A shield wall, also shield-wall or , refers to the highest and strongest curtain wall, or tower of a

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

that defends the only practicable line of approach to a castle built on a mountain, hill or headland. German sources may refer to a shield wall that protects two or more sides as a or , which is variously translated as "mantle-wall", "mantle wall" or "high screen-wall". There is often no clear, definitive distinction between a shield wall and a mantle wall.

Occurrence

Shield walls are found on many German and Austrian

hill castle A hill castle or mountain castle is a castle built on a natural feature that stands above the surrounding terrain. It is a term derived from the German ''Höhenburg'' used in categorising castle sites by their topographical location. Hill castles a ...

s, but are not common in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

where the terrain of the rocky hills on which castles were built did not favour such constructions. However some castles in those areas built on headlands such as Tantallon and Old Head do have a similar feature.

Origin and description

The construction of shield walls was common in the late 12th century in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and may have been a reaction to the increasing use of heavy

siege engine A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent heavy castle doors, thick city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some are immobile, constructed in place to attack enemy fortifications from a distance, while othe ...

s such as the

trebuchet A trebuchet () is a type of catapult that uses a hinged arm with a sling attached to the tip to launch a projectile. It was a common powerful siege engine until the advent of gunpowder. The design of a trebuchet allows it to launch projectiles ...

(the height of the walls protecting the buildings beyond from arching fire). The thickness of a shield wall could, in extreme cases, be as much as (e.g.

Neuscharfeneck Castle The castle of Neuscharfeneck is a ruin and a cultural monument above Ramberg and Dernbach on the territory of an exclave of Flemlingen in the district of Südliche Weinstraße in the west German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Location The r ...

). Behind the

battlements A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals t ...

at the top of the wall there was usually an allure or wall walk; the shield wall could also be flanked by two

wall tower A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with defensive walls such as curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of ...

s. In many cases the shield wall replaced the

bergfried ''Bergfried'' (plural: ''bergfriede''; English: ''belfry''; French: ''tour-beffroi''; Italian: ''torrione''; Castilian: ''torre del homenaje'') is a tall tower that is typically found in castles of the Middle Ages in German-speaking countries an ...

, for example in the ruined castle of

Sporkenburg The Sporkenburg is a late medieval castle ruin about one kilometre south of Eitelborn in the district of Westerwaldkreis in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Location The ruins of the spur castle lie within the parish of the village of ...

in the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

forest or the ruins of the

Alt Eberstein The ruins of Alt-Eberstein are the remains of the former Schloss Eberstein (Eberstein Castle), located on a hill near the town of Ebersteinburg and directly upstream of the modern city of Baden-Baden, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

near the city of

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

. In other cases, for example at

Liebenzell Castle Liebenzell Castle () is a hill castle on a sloping hill spur on the sides of the ''Schlossberg'' ("castle hill") above the town of Bad Liebenzell in the district of Calw in the south German state of Baden-Württemberg. The fortification was once t ...

, the bergfried was built in the centre of the shield wall. ''The Style of European Art''
by Herbert Read, p. 187.

Gallery

File:Berneck 1.jpg, The shield wall of Berneck Castle in the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

File:Schoenburg-Hoher-Mantel-JR-G6-4185-2009-09-27.jpg, The shield wall of the Schönburg near Oberwesel File:Sporkenburg.JPG, The shield wall of the

File:Burg Liebenzell.jpg, The shield wall of

which is combined with a

File:Castle bran 01.jpg, The shield wall of Törzburg (Bran Castle) in Transylvania

References

Sources

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Occurrence

Origin and description

Gallery

References

Sources

Further reading