Архитектурные шедевры Великобритании. Рябцева Е.В. - 28 стр.

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– to surmount – обносить, покрывать, увенчивать
– a palisade – частокол
– crusade – поход (против чего-либо), кампания (за что-либо, в защиту чего-либо)
– to be deterred from – быть огражденным от
– to supplant – вытеснять, занимать чье-то место
– a menagerie – зверинец
– lofty – высокомерный
– a moat – ров, наполненный водой
– to surrender – уступать, сдаваться
– a foreshore – береговая полоса, затопляемая приливом
– a garrison – гарнизон
– exuberant – переполненный эмоциями
– loot – добыча, награбленное добро, трофеи
– to besiege – осаждать
The First Castle. On Christmas Day 1066 William Duke of Normandy was crowned King of England in
Westminster Abbey some two months after his victory over the Saxon King Harold at Hastings. At once Wil-
liam ordered the building of fortifications to help secure London, the chief city of his new kingdom. One of
these earth-and-timber castles was erected in the south-east corner of the Roman city walls, to command the
River Thames as well as the city. To close off the angle between the walls and complete the bailey or yard, of
the new castle, the Normans made a ditch and bank surmounted by a palisade.
Ten years later, by then in full control of England, William determined to transform this simple fort into a
massive palace-fortress. A great stone tower was built and at once entitled the Tower of London. Later, as the
castle was enlarged around it, that name was to be given to the entire fortress, and the great central tower
became known as the White Tower.
The Castle Enlarged. In 1189, while Richard I, the Lion heart, was away on crusade, his chancellor
William Longchamp, Bishop of Ely, began the first expansion of the Tower’s defences. It was completed by
Richard’s brother John, who succeeded him in 1199. The bailey around the White Tower was almost doubled in
area, and fortified with a new curtain wall and towers, and with a ditch beyond. Even so the Londoners were
not to be deterred from joining John’s enemies among the barons, and the King, having lost the city, had to
agree to Magna Carta in 1215.
The Castle Transformed. John’s son, Henry III (1216 – 1272), at first gave his attention to improving the
Tower as a royal residence. Within the space between the White Tower and the river a splendid new palace
took shape, supplanting the royal accommodation within the White Tower itself. As one of the palace
amusements, Henry established a royal menagerie.
When Henry’s lofty view of kingship brought him into dispute with his barons, he ordered a massive
expansion of the Tower’s defences. The area of the castle was again doubled, this time being extended on all
three landward sides so that the White Tower now stood at its centre. The new curtain wall around the enlarged
bailey was guarded by towers at regular intervals, and by a wide moat. Even then, Henry, like his father, had to
submit for a time to an alliance of the Londoners and hostile barons and to surrender the Tower.
The Castle Completed. Henry’s son Edward I (1272 – 1307) came to the throne determined to master the
turbulent city. In ten years, between 1275 and 1285, he spent twice as much on the Tower as his father had done
during his entire reign. A new moat was excavated, a new curtain wall was built along its edge, and Henry III’s
moat was filled in. A towered curtain wall was constructed along the river foreshore containing new royal
accommodation, and the ground behind was built up. Edward paid particular attention to the elaborate
fortification of the new landward entrance, across the moat.
The Tower, with its moat, now extended over 18 acres (7.3 ha), and nothing was lacking to make it an
impregnable fortress except that, as in earlier times, the readiness of the defenders to fight still mattered more
than the strength of the defences. This was to be strikingly shown during the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 when,
after the young Richard II had left the Tower to negotiate with some of the rebels, others appeared demanding
entry. The garrison dared not resist and put the King at risk, and an exuberant crowd swept in, seeking loot and
revenge. Again, in 1460 during the Wars of the Roses, after the Tower had been besieged and bombarded, the
garrison preferred to surrender on conditions, rather than fight on in a lost cause.

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