Fortified architecture of the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem in southwest France, from the 12th to the 15th century

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to propose a state of knowledge on the castral architecture and protection of the religious establishments founded by the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem in southwestern France from the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth century. The archaeological traces of a fortification implemented from the foundation of the houses in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries are rare. Only the written sources provide a few clues as to the presence of a castral architecture within the commanderies, without it being possible to determine whether it was an architectural legacy linked to the founding of the religious establishment through donations, or whether it was a real desire on the part of the religious community to build, ex nihilo, a castral complex intended to house it. At the end of the Middle Ages, during the Hundred Years' War, the hospital commanderies were the object of an important defense. This fortification of religious houses in a context of insecurity resulted in the construction of towers and enclosures, as well as the defense of churches, barns and agricultural domains. This generalized fortification also concerns the habitat that was agglomerated near the hospital domus.