The castle thus ceases to be the fortress of small and ill-governing
local magnates, and its later history is merged in that of modern
fortification. But an interesting transitional type between the medieval
stronghold and the modern fortress is found in the coast castles erected
by Henry VIII., especially those at Deal, Sandown and Walmer (c. 1540),
which played some part in the events of the 17th century, and of which
Walmer Castle is still the official residence of the lord warden of the
Cinque Ports. Viollet-le-Duc, in his _Annals of a Fortress_ (English
trans.), gives a full and interesting account of the repeated
renovations of the fortress on his imaginary site in the valley of the
Doubs, the construction by Charles the Bold of artillery towers at the
angles of the castle, the protection of the masonry by earthen outworks,
boulevards and demi-boulevards, and, in the 17th century, the final
service of the medieval walls and towers as a pure _enceinte de surete_.
Here and there we find old castles serving as _forts d'arret_ or
block-houses in mountain passes and defiles, and in some few cases, as
at Dover, they formed the nucleus of purely military places of arms, but
normally the castle falls into ruins, becomes a peaceful mansion, or is
merged in the fortifications of the town which has grown up around it.
In the _Annals of a Fortress_ the site of the feudal castle is occupied
by the citadel of the walled town, for once again, with the development
of the middle class and of commerce and industry, the art of the
engineer came to be displayed chiefly in the fortification of cities.
The baronial "castle" assumes _pari passu_ the form of a mansion,
retaining indeed for long some capacity for defence, but in the end
losing all military characteristics save a few which survived as
ornaments. Examples of such castellated mansions are seen in Wingfield
Manor, Derbyshire, and Hurstmonceaux, Sussex, erected in the 15th
century, and nearly all older castles which survived were continually
improved and altered to serve as residences. (C. F. A.)
_Influence of Castles in English History._--Such strongholds as existed
in England at the time of the Norman Conquest seem to have offered but
little resistance to William the Norman, who, in order effectually to
guard against invasions from without as well as to awe his
newly-acquired subjects, immediately began to erect castles all over the
kingdom, and likewise to repair and augment the old ones. Besides, as he
had parcelled out the lands of the English amongst his followers, they,
to protect themselves from the resentment of the despoiled natives,
built strongholds and castles on their estates, and these were
multiplied so rapidly during the troubled reign of King Stephen that the
"adulterine" (i.e. unauthorized) castles are said by one writer to have
amounted to 1115.
[Illustration: From Oman's _History of the Art of War._