Profs & Pints Annapolis: Exploring Castles

Profs and Pints Annapolis presents: “Exploring Castles,” a crash course on the design, construction, and use of the castles of medieval Europe, with Victoria McAlister, assistant professor of Digital Environmental Humanities at Towson University, scholar of medieval buildings, and author of the award-winning book The Irish Tower House: Society, Economy, and Environment c.1300-1650.

Think of Europe in the Middle Ages and huge stone castles come to mind. It’s understandable given how prominently such structures factor into depictions of that time in popular culture. Such a mental image, however, obscures a tremendous amount of variation in castle design and construction, much of it lost to history due to the ravages of time.

You don’t need a time machine and royal lineage to get to know such buildings as they existed in their era. Instead, just come to the Graduate Annapolis hotel to hear them discussed in depth by Victoria McAlister, a scholar who uses modern technologies such as drones and 3D scanners to virtually reconstruct medieval structures and recently wrote and presented the Great Courses lecture series The Great Castles of Europe.

You’ll learn about a whole range of castle types built throughout Europe between the 11th and the 17th centuries. Not all were made of stone—in fact, many of the castles built by William the Conqueror were constructed with earth and timber. Much of the popular discussion of castle types and architecture obscures complexity and how much the design and appearance of castles featured personal touches.

We’ll pay a visit to the homes of some of the Middle Ages’ most fascinating people. They include Castle Roche in Ireland where, legend has it, Roesia de Verdun threw her architect from a window so he couldn’t build another castle as impressive as hers. In nearby Wales the impressive Caernarfon and Beaumaris castles were built by King Edward I of England with the subjugation of an entire population in mind.

Working from the outside in, Professor McAlister will familiarize you with castles’ architectural features, using as her example the French castle Chateau Gaillard built by Richard the Lionheart. By the end of the talk you’ll know mottes from tower houses, portcullises from posterns, and be equipped with knowledge that will deepen your appreciation of the castles that you might encounter in Europe or on the screen. (Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Doors open at 4 pm and talk starts at 5:30 pm.)