,
15:46either by providing a preventive concentration of forces behind the almonds,
15:51or by asking for help through the internal lines along the round path,
15:56of an equal width to the thickness of the lower wall.
16:00These passages are protected by wooden fences,
16:03in which traps are opened from which various material can be thrown at the attacking soldiers
16:08who try to climb the wall.
16:11Narrow aethers allow the enemy to be attacked with firearms,
16:15such as crossbows, precision bows and waves.
16:19The imposing almonds cover the entire circumference of the wall.
16:24They are defensive and at the same time architectural elements.
16:28Its profile is often the emblem of a stirp.
16:31Its presence gives the medieval castle an aspect of unrivaled strength.
16:40The exterior perimeter of the castle is surrounded by a moat,
16:44accessible through an elevated bridge,
16:47which gives access to the castle from the south.
16:51Military architects build a series of spaces and architectural resources
16:56to defend themselves from the eventual passage of enemy soldiers,
17:00such as mandatory passage metal doors that allow fences and ambushes.
17:08The most important tower is the Tower of the Homage.
17:11It is taller than the others and serves mainly for the watchful soldiers.
17:16The entrance is usually several meters high above the ground
17:19and is accessible through a ladder that can be easily removed from inside.
17:24The Tower of the Homage is located on the same wall
17:27and can be of circular or square floor.
17:31In the center there is a main tower that serves for the last resistance,
17:36but it can also be used as a residence.
17:39Next to the tower there is a small chapel,
17:42which can also be used as a residence.
17:45Next to the tower is the palace where the lord of the castle resides.
17:49And outside there is a first wall called Donjon,
17:53which derives from the Dominionum,
17:55that is, the place where the Dominus, the owner of the castle, lives.
17:59And there was also a third external wall.
18:02That is, there is a triple concentric fence
18:05that gives great strength to the fortification.
18:12Over time, the residence of the Lantern Lady of the castle
18:16becomes a real palace.
18:18The Lord's rooms are usually at the top,
18:21from the second floor.
18:23Instead, the lower floors are occupied by the bodyguards
18:26and the military garrisons.
18:31In addition to the palace, between the walls there are also squares,
18:34quarries, stables and other spaces for livestock.
18:38Ponds and cisterns to collect the rainwater.
18:41The oven, various houses and premises used as a warehouse
18:44and warehouses of weapons and food.
18:47There are more premises intended for the defense of the wall
18:50and to attend to the wounded.
18:52In the basement there are warehouses and deposit structures.
18:55Sometimes there are dungeons, and in many cases
18:58there are underground passages that lead directly to the outside.
19:11In the basement there are warehouses and deposit structures.
19:14Sometimes there are dungeons, and in many cases
19:17there are underground passages that lead directly to the outside.
19:20In the basement there are warehouses and deposit structures.
19:23Sometimes there are dungeons, and in many cases
19:26there are underground passages that lead directly to the outside.
19:29In the basement there are warehouses and deposit structures.
19:32Sometimes there are dungeons, and in many cases
19:35there are underground passages that lead directly to the outside.
19:38As you can see, it's a very beautiful day.
19:54In a few years, this whole area has been renovated
19:57and as you can see down there, it is surrounded by olive trees.
20:01We are very satisfied with the production,
20:05and with the satisfaction of the people.
20:15In the last centuries of the Middle Ages,
20:18the most important castles are inhabited by numerous groups of people
20:22who perform specific tasks and meet the practical and organizational needs.
20:27It is almost a small self-sufficient village,
20:30and very organized at the internal level.
20:34The castle, also understood as the residence of the Lord,
20:37is in some way a microcosm
20:40because it has the necessary internal structures
20:43for the survival, not only of the Lord,
20:46but of all the population that lives within the castle itself.
20:49There are barns, alfajores, ovens,
20:52and above all, cisterns,
20:55or in any case, points of water capture.
20:58This is a very important place,
21:02These are the structural characteristics of the castle.
21:12The lord of the castle always has many things to do throughout the day.
21:16Check that his men carry out the orders imparted.
21:19Discuss with his closest collaborators
21:22political and military matters.
21:25Solve judicial, administrative and financial issues.
21:28Participate in religious services.
21:31Control that everything that is part of the complex life of the castle
21:34is carried out in an orderly and efficient way.
