THE STYLE OF LOUIS XII. 



set out from the first like Vincennes were rare and confined to flat sites. 

 The entire castle, and sometimes each court, when there were more than 

 one, was defended either by a moat or escarpment, as well as by its walls 

 and its generally circular towers. A sentry's gallery (chemin de ronde) 

 ran round the enceinte, usually corbelled out from the top of the walls 

 (Fig. 56). The entrance to each court was normally through a tower or 

 gatehouse with a drawbridge, and often defended by an outwork. 



The more important buildings, the accommodation for the lord's 

 immediate entourage and the garrison, were in the inner court (cour 

 d'honneier}. The keep (donjon) still survived in some cases from 

 tradition, as at Chambord (Fig. 53) and Valengay, and formed part of 

 the inner court, sometimes opposite the entrance, a position by this 

 time more often occu- 

 pied, as in the Louvre, 

 by the hall, which was 

 generally on an upper 

 storey with a lower hall 

 beneath it. The upper 

 hall (grande salle) was 

 the centre of the castle 

 life, the lower or under- 

 croft (salle basse) served 

 as a cool retreat in sum- 

 mer or as a guardroom 

 (salle des gardes) ; in 

 smaller houses it formed 

 a kitchen or store. The 

 chapel was usually in 

 the heart of the castle, 

 but sometimes relegated 

 to a garden court, as at Bury (Fig. 42). A long closed gallery for 

 exercise, as at Gaillon, was already a frequent adjunct of the later 

 mediaeval castles. The other apartments, consisting of single rooms 

 or of small suites comprising a chamber for the gentleman or lady, 

 an antechamber for the body servant, and the wardrobe, were situated 

 in separate towers and blocks with seldom any intercommunication, 

 except by the stairs or by covered ways along the court. Each block 

 was served by a turret stair (vis), while the state stair occupied a 

 tower to itself (grand' vis}. The great stair-tower of the Louvre, built 

 by Raymond du Temple (1363), set a fashion long followed. All these 

 were spiral and seldom, if ever, entirely enclosed. The only stairs in 

 straight flights were the open, and generally roofless, steps to the 

 ramparts and hall. 



12. CASTLE OF GAILLON (REMODELLED 

 1497-1510) : BLOCK PLAN. 



