Database: Encastellation, a form of protection

During the Middle Ages in Italy, in the absence of a strong royal authority cities continually fought each other. As a result, local lords and authorities started to build fortifications to protect towns and villages from rival armies and bandits. Though strictly speaking it involved defensive walls and towers rather than castles, the process was known as Encastellation (from the Italian Encastellamento). In practice, this was also an efficient tool for control and taxation of the population...