As elite structures, castles participated in a discursive practice concerned with institutional self-representation and the expression of power. While numerous studies already exist on individual castles, publications that extend beyond regional analyses and avoid arbitrary forms of organization and/or overgeneralization are rare. Oliver Creighton's Castles and Landscapes: Power, Community and Fortification in Medieval England offers an innovative synthetic approach to the subject. Originally published in 2002, it was reprinted in 2005 with additional photographs in paperback. Creighton's primary goal is to "re-examine medieval castles by looking at their settings within, and their contributions to, the medieval landscape" (2). The book examines the manifest functions and significance of castles from a perspective that focuses on the land surrounding them rather than the structures themselves. The scope of the study ranges from approximately the fifth to the fifteenth century, although the Norman Conquest is highlighted throughout. Between the introduction and conclusion, seven chapters, replete with charts, tables, and photographs, carefully explore the constellation of networks in which castles operated.
"Castles and their Contexts" (chapter 2) addresses method and considers the archaeological approaches to the subject. This section will be particularly useful to students and scholars unfamiliar with the kinds of information generated by excavations, above-ground, aerial, and county-based surveys, as well as environmental archaeology. The author suggests an integrated approach to castle analysis that goes beyond archaeology to include diplomatic and architectural history. The articulation of the range of approaches and analytical tools is not unhelpful, and given the limited scope of many publications on castles, Creighton's call to examine multiple forms of data is not gratuitous. Two case studies, the first of Goltho (Lincolnshire), a rural castle with a parish, and the second of Sandal (West Yorkshire), an aristocratic family castle built by the de Warenne earls of Surrey, demonstrate the author's interdisciplinary approach, which reveals that, while each building shaped and was shaped by its own topography, it also reflected its own unique historical circumstances, which ranged from local needs to international politics.
"Castle Siting and Distribution" (chapter 3) considers the relationship between a castle's function and its location. The selection of a site for a castle was based on a variety of factors, but good topography could optimize functionality. Creighton argues against the widespread assumption that military concerns were a primary factor in such decisions (35). Territorial control and ownership, the visual or symbolic impact, and the land's appropriateness to the castle's intended functions were also important factors. This is exemplified by Norman castles, which were systematically constructed to serve not only militaristic, but also administrative and symbolic functions. Creighton supports criticism of the widespread assumption that they were built according to a pre-determined strategic plan across England (50), although in chapter 7, he qualifies this in writing that there was a programmatic aspect to the implantation of Norman castles within urban centres. The section on "Distribution," discusses the relationship between castle types and location, which shows that castles formed interdependent networks. A map illustrating the distribution of mottes in England informs of their sheer numbers and concentration in certain areas. How these patterns changed over long periods of time is addressed in later chapters.
"The Castle as Icon: Landscapes of Status and Symbolism" (chapter 4) deals with the visual impact of castles. Castles were ubiquitous; their great towers and crenellations emerged from the horizon or urban skyline, conveying seigneurial power, privilege, and culture. The fact that licenses to crenellate existed (even if they were not often respected) further suggests that such features were more than defensive tools but rather means of controlling who could and could not proclaim lordship visually. In addition, the author points to the fact that castles were often rebuilt on older sites, which added to their symbolic value. Creighton maintains that castles were ultimately part of the civilising process (68). That great attention was given to the visual qualities and the appreciation of "ornamental landscapes" (which included orchards and cultivated pleasure gardens) throughout the Middle Ages suggests that castles' silhouettes and landscapes were designed for maximum visual effect, which raises the fascinating question of the existence of a medieval aesthetic of the exterior (72-88).
