The Fight for Nordalbingia: Reconstruction and Simulation of the Danish-Obodrite Attack on the Frankish Fortress of Esesfelth in AD 817

It is possible to gain insight into Frankish-Danish relations in Nordalbingia during the early 9th century based on archaeological excavation results and written sources. Such relations were characterised by armed conflicts, political intrigue and shifting alliances. The Frankish fortress of Esesfelth had a key function during this time of unrest. Emperor Charlemagne built it in AD 810, partly to prevent Danish supremacy over the Nordalbingian Saxon territory north of the River Elbe, and partly as a starting point for incorporating it into the Frankish realm. The fortress was an exceptional defensive structure without any known contemporary parallels. As the centre of Frankish administration in Nordalbingia Esesfelth became the target of an attack by combined Danish and Slavic (Obodrite) forces in AD 817. To some extent, the attack can be reconstructed by interpreting excavation results, and simulated with the aid of military theory. The results also present an excellent opportunity to explore various fortification components in detail.

Offa’s Dyke in the Landscape: Comparative Size and Topographical Disposition as Indicators of Function

Despite the large volume of published work on Offa’s Dyke there is no settled conclusion as to its original purpose. Many different and often conflicting theories exist, most of which can be put into three broad categories: defensive, political and economic. It is generally accepted that the monument’s disposition relative to the adjacent topography is significant for interpretations of purpose. In this article, field survey and GIS mapping techniques are applied with respect to the comparative size and topographical disposition of a stretch of central Offa’s Dyke in order to examine its utility as a defensive structure. This allows a re-evaluation of claims by Hill and Worthington (2003), among others, that the route of Offa’s Dyke was designed to optimise outlook by following the west facing brow of hills, or more generally to ‘command’ the western landscape. Evidence reported here shows that central Offa’s Dyke does not consistently prioritise western views. Instead, it was positioned in such a way as to often obscure westerly vistas, despite the opportunity to optimise such an outlook by relatively minor route adjustments. On the basis of the evidence reported, discussed in the context of the wider literature, it is concluded that central Offa’s Dyke should be interpreted as a physical obstacle rather than a defensive fortification. After a brief consideration of alternative theories of purpose it is suggested that Offa’s Dyke was most likely built with economic and political, rather than defensive, functions in mind. It is postulated that control of trade provides a plausible context for its construction.

The white mirror: Face to face with racism in group analysis part 2—mainly practice

This is my second article about a form of group mirroring I have called the white mirror. The previous article focused on underpinning theory. This article is practice oriented. I argue that the white mirror is a defensive structure, primarily functioning to prevent white group members, including the conductor(s) from coming face to face with the reality of racism. It mirrors projections in the form of racist stereotypes for black members to internalize in their position as the location of disturbance. I highlight present and historical black victimization which I feel requires elucidation given its position in the shadows of psychotherapy. I am mindful of the intersecting nature of identities and touch on this through a clinical example. I suggest how group analysts might work with the ubiquity of racism, engaging ethnically-diverse members at a level of full and mutual humanity.

Análisis de una expresión gráfica inédita en la Región de Murcia: Los grabados históricos del Caño del Barracón y de la Torre de Inchola (Alhama de Murcia)

En Inchola, caserío situado en la umbría de la Sierra de Carrascoy, se levantan los restos de una estructura defensiva medieval, llamada Torre de Inchola, y los de una antigua conducción hidráulica conocida como Caño del Barracón. En ambas edificaciones se desarrolla un variado repertorio de signos grabados sobre sus muros, entre los que predominan los que reproducen la forma de herradura. En este trabajo se describe la tipología de los grabados, proponiendo posibles líneas de interpretación histórica y una probable datación de los mismos en el contexto de los inicios de la Edad Moderna en el Reino de Murcia. In Inchola, a hamlet located in the shaded areas of the Sierra de Carrascoy, we find the remains of a medieval defensive structure, called Torre de Inchola, and those of an old hydraulic conduction known as Caño del Barracón. There is a wide collection of signs engraved on the walls of both constructions. The signs reproducing horseshoe shapes predominate. This paper describes the typology of these engravings, proposing different lines of historical interpretation and a likely dating in the context of the beginnings of the Modern Age in the Kingdom of Murcia

Integrazioni multidisciplinari: storia, rilievo e rappresentazioni del castello di Palmariggi in Terra d’Otranto

Multidisciplinary integrations: history, survey and representations of the castle of Palmariggi in Terra d’OtrantoThe contribution integrates historical readings, conducted through archive documents and iconographic materials, with surveys and graphical analyzes carried out through direct knowledge of Palmariggi’s historic center in Salento. The imposing Aragonese castle of which today only the two cylindrical towers remain, joined together by a stretch of perimeter masonry, initially presented a quadrangular plan with four corner towers, of which three are cylindrical and one is square and was surrounded by an existing moat, until the middle of the twentieth century, with a wooden drawbridge on the eastern side. The fortress was part of a strategic defensive system, designed to protect the village and the productive Otranto’s land with which it was related. The fortified Palmeriggi’s center represented an important defensive bulwark placed within the network of routes and agricultural activities that led from the hinterland to the port of Otranto, where flourishing trade took place. The research examines the changes undergone by the defensive structure that has had several adaptations made initially in relation to changing military requirements, resulting from the use of firearms, the upgrades that were supposed to curb the repeated looting and the military reprisals against the inhabited coastal and inland centers of Salento peninsula, and later social that led to the expansion of fortified village with Palazzo Vernazza’s (eighteenth century) adjacent construction and the original parade ground’s elimination. Summing up, the contribution in addition to documenting the current situation with integrated surveys, the state of preservation of fortified structure with its village, of which it examines the urban evolution based on the construction, typological and morphological systems, relates to the surrounding territory by comparing the plant of the ancient nucleus with that of neighboring fortified Salento’s centers. Finally, digital study models allow fortified structure’s three-dimensional analysis, its construction techniques, assuming the original shape.

