FASCICULI ARCHAEOLOGIAE HISTORICE, Fase. IX, PL ISSN 0860-0007 JANUSZ BOGDANOWSKI THE TERRACE - THE PROTOTYPE OF THE BATTERY In 14th century Poland the principal element and low, small and big). This is the way the main which became the source of the development of fur- „arrangements" of the system, namely the oriel-like ther forms and defensive systems was the flanking to- arrangement, the tower - flanking tower arrange- wer. It was seemingly a tower. But it had discarded its ment, the terrace arrangement and finally the mi- former passive form, clearly visible in the even walls niaturized small flanking towers arrangement, em- without any openings. On the contrary, in the 14th cen- ployed in the city walls of Banie (15th century), tury it was equipped with a great number of loopholes appeared. Within the framework of those systems opening directly to the foreground in all directions. there developed a number of variations, not to men- Thus it took on a definitely active attitude. This gene- tion some individual „mutants" such as the unusual ral principle, however, was accommpanied by nume- „octagon" at Frombork. rous variations and forms, particularly the forms of an The following question can be asked here. oriel, that is, a flanking tower opened at the back to Why were there so many variations if the flanking form a bend in the wall, and a „full" flanking tower, tower defence principle was so perfect? seemingly the shape of a normal tower. Similarity, their The answer appears glaringly obvious. The va- multifarious adaptations developed into simply ama- riations developed as a result of new and new prac- zing forms. There appeared both long, oriel-like, ante- tical improvements. Consequently, the ability to gate necks, and low, broad ramparts with walls, wood overcome successive difficulties in order to achie- or fascines inside, terraces. Besides, there existed also ve perfection was given the name of the art of de- the traditional, well-known elements such as walls, fence and the resultant edifice of defence was re- whose sections were now transformed into courtain ferred to as the work of the art of defence. walls, which connected neighbouring towers to form Besides, in the case of the flanking tower sys- bays, and towers, which had remained the traditional tem there appeared two basic obstacles: the material defences of the most vulnerable sections of the walls, and economic obstacle and the technical obstacle. including the gates. Therefore both the constructions The first obstacle resulted from the cost of had also been improved. building the defences, equipping them with weapons Thus, the above-mentioned bay or courtain wall, and finally maintaining the crew. This is why a ten- which could be defended both frontally and by means dency to construct defensive churches died a natu- of two flanking towers, became the foundation of the ral death unless it was connected with some funda- flanking tower system. A bay as a whole could open mental needs of the local community, that is, the crossfire on the foreground from three different pla- parish (for instance, defence against the Tartars or ces. Moreover, it made the defence of one flanking Turks in the Eastern border country). Castles had tower by another possible, which was a novelty. It be- retained their importance, especially when they were came a breakthrough as a realized idea of a three-ele- a manifestation of the needs of the State organiza- ment set creating a flanking, three-sided and triple tion (for example, Teutonic castles and Polish ca- defence of the foreground and remained the crowni- stles in the border country). Under the circumstan- nig achievement of the art of defence until the 19th ces, however, the diffensive possibilities of cities century. The bay, however, required that all three who- were very much in the foreground. Cities were po- les were combined to form an integrated full defensi- werful economically, had at their disposal military ve circuit. Consequently, numerous series of arrange- crafts and could provide a great number of their own ments and their variants developed on the basis of dif- or mercenary defenders. ferent kinds of outlines such as the irregular outline at The second, technical, obstacle lied in the in- Kalisz (14th century), the oval outline at Pyrzyce (14th ability of the contemporaries to solve a contradic- century) and the quadrangular outline at Nidzica (14th tion. On the one hand the effective defence of a pla- century) and different forms of flanking towers (they ce required thick city walls resistant to gunfire, but could be square and circular in shape, multilateral, high on the other hand it also required numerous and http://rcin.org.pl 61 JANUSZ BOGDANOWSKI comfortable, that