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The Defenses
The Buildings
Nowadays
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| In 1418, the Governor Henri de
Sassenage was afraid of an attack of Dauphiné by the Savoyards.
He orders a series of strengthening of the defenses of the
castle. Due to the lack of resources (or because it was
necessary to move fast), all the requests concern wooden
defenses: palisades, towers or hoardings. We suppose that the
gate built by the entrance of the castle was protected by
another gate at the level of the palisade. It was a bascule door
called “tornefol”, who revolved around a horizontal axis. |
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| Both towers had
the same 24-meter (72-foot) height. One of them was round and
the other one rectangular, with walls of 1.5 m (5 feet) in
thickness. |
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| We estimate that
the castle in this time was in a state of advanced decay. That
is why we wanted to represent collapsed sections of wall, from
which the gaping openings were briefly protected by fences. |
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| The governor
ordered the construction of two wooden towers at the extremities
of the courtyard, an area where curtain walls elevation only
amount to 6 meters (18 feet) in height. |
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| Hoardings, sorts of wooden
galleries built above the outer walls, are a practical means to
improve the defense of a castle. At least 5 of them are quoted
in 1418. |
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Defending The Castle of La Terrasse
