History of Castles 古堡情緣

阿諾

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，古代亞細亞、中東和北非地區(qū)的文明開始利用天然屏障（巖石、峭壁）、石堆和木墻為小一點兒的定居地構筑防御工事。公元前2世紀左右，歐洲居民開始修建山丘堡壘Opitas。當時，羅馬大軍開始征服法國、德國和英格蘭，人們大量使用這種堡壘來抵御正在挺進的羅馬大軍。不過，羅馬人有能力建造堅固耐用的石制和木制堡壘，也有機會使用先進的攻城武器，而事實證明，這兩者都要比這種構造簡易的山丘堡壘更為有效。

在羅馬帝國時期和帝國滅亡后的一段時間內，建造城堡的傳統(tǒng)并不普遍。城堡的首次大規(guī)模涌現(xiàn)是在公元9～10世紀，此前加洛林王朝的覆滅遺留了一大批對法國和德國的土地負有統(tǒng)治責任的軍事貴族。為了穩(wěn)固統(tǒng)治，所有這些領主全都開始建造各自的木制防御性建筑，這些建筑不僅用于軍事用途，而且還被用作當?shù)氐男姓芾?、?jīng)濟和司法中心。這些城堡通常建于人工修建的護堤之上，用木頭造就，有時城堡周圍還環(huán)繞有壕溝、土墻、坡堤和石墻。城堡的中心建筑是領主的私人住所，有時也設有管理辦公的公用房間。它常常由石頭砌成，但是由于它的門窗和屋頂都是木制的，因此通常并不防火。在9～10世紀期間，修建堡壘和城堡基本不受任何政府的管控：任何人都可以建造城堡，占據(jù)一方領地，或用其保護自己的領地不受侵犯。這使得中歐地區(qū)建起了數(shù)以萬計的城堡，僅在瑞士就有4000座。

公元1000年之后，城堡的修建開始蔓延至整個歐洲，增長速度前所未有。城堡數(shù)量增長最多的是意大利，而在1020年后，西班牙人在與來自非洲的穆斯林之間爆發(fā)了沖突后，西班牙的城堡數(shù)量也出現(xiàn)過短暫的激增。這一時期建造的城堡大多用木材建成（西班牙人用的則是泥磚），其中的一些城堡竟能四五百年都屹立不倒并充分發(fā)揮作用。到11～12世紀，隨著歐洲陷入了較小領主之間幾乎持續(xù)不斷的紛爭以及國家之間的戰(zhàn)事，各地都出現(xiàn)了用石頭建造的城堡。由于經(jīng)常受到北歐海盜團伙的襲擾，英格蘭和丹麥被迫于1066年前后開始建造當?shù)氐氖着^城堡，主要用于沿海防御。隨著建造技術的發(fā)展，12世紀時英格蘭、蘇格蘭和愛爾蘭的城堡開始采用主塔式城堡的形式，這是一種功能從實用性轉變?yōu)檠b飾性的大型城堡。不過，在12世紀末，新建城堡的數(shù)量顯著減少，而這主要是因為石制建筑的費用太高。當時的城堡基本都是長方形的，還帶著高高的圍墻，圍墻內有塔樓，塔樓上有好幾層還都設有射箭孔。

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

2. siege [si?d?] n. 圍攻；包圍

3. motte [m?t] n. （古代城堡的）護堤

4. rampart [?r?mpɑ?t] n. （城堡周圍的）防御土墻

5. spike [spa?k] n. 激增

6. skirmish [?sk??m??] n. 小規(guī)模戰(zhàn)斗；小沖突

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世紀時劫掠歐洲西北海岸的）北歐海盜

10. donjon [?d?nd??n] n. 中世紀城堡防御性極強的主塔

11. slit [sl?t] n. 狹長的切口；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.

十字軍的三次東征大大改變了歐洲人對城堡和堡壘的看法。他們在中東見識到的先進技術很快被帶到了法國、德國、意大利、西班牙和英格蘭，參與十字軍東征的國家所建造的城堡成為歐洲眾多城堡的模板。13世紀的歐洲城堡大多都是奉軍令而建的，都具備以下幾個特點：有好幾圈極為堅固的圍墻，有眾多防御塔樓，在塔樓和圍墻之間還有起連接作用的木橋或索橋——城堡內的人可以毀掉這些橋，以減緩敵人的進攻并迫使他們在內墻之間作困獸之斗。這些城堡還有另一大特點：都開有堞眼——用來向地面投擲東西的孔眼。在城堡建筑的創(chuàng)新方面，當時最具影響力的國家有英格蘭、法國和西班牙。

14世紀20年代，火藥大炮傳入歐洲，掀起了加強城防建造的新浪潮，即可以讓人們在圍墻后面架設大炮，并通過墻上縱向的射擊孔向外開火。裝備大炮進行防守的城堡在歐洲遍地開花，但是隨著火炮的破壞力不斷上升，城堡的建設者們不得不承認，做到百分百的防御是不可能的。到15世紀中葉，重型火炮成為歐洲各地攻打城堡的首選武器。唯一可行的防守辦法就是把圍墻修得更厚，并且把城堡的邊緣部分砌成弧線形的。遺憾的是，這些技術全都很難適用于火炮時代到來之前建造的那些城堡。1500年，意大利的建筑工人和技術人員發(fā)明了多角形的棱堡，在這種棱堡上可以部署重型火炮分隊，進行大范圍的瞄準射擊。有些城堡修建了太多的棱堡，搞得它們的圍墻都變成了星形，它們也因而被稱為“星堡”。

到16世紀末，歐洲總計有7.5～10萬座城堡，有的依然在使用中，有的已成為斷壁殘垣。在大西洋彼岸，以西班牙和法國為主的殖民政權也建造了一些防御性的城堡、要塞、堡壘和具備防御功能的莊園大宅。它們的設計和修筑質量都仿效了歐洲建造的那些城堡。

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.

隨著17世紀的到來，新建城堡的數(shù)量急劇下降。不過，舊有的城堡仍在持續(xù)使用當中，有些繼續(xù)歸貴族家庭所有，有些由軍隊所有，還有許多被改造成了當?shù)氐男姓行?、政府或是法院所在地。由于領主們和國家間的公開沖突漸趨平息，時尚的變遷引領著許多貴族紛紛搬離城堡，住進寬敞而造價不菲的鄉(xiāng)間宅邸。19世紀到20世紀初，城堡才再次受到人們的歡迎。也就在那個時候，人們出于懷舊情結和對中世紀的騎士精神、哥特式建筑及文藝復興時代的推崇，還新建了幾座城堡。這個時期最著名的城堡之一要數(shù)巴伐利亞國王路德維希二世于1892年建造的新天鵝城堡。這座城堡是現(xiàn)代人對城堡的所有描繪的靈感之源，迪士尼的睡美人城堡即為其中最著名的一例。

12. template [?temple?t] n. 模板

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

14. concede [k?n?si?d] vt. （常指不情愿地）承認

15. contingent [k?n?t?nd??nt] n. （警察、士兵、軍車的）小分隊

16. citadel [?s?t?d?l] n. （古時建在城市里或城市附近、保護民眾安全的）堡壘

17. mimic [?m?m?k] vt. 模仿

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

19. nostalgic [n??st?ld??k] adj. 懷舊的