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Author
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Topic: great halls
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bsktbll21katt
Member
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posted 03-31-2002 04:20 PM
  
Why was the great hall so important? |
Gordon
unregistered
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posted 03-31-2002 05:14 PM
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
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posted 04-01-2002 01:23 PM
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
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posted 04-04-2002 05:24 AM
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
Moderator
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posted 04-04-2002 02:11 PM
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
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posted 04-04-2002 04:06 PM
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. |
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