21:37Demented, perspicacious, flexible and broad-minded,
21:40he addresses the agrarian, industrial, economic problems with care,
21:43and cultivates the philosophical sciences and the Kabbalah.
21:46Man of valuable weapons,
21:49with an unlimited ambition,
21:52whose audacity is the basis of his work.
21:55From a young age, a goal is imposed
21:58that he achieves with tenacity, constancy and willpower.
22:01This goal is the foundation of the house itself
22:04on foundations that never shudder or collapse.
22:07More important, more magnificent and more powerful
22:10than any other in the kingdom.
22:13This goal is the foundation of the house itself
22:16on foundations that never shudder or collapse.
22:19This goal is the foundation of the house itself
22:22on foundations that never shudder or collapse.
22:25More important, more magnificent and more powerful
22:28than any other in the kingdom.
22:37The noble of the high medieval period
22:40is the one who exerts his own power fundamentally with his body.
22:43is the one who exerts his own power fundamentally with his body.
22:46An aristocrat of the high medieval period
22:49is an imposing man from the physical point of view.
22:52is an imposing man from the physical point of view.
22:55He is a man who has been able to spend much of his life doing physical exercise,
22:58specifically military exercise.
23:01He is a man who eats a lot, who drinks a lot.
23:04He is a man who eats a lot, who drinks a lot.
23:07He is a strong man physically.
23:10The personification of the noble at this time
23:13is that of a strong, violent and extremely virile man, naturally.
23:16is that of a strong, violent and extremely virile man, naturally.
23:19It is the representation of a warrior.
23:46It is the representation of a warrior.
24:46It is the representation of a warrior.
24:49It is the representation of a warrior.
24:56Castles are one of the most evocative places of the medieval period.
24:59The life that develops inside
25:02it goes through daily tasks,
25:05encounters between knights to define military and political strategies,
25:08hunting games,
25:11and dinner with abundant hunting meat.
25:16In the day-to-day of a castle, the moment of the food is especially important.
25:24The table is always well filled, and food is served in abundance.
25:43After the meal, which can last several hours, some have fun dancing, others kill time playing
25:49dice, chess or petanque.
25:52On the other hand, women and young ladies are engaged in tasks such as weaving, sewing
26:02or embroidering, amending the task with songs and stories.
26:10Men work in the kitchens, or assist the wounded, or prepare the bathroom for the knights who
26:15return from war or hunting.
26:29For special events, such as a party, the arrival of important guests, a family wedding
26:36or the investiture of the son as a knight, the lord also organizes opulent banquets.
26:41The palace and its dependencies must be in a condition of hosting occasional visitors,
26:49often of high rank, with his entourage, sometimes the lord himself with his court.
26:55These, along with possible guests and other important inhabitants of the place, usually
27:03participate in the social life that develops inside and outside the building.
27:07Conversation, prayers, interpretation of music and dances, of literary and poetic compositions,
27:17preparation of theatrical performances, parties, games, rides, walks and hunts.
27:29Among the lord's favorite hobbies is hunting, which requires many well-equipped people
27:35and has as its main function to stay in shape.
27:39At the same time, it is a useful activity to kill wild and dangerous animals that prowl
27:44nearby and supply meat for frequent banquets.
27:55For its refinement, a lot of hunting is also practiced, hawks, azores and tame gavilans
28:02that catch hares, rabbits or also geese, cranes and ducks.
28:32Once they have their prey on the ground, the dogs help them finish it off.
28:59Hunting is a practice that enjoys great consideration among the high ranks of society.
29:23It is a symbol of power that belongs fully to the chivalrous world and on which it is
29:28written important treaties, such as the famous study of Federico II.
29:38The first ambition of any hunter should be to possess birds of prey trained by himself
29:46with the ability to understand what they want and how they want it.
30:08The capture of the prey has a secondary importance.
30:12The hunter must have five gifts.
30:15In the first place, a good sight to observe the animals from a distance and between the
30:21confusion of the branch and the fly.
30:24In second place, a good hearing to hear and distinguish the songs of the distant birds
30:30when they are flying.
30:34In third place, a good mouth and teeth to know how to imitate the songs of the birds.
30:43In fourth place, good legs to walk and from time to time run through places of difficult
30:49access.
31:10And finally, in fifth place, not having problems to get rid of sleep.
32:05The war affects life in the castle, so that the gentlemen who live in it are constantly
32:25busy exercising to stay in shape and always be prepared for any contingency.
