Fortified castles: mythical Middle Ages
What are they thinking, these waves that kiss without a murmur
The flanks of this boulder shining like armour?
What indeed! Have they not seen in their own mirror
That this rock, whose foot tears at their bowels,
Has a fort upon its head, encircled by white walls,
Rolled like a turban around its dark brow ?
(Victor Hugo, The Orientals)
Fortified castle: a word that evokes high stone walls, mighty towers enclosing the dungeon, oubliettes and great, gloomy halls built to accommodate the banquets held by the lord of the castle. These images, both passionate and innocent, that we encounter over and again in drawings and paintings, reflect a romantic vision of the mythical Middle Ages. This image of the Middle Ages, far back in time, is simply dreamt up, mythological, a projection of our current fantasies revealing a nostalgic search for an "ideal time" that has been lost.