is, large gunloops. As a result of In front of the existing line of flanking towers this, numerous dead fields appeared (the thicker the there was a terrace - rampart or a terrace - foreram- wall, the more numerous the fields). They were visi- part, i. e. a terrace surrounded by its own moat, em- ble in the vertical (from above) and, above all, the ho- ployed in accordance with the wall system principle rizontal defence of the foreground. Hence square flan- (the choice depended on the terrain). This profile al- king towers were the first to be discarded (at their cor- lowed the defenders to use the already existing e. g. ners there appeared the largest dead fields). They were oriels. They could be modernized and added to in replaced with semicircular and multilateral construc- order to transform them into, for example, high flan- tions. Spurs filling in those fields were also used (e. g. king towers. On the other hand, it made it possible the castle at Pniów). This was a major step forward in for them to employ artillery (though only for frontal the development of the only universal solution, na- defence). It could be freely and easily introduced on mely the pentagonal turret, which, however, belongs relatively comfortable earthen terraces. To sum up: to the next bastion period of the art of defence. the terrace in this form became a remarkable achie- Thus, the theory of the art of defence of those vement on the road to the perfection of the art of de- unusual, low or long ramparts or demi-bulwarks bu- fence. It produced many variants. Four main varia- ilt into the existing line of, e. g., city walls remains a tions can be singled out. challenge. The source material is scarce. The purpo- - Variation I, which can be referred to as the se of building those fortifications seems obvious. They rampart variation, was a terrace protected by the so- are part of modernization of the existing defences (e. called annexe-wall. In the 15th century, such a per- g. in Gdańsk and Cracow). fect annexe-wall was introduced first in Cracow (1401 Against the background of the flanking tower - 1429) and then in Toruń. It was also employed in a system the terrace arrangement is clearly visible. It number of smaller towns such as Wschowa and Ka- still remains one of the unsolved puzzles of the Mid- lisz. dle Ages, though one of the forms, namely the ram- - Variation II, i. e. the forerampart variation, part, was used as early as in the stronghold period. was based on the idea of introducing an additional The terrace probably developed from simple ramparts, earth bank in front of the moat. The slopes were rein- rectangular in shape, which served as gun or bom- forced with a timber, stone or brick wall and the ram- bard positions. They were protected by their own fo- part itself was surrounded by a moat. The variant can rebreastworks (foreparapets) in the form of palisa- be found in many cities, particularly the ones situ- des, fences, timber or fascine ramparts. Therefore the ated on plains. Thus that was the case in Stargard, terrace was somehow the prototype of the fortified Pyrzyce, Mieszkowice (16th century), but also in baterry and was initially employed during sieges. Cracow (15th-16th centuries). Consequently, the defenders had to invent some ef- - Variation III, the terrace - flanking tower va- fective defences. It was also a kind of terrace, usual- riation, was undoubtedly the most perfect typological- ly built before the gate or improvized in the form of a ly. The terrace was equipped with a new line of low superrampart next to the courtain wall (hence the co- oriels. Such terraces were erected in Malbork, Poznań, called cat or cavalier) or on the broad terrace of some Warsaw, Wrocław (the first half of the 15th century) existing or specially erected flanking tower (cf. From- and Lvov (the second half of the 15th century?). bork, Octagon). All those forms, however, are some- - Finally, Variation IV was also connected with how primitive in their kind. The real terrace was a modernization. This was the modernization of castles, long earth bank, especially along the courtain walls, during which the ramparts were equipped with low in the form which did not differ from the form of the flanking towers. The castle in Barciany, which was rampart (cf. e. g. Malbork in the 15th century). Besi- one of the first castles to be armed with gunloops, des the above commonest form the terrace could also and the castle in Golub (1422) can serve as examples be erected before the moat as a forerampart equipped of such structures. with its own moat. The reason was usually the lack When discussing the terrace, one should draw of space (cf. Cracow in the 15 and the 14th centu- the reader's attention to the role of the neck.