castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for royalty or nobility; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Usage of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace.

European-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire [加洛林王朝] resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding them and the castles were both offensive and defensive structures; they provided a base from which raids could be launched as well as offered protection from enemies. Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures also served as centres of administration and symbols of power. Urban castles were used to control the local populace and important travel routes, and rural castles were often situated near features that were integral to life in the community, such as mills, fertile land, or a water source.

Many northern European castles were originally built from earth and timber, but had their defences replaced later by stone. Early castles often exploited natural defences, lacking features such as towers and arrowslits and relying on a central keep [强固主楼]. In the late 12th and early 13th centuries, a scientific approach to castle defence emerged. This led to the proliferation of towers, with an emphasis on flanking [侧翼] fire. Many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defence – several stages of defence within each other that could all function at the same time to maximise the castle's firepower. These changes in defence have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades, such as concentric fortification, and inspiration from earlier defences, such as Roman forts. Not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature, so that devices such as moats [护城河] evolved from their original purpose of defence into symbols of power. Some grand castles had long winding [蜿蜒的] approaches [通路] intended to impress and dominate their landscape. An arrowslit is a thin vertical aperture in a fortification through which an archer can launch arrows.

Although gunpowder was introduced to Europe in the 14th century, it did not significantly affect castle building until the 15th century, when artillery became powerful enough to break through stone walls. While castles continued to be built well into the 16th century, new techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live. As a result, true castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery forts with no role in civil administration, and country houses that were indefensible. From the 18th century onwards, there was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of mock castles, part of a romantic revival of Gothic [哥特式] architecture, but they had no military purpose.

The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum, which is a diminutive [(后缀)表示小的] of the word castrum, meaning "fortified place". The Old English castel, Old French castel or chastel, French château, Spanish castillo, Portuguese castelo, Italian castello, and a number of words in other languages also derive from castellum. The word castle was introduced into English shortly before the Norman Conquest to denote this type of building, which was then new to England.

Dating back to the early 12th century, the Alcázar of Segovia [塞戈维亚@西班牙] is one of the most distinctive medieval castles in Europe. Disney was inspired by this site in building Cinderella's castle.

六级/考研单词: fortify, predominant, noble, militant, scholar, reside, construct, usage, diverse, commonplace, territory, princess, offend, raid, seldom, administer, situate, integrity, mill, fertile, timber, exploit, flank, attribute, inspire, evolve, dominate, vertical, arrow, powder, affection, artillery, potent, cannon, onward, renew, mock, derive, denote, medieval

爱丁堡本来是苏格兰首府，但一篇文章的发布导致上海被网友称为“爱丁堡”。2022年3月31日上海‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌六院发布了名为《新冠笼罩下的“丁丁保卫战”》的文章（后被删除），此文章的内容引发了网友的不满。有网友根据电影《上海堡垒》的电影名，将上海称作爱丁堡。(上海堡垒：未来世界外星黑暗势力突袭地球，上海成为了人类最后的希望。大学生江洋（鹿晗饰）追随女指挥官林澜（舒淇饰）进入了上海堡垒成为一名指挥员……)

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1963年，八连被国防部授予“南京路上好八连”称号。 第二年，根据话剧改编的电影《霓虹灯下的哨兵》在全国公映。 随着使命任务的改变，八连不再担负在南京路执勤的任务，但他们的身影并没有从南京路上消失。

解读《霓虹灯下的哨兵》的一组镜头 - 乌有之乡 (wyzxwk.com)

这组镜头的背景是：在刚刚获得解放的上海，一个美国人驾车闯入南京路上庆祝解放的游行队伍，被群众拦下后还口出狂言，“我们美国人在全世界都是畅通无阻的！”八连的执勤哨兵赵大大要把他押送到军事管制委员会处理，一位西装革履的“眼镜先生”急忙出来打圆场，于是引发一场小小的街头争论。这组镜头中，最令人提气的，无疑是现场一位青年工人的表态：“天塌下来有我们工人顶着！”