Moving from the picturesque to the pragmatic, the next chapter, "The Castle as Estate Centre: Tenurial Landscapes" (chapter 5), examines the organization of lordship and the impact of castles on the arrangement of land. While Creighton acknowledges the importance of the Norman contribution, he also explains that it was not fundamental to the pattern of settlement in England, which had been previously organized to some extent by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons (89). Creighton also considers the hierarchical relationships between castles within established lordships, and discusses the Domesday Book as a source for understanding pre- and post-Conquest tenurial patterns. Informative contrasting examples are delineated in brief case studies of the castles at Hallaton and Belvoir in Leicestershire. The chapter also provides a longer examination of Norman Yorkshire, which offers examples of the different types and functions of castles found in a single honour and how they changed pre- and post-Conquest.
The interactions between castles and churches is explored in chapter 6, "Power, Patronage, and Parish: Castles and Ecclesiastical Landscapes." Since the boundaries of most parishes were already circumscribed in England by the mid-eleventh century, castles were inserted into existing social and administrative structures. In most cases, this benefited pre-existing ecclesiastical institutions but it also generated different and more complex liaisons, because lords often became the patrons of established and new religious foundations. The intriguing exception to this pattern was when lords purposefully built fortifications that trespassed onto church land, such as at Hereford Cathedral (122). There is an informative if abbreviated section on castle chapels that describes their patterns of diversification into parish churches or private elite collegiate foundations.
Extending from the church to the city, the next chapter, "Castles and Urbanism" (chapter 7), examines the pre- and post-Conquest implantation of castles in urban areas and in boroughs. Creighton offers a nuanced view of the Norman contribution (133ff), maintaining that castles must be understood as a primarily rural phenomenon even though the construction of castles by the Normans in urban centres was a systematic form of suppression (136). There is also a discussion of castles and urban economics in this chapter. It is already well known that the placement of castles in towns usually had administrative and economic benefits. Private castles in the country contributed substantially to the formation of borough towns, while suzerain urban castles sometimes altered the topography of previously settled centres and their trades. Creighton goes as far to say that the positions of castles within towns conditioned market development (163-7).
Chapter 8, "Castles in the Countryside," examines the impact of country castles on the land. Only rarely did rural castles generate entirely new settlements, but sometimes they existed in non-nucleated sites and did foster growth. While castles were intimately tied to the land and the circumstances surrounding them, they responded to local matters as well as inter-regional and international elite culture. The chapter offers an interesting discussion of the meticulous adaptation of the land around castles, including the protection or cultivation of forested areas, the establishment of hunting grounds, deer parks, chases and even gardens. This section also considers the impact of castles on the nucleation of villages, although the author admits that this can only remain inconclusive because nucleation was conditioned by a variety of forces.
What emerges from this book is a comprehensive study of the manifold ways in which castles were integrated into land-based networks. Much is to be learned about the functions of castles from this examination of the contexts into which they were inserted. Castles operated as military and administrative centres as well as symbolic structures, and they affected the land and society around them. Each observation is supported with at least one, and often several, references to primary and secondary sources, and the arguments are carefully considered. Yet if the integrated thematic approach is innovative, the conclusions about the roles of castles in the medieval landscape are already well known. The Norman Conquest appears repeatedly as the seminal period for the structuring of the medieval English landscape, even if it had been organized to a certain degree in earlier periods. It would have been useful if this study offered a sustained discussion of the ways in which the relationships between castles and landscapes changed in the time that followed this fundamental shift. Despite the balance struck between statements and the provision of evidence through examples, the study does not provide lengthy analyses of individual structures, which might have provided more specific conclusions. As Creighton recognizes, the landscape patterns affected by castle implantation reflect the human institutions that generated them and their relationships to one another. Greater knowledge of these interactions could have been developed with the author's mastery of this vast amount of material. These observations nevertheless highlight the achievement, and promise, of this book. By extending the study of castles beyond the individual case and/or regional analysis literally into a wider field of inquiry, Creighton has established a solid basis from which to examine those discourses in which castles were involved. This book will serve as an essential point of departure for students of all levels embarking on studies of castles as well as an important tool for scholars interested in macro-history and the history of institutions, and it is hoped that it will inspire similarly comprehensive works on medieval castles far beyond England.