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deborahknowles
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posted 02-14-2004 06:37 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for deborahknowles   Click Here to Email deborahknowles     Edit/Delete Message
I'm writing a novel on a fictional medieval country circa 1300-1350. If anybody can shed light on whether windows could be opened (I'm talking palaces here), whether castles would have had courtyards by then or been motte & bailey type structures and what diseases were prevalent (except plague) I would be eternally grateful!

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Merlin
Senior Member
posted 02-16-2004 03:18 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Merlin   Click Here to Email Merlin     Edit/Delete Message
The motte&bailey-typed castles still existed in that time, but when you're writing about a palace, then that kind of castle would be a bit too small (and it also would have been in the centuries before). So a courtyard is possible.

Levan
Moderator
posted 02-16-2004 04:24 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Levan   Click Here to Email Levan     Edit/Delete Message
Whilst not quite the right era (c15), Linlithgow Palace near Edinburgh is certainly evocative - it's a castle/palace built around a courtyard and alongside a loch.

Certainly has decorative internal facing windows - some of which opened.

There are lots of web sites with details.

Another palace/castle that you might like to use as a model is Huntly Castle in Aberdeenshire. Huntly started as c12 motte and bailey and was modified and extended - by the c16 the Gordons converted it to a grand palace. The top floor has delightful oriel windows.

Peter
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posted 02-17-2004 03:11 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Peter   Click Here to Email Peter     Edit/Delete Message
Deborah,
a book I reviewed in the last issue of my mag is;
Medieval Palaces ... An Archaeology.
Graham D. Keevill
TEMPUS Press.
it is £19. 99; but can be bought a lot cheaper ... better the local library,
ISBN 0 7524 1454 2

lotsa good stuff in here regarding the line between castles/palaces.
Shutters and courtyards ... all castles had shutters. Perhaps glass only in chaples.
Courtyards ... a good internal space can be surely classed as a courtyard. So add all the castles of Edward l to your list.
Even Conway had a garden for the Queen and internal spaces.

All times are PT (US)

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