Freedom to Crenellate by Licence by Charles L. H. Coulson

Freedom to Crenellate by Licence

An Historiographical Revision

Charles L. H. Coulson

The aim of this article is to loosen the grip upon castle-studies of two connected obsessions: the major, that castles were predominantly military; and the consequence, that they they were dangerous to government, so licences to build them must have been reluctant. By concentrating upon the second assumption and following its ramifications in a selection of more and less scholarly writing, the way may be open towards a cultural interpretation of licences to crenellate, rather more sympathetic to the evidence both architectural and documentary. This alternative flows naturally from the difficulties of the tradtional view. (Coulson)

Published in Nottingham Medieval Studies, 1994, Volume 38, page(s) 86-137

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