32:31In order for the infantry to always be well selected and better armed, you have to exercise
32:39with great dedication, because without this exercise there was never a good soldier.
32:47These exercises must be of three types.
32:50The first to harden the body and make it stronger to discomfort and faster.
32:55The second to learn to handle weapons.
32:59And the third to learn to obey orders when walking, fighting and training.
33:12Among the most widespread forms of training and military practice are the tournaments,
33:16which the Lord often organizes in the vicinity of his castle.
33:23A very usual training of the gentleman, which is imposed in France in the course of the
33:27eleventh century and later perfected, is the tournament.
33:33The tournament was basically a small war organized for training, but ends up having
33:39life of its own.
33:41The gentlemen met in certain situations and times of the year, the most suitable for
33:47this type of exercise, and named champions.
33:51As today there may be sports champions, they named champions in the tournaments.
33:57One of the best known is Guillermo el Mariscal.
34:02These are events capable of bringing together dozens of gentlemen, attracted by the possibilities
34:07of real gain, but also by the occasion of exhibiting their own skills.
35:06But the guardians who watch from the wall and the towers do not forget that this state
35:33of peace can change from one moment to another.
35:38When an enemy is seen from a distance, all those who live between the walls know that
35:42the possibility of a long siege is coming, destined to bring hunger, suffering and death.
37:03The most common form of war in the Middle Ages is siege and assault on defensive fortifications,
37:17either on the walls that protect the city, or one of the many castles that prevail in
37:21the territory.
37:34Apparently, the dissemination of this practice of war is almost an automatic reflection.
37:40When an attack is suffered, instead of facing openly, the reaction is to lock yourself
37:45inside the fortified enclosure as a reference, and from there start a fight with the enemy.
37:52The truth is that in a siege, the one who defends himself has a great advantage.
38:01Hunger and thirst are the most fearsome weapons of the besiegers.
38:06As a result, what must be done, wherever possible, is to blind or infect, submerging
38:12corpses in rot, the canals and aqueducts that supply water to the fortified enclosure.
38:17In the case of Tortona, in 1155, when Barbaroja besieged the city, the inhabitants had the
38:26supply of water outside the wall.
38:29These waters are poisoned so that the city runs out of water, and this forces it to surrender
38:35in a short period of time.
38:38Sometimes it is better for everything to develop in the warm months, when the water runs out
38:42more quickly, the defensive moats are dry, and the new harvest has not yet been incorporated
38:48into the food reserves.
38:50There is a treaty that advises to besiege in summer.
38:56Evidently, the war is carried out when the weather is good, because this allows the attacker
39:01to be at arm's length.
39:03But also because the water reserves of the defender run out earlier, because in summer
39:08there is a shortage of water and it rains little.
39:11Therefore, water and food are essential for those who must resist.
39:21The accounts of the cronists narrate heroic resistances on the part of the besiegers,
39:26that once the reserves are exhausted, in order not to surrender to the enemy, they adapt
39:31to the situation.
39:32The cronists are not only used to eat any type of grass or plant, but also horses,
39:35domestic animals, or even rats.
39:38Sometimes also cooked leather or the corpses of dead companions.
39:43Thirst can also be terrible.
39:46They end up drinking their own urine, the liquid from the windows, or the blood of the animals,
39:51with the consequent risk of contracting diseases or causing epidemics.
39:55All this with the hope, sometimes certain, that someone from outside will arrive to break
40:00the enemy blockade.
41:31The machines used to attack a fortified structure are of different types and are handled
41:49in a coordinated manner to make them more effective.
41:53For this, the simplest means are those that in Roman times were already known as tortoises.
41:59These are large mobile shields, with an inclined plane, to deflect blows or flammable materials
42:05thrown by the enemy.
42:08The soldiers are protected behind the shields and can thus work to fill the pit, or approach
42:14the wall to try to dig up the foundations or open gaps.
42:20Powerful planks are also used.
42:26In the machines called impact, there is the plinth, the famous trunk with an iron head
42:31in the shape of a male goat, which is placed in a column with which the doors are hit.
42:38Because any fortification, no matter how resistant it is, has the weakest point in the doors.
42:45Even if they are made of iron, they are always weaker than the rest of the fortification.
42:53But the most spectacular means of attack are the mobile towers, which reach notable heights,
42:58even higher than the walls themselves.
