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bsktbll21katt
Member
posted 03-31-2002 04:20 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for bsktbll21katt   Click Here to Email bsktbll21katt     Edit/Delete Message
Why was the great hall so important?

Gordon
unregistered
posted 03-31-2002 05:14 PM           Edit/Delete Message
Because it was the main living area of the castle, where meals and feasts were had. It is also the main business room, where court was held, and the Lord sat when in conference or in judicial hearings. That is , it was both the main living space, and the administrative centre of the barony. http://www.castlewales.com/life.html#Part%20I

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Mustang
Senior Member
posted 04-01-2002 01:23 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Mustang   Click Here to Email Mustang     Edit/Delete Message
Gordon's correct. I myself think of the great hall as the heart of the castle.....it's where most of the important events take place.

-Ashley

Merlin
Senior Member
posted 04-04-2002 05:24 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Merlin   Click Here to Email Merlin     Edit/Delete Message
Correct. Public and private rooms were not so strictly seprated like today, so the livingroom was also office and meeting-place. This pattern goes back to the villas of roman senators and can also be seen in the royal palaces of the early and high middleages.

Peter
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posted 04-04-2002 02:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Peter   Click Here to Email Peter     Edit/Delete Message
Not forgeting that the very early halls (more so with smaller castles), was also the place where the retainers slept.
So almost the whole of the Lords staff would eat and sleep in the same room.
One wonders what they were like in hot summers, then, cold winters ?

Gordon
unregistered
posted 04-04-2002 04:06 PM           Edit/Delete Message
Indeed, many of the smaller castles had a half roof supproted by corbels across the room. This created a kin of loft below the vault, and provided additional storage or sleeping space.

All times are PT (US)

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