The history of London’s castles and palaces

Содержание:Introduction 3 1. Windsor Castle 4 1.1. History of Windsor Castle 4 1.2. Windsor Castle of today 7 2. Buckingham Palace 9 3. History of Westminster 14 3.1. From Confessor to Conqueror 15 3.2. The Great Hall 16 3.3. The Painted Chamber 18 3.4. A symbol of good kingship 19 3.5. The great drama of Richard II 21 3.6. Show trials 23 3.7. A palace for Parliament 24 4. Hampton Court Palace 25 5. Kensington Palace 28 6. St. James's Palace 31 Conclusions 33 List of literature 36

Вступление:Most of the fortifications that we consider as 'proper' castles were built during the Middle Ages (c.1000-1500). Unlike most other buildings, such as a church, a house or an inn, they served more than one purpose. A castle was a home for its owner and family, a place where guests could be entertained and often the local centre for administration and justice, but it was also built strong enough to defend its occupants while acting as a base from which attacks on neighbours or more distant enemies could be launched. Later buildings, which are often still referred to as a castle or have the word castle in their name, served only a single purpose, as forts built purely for defense or stately homes built solely as a residence. The word castle has become a generic term used to describe many types of fortification, and there are many structures that pre-date the Middle Ages that are often referred to as castles. In the 13th century BC, the Hittites built stone walls with square towers around their capital in Turkey. The Egyptians built a fortress out of mud bricks, with massive gatehouses and square towers, to defend their southern borders, 1500 years BC. From the 16th to the 12th centuries BC, small, separate kingdoms dominated much of mainland Greece, each with its own fortified citadel. The first fortifications began to appear in Britain from the 5th century BC, with the construction of Iron Age hill-forts. Maiden Castle in Dorset is one of the most impressive examples. These great earthworks (a series of ditches and raised earth banks) were topped by a wooden wall (palisade), and usually protected a settlement. However, they proved no match for the Romans when they invaded England in the 1st century AD. They quickly overpowered the hillforts and imposed their own authority by constructing forts, built to a standard rectangular plan, across much of the country. Some were built quickly out of wood while others were more permanent structures built of brick or stone.

Выводы:The History of English castles date back to the Norman Invasion of 1066 and William the Conqueror. His success at the Battle of Hastings was partly due to bringing pre-built castles with his invasion fleet when attacking England. These wooden Motte and Bailey castles were fast to erect and afforded a power base and shelter for his men-at-arms and livestock. Up to this point there were very few English castles. The Bronze Age had seen the erection of Hillforts and Alfred the Great had adopted a strategy of building Burhs - fortified towns. A few English Motte and Bailey castles had been constructed by Normans who had been invited to England by King Edward the Confessor. The temporary wooden Motte and Bailey castles were quickly replaced by the permanent stone Norman castles which were dominated by their tower Keeps. The advantages of English castles were quickly perceived by the Medieval Plantagenet Kings and the concept of concentric castles were soon to dominate the English landscape. King Edward I continued the castle building initiated by his father Henry III and, with his chief architect and builder Master James of St George, built massive Concentric Castles in England, Scotland and Wales. The strongly fortified concentric castles built a series of defences around the central keep. The history of English castles moved on again when the interiors of English castles became more luxurious. English politics changed and the King was not dependent on his nobles for support. Privately owned English castles which were built as power bases and strongholds came out of favour and English castles were built primarily as magnificent, or palatial, residences of the wealthy. The massive English castles developed into highly luxurious palaces. The meaning of their existence in the modern London is difficult to overestimate. They are places for visit by many people. For example, today Kensington contains the offices and London residences of The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, The Duke and Duchess of Kent and Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Princess Margaret, Diana, Princess of Wales and Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester used to live in Kensington Palace and have their offices there. Historic parts of Kensington Palace are open to the public. Kensington Palace is also home to the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection, with items of Royal, ceremonial and court dress dating from the 18th century to the present day. St. James's Palace remains a busy working palace. The State Apartments are sometimes used for entertaining during in-coming State Visits, as well as for other ceremonial and formal occasions. They often host receptions for charities with which members of the Royal Family are involved. The offices of the Royal Collection Department, the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood, the Chapel Royal, the Gentlemen at Arms, the Yeomen of the Guard and the Queen's Watermen are all located at St. James's Palace. St. James's Palace also retains an important ceremonial function. The Accession Council meets in St. James's Palace following the death of a monarch, and later the accession of a new Sovereign is proclaimed by Garter King of Arms from the Proclamation Gallery overlooking Friary Court. St. James's Palace contains the London residences of The Princess Royal and Princess Alexandra. The St. James's Detachment of The Queen's Guard mounts daily guard in Friary Court. The Queen's Chapel and Chapel Royal remain active places of worship. Clarence House, the former London home of the late Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, is within the St. James's Palace environs and provides a London home for The Prince of Wales and his two sons. Lancaster House, another building in the Palace complex, is used for government hospitality. Westminster Abbey, a work of architectural genius, a place of daily worship, deploying the resources of high musical expertise, a burial place of kings, statesmen, poets, scientists, warriors and musicians, is the result of a process of development across the centuries, which represents the response of a monastery and later a post-Reformation church to the stimulus and challenge of its environment. Still today, a daily pattern of worship is offered to the Glory of God. Special services, representative of a wide spread of interest and social concern, are held regularly. In 1965-66 the Abbey celebrated its 900th anniversary, taking as its theme ‘One People’. Such a theme seemed to be fitting for a church which, through a long history of involvement with the developing life of the British people, has become known throughout the world. St. George's Chapel remains an active centre for worship, with weekly services. The Chapel is a Royal Peculiar, that is, a chapel which is not subject to a bishop or archbishop but which owes its allegiance directly to the Sovereign. The Chapel is administered by the Dean and Canons of Windsor, who, with their officers and staff, are called the College of St George. Many Royal weddings have been celebrated in St. George's Chapel, most recently that of Prince Edward and Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones in June 1999. Hampton Court Palace is also famous place in London that still takes active part in the everyday life of Londoners. The court is the oldest tennis court in use in the world, and the only one in Great Britain which the public are admitted (April-October) to see and, if play is in progress, to watch tennis being played.

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