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Author Topic:   The keep and the donjon?
thebull
Member
posted 09-30-2006 11:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for thebull   Click Here to Email thebull     Edit/Delete Message
What is the difference between the keep and
Donjon? My defination of a keep is the
strongest place in the castle where the
damsel in distress, king etc. are kept and
the Donjon is where the criminals and captured foes are kept? The donjon is usually under the keep! Am I correct?
Are Dungeon and Donjon the same thing?

------------------
Where there's a will there's a way
thebull

Levan
Moderator
posted 09-30-2006 12:28 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Levan   Click Here to Email Levan     Edit/Delete Message
In the context of castles, the keep and the various spellings of Dungeon are the same thing. Mostly an issue of from which language the terms are derived.

Maria
Moderator
posted 09-30-2006 01:26 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maria   Click Here to Email Maria     Edit/Delete Message
http://www.castlesontheweb.com/quest/Forum12/HTML/000059.html
Look here for more information on this topic

thebull
Member
posted 09-30-2006 01:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for thebull   Click Here to Email thebull     Edit/Delete Message
What type of person and/or items are kept
in each?

Maria
Moderator
posted 10-01-2006 10:49 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maria   Click Here to Email Maria     Edit/Delete Message
As keep=donjon, a short answer would be "the same".If when you say person, you mean prisoner, then look at the link mentioned above (post by Philip Davis). But the keep is the residential centre of the castle. So usually the lord lives there. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by items... storage cells would have kept food...

thebull
Member
posted 10-01-2006 02:17 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for thebull   Click Here to Email thebull     Edit/Delete Message
Well the items I meant would be
anything of value, like Treasury
or food stores, weapons and
protection equip when not in use!

Maria
Moderator
posted 10-02-2006 02:43 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for Maria   Click Here to Email Maria     Edit/Delete Message
"The principle storage place in the castles were the basements of the keeps, which provided secure places for provisions and arms, especially supplies susceptible to pilfering. Sometimes, it could only be entered through a locked door and the keys would be held by a watchman. Some castle storage areas would be below the hall. In Pembroke Castle a cave, beneath the hall called the "Wogan", was used as storage, as well as providing access to the water for re-provisioning."http://www.castles-of-britain.com/castleza.htm
This is an extract from an article called Castle provisions and storage.

Queuxgropius
Senior Member
posted 08-13-2007 10:29 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for Queuxgropius   Click Here to Email Queuxgropius     Edit/Delete Message
What confues many people is that the English word 'dungeon'derives from the French 'Donjon' but has come to have a totally different meaning, that of a deep, dark place of incarceration. Keep=Donjon and means the central stronghold/building of the castle. Although in architectural literature you increasingly see the term "Great Tower" used instead of either.

All times are PT (US)

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