Creighton/Castles and Landscapes, 6. Power, Patronage and Parish: Castles and Ecclesiastical Landscapes

As religion permeated every aspect of medieval life, it is no surprise that castles had close connections with the ecclesiastical landscape. This chapter analyses the chronological, spatial and functional relationships that existed between castles and various ecclesiastical sites. With the change in religious sensibilities and fashions some linkages were weakened or broken, but a revival in the foundation of churches in association with some major castles could be noticed in the fourteenth century. The power of religious patronage was one way in which castle lords could make their mark on the landscape.