Da macchina da guerra a “decoroso fondale”: la Cittadella di Torino nell’Ottocento

From war machine to “decorous backdrop”: the Citadel of Turin in the nineteenth centuryThe citadel of Turin, built in the sixteenth century by the duke Emanuele Filiberto, became an expensive and obsolete object that hampered the enlargements during the nineteenth century. The Enlargement Plan for the capital designed by Carlo Promis (1851-1852) progressively reduced the military constraints facing the citadel. In 1856 the City Council decreed the demolition of the defensive structure. During the demolition one section of the building was spared: the donjon. In 1864 it became the urban background of the statue erected in honor of Pietro Micca, the “soldier mineworker” hero of the siege in 1706. Therefore, this project became an opportunity for the Municipality and the Ministry of War to discuss two central issues. On one hand, the need to set up a “decorous backdrop” to the Piedmontese hero, and on the other hand keeping the costs of the restoration project to a minimum. A well-known architect from Turin named Carlo Ceppi presented an accurate report about the choices of the “restoration” works. Finally, in 1892 the responsibility of the work was given to the engineer Riccardo Brayda, who was an expert in medieval and modern architecture.

Le mura di Leonardo. I rilievi del 1502

Leonardo’s Walls. Surveys in 1502In the summer of 1502, Cesare Borgia appointed Leonardo da Vinci for his engineering expertise. His assignment was specific and concerning with military architecture: he was expected to “see, measure and do good estimation”. The Codex L, a small notebook conserved in the Library of the Institute of France, show the results of the survey of the city walls of Cesena and Urbino. The technique Leonardo adopted consists in traversing rectilinear stretches, measuring their length by means of an instrument able to count his steps and establishing their orientation by means of a compass. At the end of the path, the data relative to the sides of a closed polygon are obtained, resulting the geometric plan of the walls. This practice is testified by some residual eidotypes provided with quotas and orientations. In some cases, only the lists of distances in numbers are present, but the analysis of the figures makes it possible to reconstruct the surveyed plans, as Nando De Toni pioneered many years ago. This study focuses on the tools and the urban survey technique used by Leonardo. The analysis of some sheets from the Codex L, contextualized with respect to the actual topography of the sites, allows to understand the correct sequence of the operations carried out first in the site and then at the drawing board. By means of specific digital reconstructions, it is therefore possible to study the instrumental and operational limits of this practice and, by comparing it with the current state, to reconstruct the entire defensive structure.

La intervención arquitectónica de 2018 en la Torre de la Sal de Cabanes (Castellón)

The architectural intervention of 2018 in the Salt Tower of Cabanes (Castellón)Salt Tower is a complete defensive structure located in the town of Cabanes, in Castellón, at the north of the Spanish Valencian Community: “Torre de la Sal”, a link in the long coastal defense chain. The architectural intervention has basically consisted of the external consolidation of the masonry walls, especially of two of them; the protection of water infiltration and the replacement of the extemporaneous structure of the existing balcony. Internally, all the coatings have been renewed, eliminating aggressive applications and providing it with an electrical installation. The works have been adjusted to the strictest criteria from a quality point of view and have been a consequence of the findings obtained in the research phase that have determined the final result, varying in some cases those provided for in the intervention project. The results received after the intervention are presented, waiting to proceed with the intensive excavation of the immediate surroundings of the tower, located on a powerful buried urban structure, lack of excavation and submerged in the sea.

Islamic defensive architecture along the eastern coast of Algeria: the Fusula Ribat and its mosque (Annaba)

The ribat in Bouna (present day Annaba), also called the Fusula Ribat, dominates the promontory of the hill with the same name and overlooks the port of the town. This defensive structure, whose typology dates from the Fatimid period, belonged to a chain of ribats marking Islamic territory along the length of the Mediterranean coast. It was concealed under the Sidi Boumerouane Mosque. Thus, through a series of transformations, the site became a veritable military-religious complex. The recent process of patrimonialization, as well as the restoration project at the complex, has revealed the structure of the ribat, leaning against the wall and essentially forming the foundations of the first mosque of the town. The aim of this article is, on the one hand, to bring new knowledge, as much technical as historical, about this fortified structure, which has largely been ignored by historical research until now, and on the other, to carry out the restoration project of this edifice, which has now been classed as national heritage.

La fortificación hispanomusulmana de la madīna de Burriana (Castellón)

The Spanish-Muslim fortification of the Burriana’s medina (Castellón)This communication aims to publicize the latest archeological findings related to the Spanish-Muslim wall of Burriana, obtained thanks to the interventions carried out throughout the twenty-first century, in which new sectors and towers of the wall have been evidenced, and that they also clarify some ancient historical and archaeological news about the fortification. We highlight the documentation of the construction technique of the wall, which provides interesting data on its chronology, recently established around the eleventh century. The relationship between the defensive structure and other recent archaeological findings associated with this period are examined, such as some necropolis and elements of the urban plot. Finally, an analysis of the historical and territorial context of the defensive structure and the Spanish-Muslim city will be carried out, since Burriana’s medina was an important administrative and commercial center, a stopping point on the land route between Tortosa and Valencia, and cited as an amal that also had a seaport, according to some sources. We do not forget that the madīna is also a prominent enclave in the historical events related to the Christian razzias of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and in the subsequent process of conquest of the kingdom of Valencia at the beginning of the thirteenth century, as reflected in the chronicles of the time.