43:01These towers are covered with freshly obtained skin, layers of earth and different materials
43:07soaked in vinegar, since they are built in wood and must be avoided to be set on fire.
43:13They move on wheels or cylinders, propelled by hidden soldiers inside.
43:19They are equipped with mobile bridges that act as soon as they approach the wall, to
43:23harpoon it and jump on it.
43:28In the Middle Ages, there is also a real artillery support for the rest of the actions.
43:34For example, the trabuquete, which throws large stones through a system of counterweights.
43:38There is a development of the machines thrown, which are commonly called catapults.
43:46But this word never appears in medieval sources, it is a way of calling them.
43:51For example, already in the Carolingian era, there are the oriental-origin catapults.
43:56In fact, it is said that they come from China.
44:00It was a basic machine composed of a wooden tripod on which a transversal bar was placed
44:05that made a lever.
44:07At the other end, a sack was placed hanging from a rope, and simply by
44:13pulling the lever on the base, the stone was thrown.
44:22Those who defend themselves, in turn, develop a set of techniques and strategies.
44:26They dig very deep pits and full of water.
44:29They add walls inclined to the base of the walls, to make the foundations stronger and
44:33more solid.
44:35Against the machines thrown, they also have their defensive artillery, placed in towers
44:40and walls.
44:42You must know how the earth and the stones can be strong, either by nature or by industry.
44:50By nature, they are strong those that are surrounded by rivers or swamps, or that are
44:56on cliffs or on a steep mountain.
45:00Because those that are on hills, which are not too difficult to climb, today they are
45:05very fragile compared to artillery or machines.
45:13More and more complex castles are built, which are perfected as the
45:18construction technique with chisels or bricks advances.
45:23The stone is spread under the projectiles launched by the attackers.
45:28The brick is more flexible, therefore, it was often more convenient to build with bricks
45:34instead of doing it with stone.
45:38In the plain, where there is clay in abundance and bricks can be manufactured and cooked,
45:43brick castles could be built.
45:47In the mountainous areas, where the stone was easier to find, the castles are built
45:52in stone.
45:57But most of the time, to build today, a project is sought to make it
46:02strong with the construction.
46:06The first thing is to raise the tortuous walls and full of shelters and outposts, so that
46:12the enemy cannot approach them, being able to be easily injured.
46:18If the walls are built high, they are too exposed to the blows of the artillery.
46:24If they are made too low, they are easy to jump.
46:29If you make the pit outside the wall to put locks on the stairs, the enemy may
46:35fill it, which can be easily done with a large army, and the wall is at the mercy
46:42of the enemy.
46:43Therefore, I believe, except better opinion, that you have to make the wall high and with
46:57pits inside, and not outside.
47:03This is the way to build as strong as possible, because it defends you from the artillery and
47:08the stairs, and does not give the enemy the facility to fill the pit.
47:26In the castle, in its structure, in its function, in its way of being within the natural environment,
47:33there is an archetypal reference, a union with something that belongs to the universality
47:38of human experience.
47:40It is an ambivalent sign, divisible in the landscape.
47:44Positive sign, if with its presence, with its walls, with its defensive structures, it
47:49calms down and is offered as a possible shelter in case of need.
47:54Negative sign, if it becomes an obstacle for the control of a territory, if it must be attacked
47:59and expelled, if inside it live garrisons of enemy soldiers willing to resist.
48:24But the medieval castle also offers us multiple concrete traces, at the same time ambiguous.
48:30The shouts and the fire of the assault, the blood that splashes its stone walls, the hunger
48:35that rages during the siege ...
48:39But in periods of peace, the sounds and the voices of the game and the party sprout from
48:43inside .
48:46He lives solemn moments in the celebration of the rite of power.
48:50It presents itself as a space where personal ambitions are elaborated, new courteous values,
48:56innovative modes of human coexistence.
49:01The castle also comes to our time as a dreamlike image, authentic encrucijada
49:06of adventures, stories, intrigues and battles.
49:11But we must not forget that for several centuries it has represented in many parts of Europe
49:15the fundamental political, economic and administrative structure of society.
49:22All a self-sufficient microcosm and capable of interpreting the demands and the spirit
49:27of an era.
49:28The medieval castles, imposing in their integrity, or reduced to rubble by the destructive hand
49:35of man or the inclemencies of time, adorn today the landscapes through which we travel.
49:41And they are still one of the most evident and evocative symbols of the Middle Ages.