Editing Slighting (section)

==The effect of slighting==
[[File:BitvauBedfordu1224.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|After the [[Bedford Castle#Siege of 1224|siege of Bedford Castle]] in 1224, [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] had the garrison executed and the castle slighted, as illustrated by [[Matthew Paris]].{{sfn|Amt|2002|p=114}}{{sfn|Baker|Baker|Hassall|Simco|1979|p=11}}|alt=A manuscript drawing of a castle with four people being hanged in the bottom right.]]
[[File:Zamek w Małej Nieszawce.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|The site of the former castle at [[Mała Nieszawka]] in Poland, which was demolished in 1422–1423.|alt=A patch of dense tree coverage surrounded by flat grassy ground.]]

Dismantling a castle was a skilled process, and stone, metal, and glass were sometimes removed for sale or reuse.{{sfn|Rakoczy|2008|pp=282–283}}  After the castle at [[Papowo Biskupie]] in Poland was slighted, some of the materials from the castle were used to build a seminary at nearby [[Chełmża]].{{sfn|Szczupak|2021|p=9}}

The impact of slighting ranged from almost complete destruction of a site, as can be seen at [[Deganwy Castle]], to a token gesture,{{sfn|Nevell|2019|p=102}} for example damaging elements such as [[arrowslit]]s.{{sfn|Liddiard|2005|p=68}} In 1268, the court of King [[Louis IX of France]] gave orders to slight a new fortification near [[Étampes]], specifying that the bailiff carrying out orders should "destroy the arrow-slits and so to break them through that it may be abundantly clear that the fortification has been slighted".{{sfn|Coulson|1973|pp=64–65}}

Destruction was often carefully targeted rather than indiscriminate, even when carried out on a large scale. In cases of medieval slighting, domestic areas such as free-standing [[great hall|halls]] and [[castle chapel|chapels]] were typically excluded from the destruction.{{sfn|Nevell|2019|p=124}}

When King [[Władysław II Jagiełło]] of Poland gave the order to slight the castle at [[Mała Nieszawka]], after negotiation with the Teutonic Order who owned the castle, one of the conditions was that the buildings in the outer bailey would be left intact while the walls were reduced in height.{{sfn|Szczupak|2021|p=6}} In 1648, [[Roundhead|Parliament]] gave orders to slight [[Bolsover Castle]] but that "so much only be done to it as to make it untenable as a garrison and that it may not be unnecessarily spoiled and defaced."{{sfn|Thompson|1987|p=152}} When a castle had a [[keep]], it was usually the most visible part of the castle and a focus of symbolism.{{sfn|Marshall|2016}} This would sometimes attract the attention of people carrying out slighting. [[Kenilworth Castle|Kenilworth]] was one of many castles to be slighted during the English Civil War, and the side of the keep most visible to people outside the castle was demolished.{{sfn|Johnson|2002|p=174}}

Documentary sources for the medieval period typically have little information on what slighting involved, so archaeology helps to understand which areas of buildings were targeted and how they were demolished.{{sfn|Creighton|Wright|2017|p=114}}{{sfn|Nevell|2019}} For the English Civil War, destruction accounts are rare but there are some instances such as [[Sheffield Castle]] where detailed records survive. At Sheffield military and social concerns combined: there may have been a desire to prevent the [[Cavalier|Royalist]] owner from using the fortification against Parliament, and the destruction undermined the owner's authority. Despite this, the profits from the demolition went to the owner, contrasting with [[Pontefract Castle]], where the money went to the townspeople.{{sfn|Askew|2017|pp=203–204}}

When castles were slighted in the Middle Ages this often led to their complete abandonment, but some were repaired and others reused.{{sfn|Nevell|2019|p=126}} This was also the case with places slighted as a result of the English Civil War. In 1650, Parliament gave orders to slight [[Wressle Castle]] in East Yorkshire; the south part of the castle was left standing so that the owner could still use it as a [[manor house]].{{sfn|Richardson|Dennison|2015|p=12}} [[Berkeley Castle]] in Gloucestershire was also slighted in the same period – meaning that a small but significant part of the curtain wall was demolished, but the remaining structure was left intact, and the castle remains inhabited to this day.

The use of destruction both to control and to subvert control spans periods and cultures. Slighting was prevalent in the Middle Ages and the 17th century; notable episodes include The Anarchy, the English Civil War, and France in the 16th and 17th centuries, as well as Japan.{{sfn|Johnson|2002|p=173}}{{sfn|Rakoczy|2007|p=11}}{{sfn|Nevell|2019|p=120}} The ruins left by the destruction of castles in 17th-century England and Wales encouraged the later Romantic movement.{{sfn|Thompson|1987|p=157}}