The Saxons chose Portchester as the Romans had already built it so well, so this meant less work for them. However, the water gate had suffered serious erosion and was therefore re-built.
Krak des Chevaliers was the greatest castle ever built by the invading Crusaders in the land of Syria. The crusaders built strong castles in the Arab style to defend the land they had captured. The First Crusade began in 1095 as a reaction to Muslim control over the Holy City of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. This began a series of expeditions to conquer the Middle East. At varying time, the Crusaders control parts of Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel, and the wars that stretched over the next 200 years gave arise to many legends and heroes, as well as much cultural exchange between Europe and the Middle East. The latter eventually led to an explosion of scientific discoveries and philosophical enlightenment in Europe and the almost complete domination of the world by the Western civilisation until the second half of the 20th century. Located in the mountains of north-western Syria, Krak des Chevaliers exerted a stranglehold over the Homs Gap and controlled the flow of goods and traffic between the Mediterranean and the inland cities, as well as the land trade between Asia Minor and the Holy Land.
The Krak des Chevaliers has two concentric lines of defence, the inner ramparts lying close to the outer and continuously dominating them. The outer curtain is furnished on the north and west sides with eight round towers. From the outside the fortress is intimidating in its grandeur and power. The south side of the Krak des Chevaliers was the most vulnerable and Sultan Baybars added a strong bastion to it. The western side is quite ordinary with its curtain wall and five cylindrical towers strengthening it. The northern wing has a postern which is situated between two square shaped towers.
The defensive plan is featured by two separate lines of defence, an outer curtained wall with several cylindrical towers, and what is known as the inner ring. They are separated by a ditch except which runs around the inner ring except in the south where there is a reservoir. The inner fortress was used as the crusader castle. The entrance has a wide ramp and a vaulted passage that leads you to the outer ring and on to a platform that links to the inner castle. Large taluses were added to the southwest and east sides to strengthen the outer wall and to make it earthquake resistant. There is a small chapel to the east of the entrance that was transformed into a mosque by Baibars, and of that mosque remains a mihrab and three minbars. Opposite the chapel are three powerful towers that strengthen the south wall. The weakest of the towers was occupied by the Master.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the site began to change. In 1128 the Romans wall was rebuilt and moats were dug around the south-west entrance. In 1148 a two storey keep was built and the curtain wall enclosed the inner bailey.
The keep was a typical feature of the motte and bailey castle. These would have a large hill, which the keep was built on, and a large area of flat land below, which be a small village with housing. One example would be Windsor Castle.
The keep gave the castle some imposing height, and the height was increased another two stories in 1150. There are several other features that were typical to many other castles around that time.
Crenulations, moats, arrow slits, bastions, and murder holes were all used as defence against Saxon attacks.
However, the position of the keep at Portchester is in one of the corners, most keeps are in the centre of the castle. There is also a church, found by Augustinian Priory around 1128. It can still be seen today and is situated in the corner opposite the keep.
As you can see at Portchester the keep is in the top left hand corner opposite the church.
On the other hand Dover Castle has a keep in the centre of the castle.
Throughout much of the Middle Ages, England was at war with France, so Portchester was still being updated and strengthened. Murder holes were used to tip scalding liquids like tar on the attackers coming in the castle. During this period, Portchester was mostly used as a base for armies before they left for France.
Defence was always important to Portchester in the Middle Ages, because there was a bullion or an important store house kept by Henry I and subsequent kings.
In 1390 and 1399, Richard II’s palace was built. He was married to an 8 year old French heiress. This was to strengthen the relationship between Britain and France during the 100 years was between 1337 and 1451.
During this many castles on the South Coast underwent refurbishment. For example Portsmouth established as a garrison town with the navy based there by Henry VII.
When Henry VIII came into power in 1509, he began building a chain of modern artillery forts at vulnerable points along the South Coast. This was another blow for Portchester. It seemed that Henry VIII found Portsmouth more important.
The last person to reside in the castle was Sir Thomas Cornwalls. He was Groom Porter to Queen Elizabeth I, and he entertained her at the castle in 1601. There was very little luxury in the castle at this time, and so Cornwalls made several changes to make the castle more comfortable. Upper stories were added and holes were put in the curtain walls to let in more light into the new rooms.
After that, the castle was only used as a prison. It was used during the 2nd Dutch War between 1665 and 1667, the war of the Spanish Succession 1701 and 1712, the war of the Austrian Succession 1740 and 1749 and the seven years war between 1756 and 1763.
Portchester was also used as a store during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars between 1793 and 1815 and again as a prison.
During the 19th century, Portchester Castle became a local beauty spot. In 1926, the castle was place in the Guardianship of the Office of Works. During this time the walls were repaired and the ditches were dug out. The site is now owned by the English Heritage.
Portchester Castle has gone through a lot. From around 280 it was used as a Roman Fort to protect the coast. In around 904 the castle became a fortified burgh used by the Saxons as defence against Viking raiders. In 1120, the site was converted into a castle and held by the king as a royal palace.
During the 17th, 18th and 19th century, the site was a prison during many wars and also used as a store. In the 19th century the castle became a loyal beauty spot. The castle is now owned by the English Heritage.
During this time, the site had under gone many changes to make it look the way we see it now.
There is no doubt that the castle has seen many historical events, and from this we can see which of its features are typical of other castles at the time, and which are not. As well was why and how historical events might have taken place, and affected the way the castle has changed. Through many periods of time, the castle has been very similar to others which remain today, but more recently from around 1500 AD, when Henry VIII founded Royal Dockyard, it was still used for lower quay events and a s a prison. However, a lot of work was still done on the site during this time in order to improve the appearance of the castle.
