A postern is a secondary

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide securit ...

gate A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root w ...

in a

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

such as a

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...

castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...

curtain wall. Posterns were often placed in concealed locations, allowing inconspicuous entrance and exit. In the event of a

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

, a postern could act as a

sally port A sallyport is a secure, controlled entry way to an enclosure, e.g., a fortification or prison. The entrance is usually protected by some means, such as a fixed wall on the outside, parallel to the door, which must be circumvented to enter and ...

, allowing defenders to make a

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warf ...

on the besiegers. Placed in a less exposed, less visible location, they were usually relatively small, and therefore easily defensible.Van Emden, Wolgang. "Castle in Medieval French Literature", ''The Medieval Castle: Romance and Reality'' (Kathryn L. Reyerson, Faye Powe, eds.) U of Minnesota Press, 1991, p.17

Tactical use

Posterns were one of the essential means of ensuring safe communication between the enceinte and the outerworks of a defensive fortification. An 1850

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

course summary on permanent fortifications discusses the placement and construction of posterns.

Examples

*In 1896, C.R. Condor, writing for the London Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society viewed Zion Gate in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, built west of one of the city's medieval main gates, as a likely postern. Also mentioned were the postern of St. Lazarus, west of the

Damascus Gate The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from the ...

; the postern of the Tanners' Gate; and the postern of the Madeleine at Herod's Gate. Right of the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...

is a small postern called the Gate of Jehosaphat. *The city walls of York contained a number of posterns; at North Street Tower, the postern gate was demolished to accommodate the Great North of England Railway. The tower still stands. There were also posterns at

Fishergate Fishergate is a street and surrounding area of York, England. History Fishergate runs along a strip of slightly raised ground, east of the River Ouse. Archaeological investigations have found evidence of prehistoric occupation, before the ...

, and Longwalk. Around 1672, the Castlegate postern was made wide enough for carriages. The fourteenth-century

Layerthorpe Layerthorpe is a part of the city of York in, North Yorkshire, England. It is outside York city walls, the city walls of York. The road through Layerthorpe from the bridge over the River Foss to Heworth is also shares the same name. Origin of ...

Bridge, a crossing of the Foss, adjacent to the King's Pool, was once attached to a postern in the city wall, known as Layerthorpe Postern. The original Skeldergate postern was only large enough to allow pedestrian traffic to and from the city. *In

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, there was a postern in the east city wall called Windsore Postern. There were at least three posterns in the wall at New College Gardens. *The Tower Hill Postern was a small fortified entrance at the eastern terminal point to the London Wall, at the junction of the Wall and the Tower of London moat. In the early 17th century the City and the Crown contested ownership of the postern as part of a Tower boundary dispute.

Moorgate Moorgate was one of the City of London's northern gates in its defensive wall, the last to be built. The gate took its name from the Moorfields, an area of marshy land that lay immediately north of the wall. The gate was demolished in 1762, but ...

was built by upgrading a postern built in 1415, and enlarged in 1472 and 1511.

Literature

In literature, a postern features in the ''Le Chanson de Girart de Roussillon'', where the hero makes use of one to escape when betrayed; as does

Renaud de Montauban Renaud (or Renaut or Renault) de Montauban (Modern ; ; ; or ) was a legendary hero and knight which appeared in a 12th-century Old French known as ''The Four Sons of Aymon''. The four sons of Duke Aymon are Renaud, Richard, Alard and Guiscard, ...

in the

chanson de geste The , from 'deeds, actions accomplished') is a medieval narrative, a type of epic poetry, epic poem that appears at the dawn of French literature. The earliest known poems of this genre date from the late 11th and early 12th centuries, shortly ...

, The Four Sons of Aymon. A postern also provided a safe retreat for

Ogier the Dane Ogier the Dane (; ) is a legendary paladin of Charlemagne who appears in many Old French ''chanson de geste, chansons de geste''. In particular, he features as the protagonist in ''La Chevalerie Ogier'' (), which belongs to the ''Geste de Doon de ...

. In Malory's

Le Morte d'Arthur ' (originally written as '; Anglo-Norman French for "The Death of Arthur") is a 15th-century Middle English prose reworking by Sir Thomas Malory of tales about the legendary King Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, Merlin and the Knights of the ...

, " La Cote de Male Tayle" is rescued at the Castle Orgulous when a damsel slips through the postern to find his horse and ties it to the postern so that La Cote de Male Tayle can escape the 100 knights assailing him.Malory, Thomas. ''Le Morte D'Arthur'', Chap IV, Library of Alexandria, 1904
/ref> The term is occasionally used in other contexts referring to a secondary door placed after a main entrance. File:Tour Barker York 3.jpg, North Street Postern Tower (aka Barker Tower), York File:Poterne remparts de Provins.JPG, Postern in the

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

Provins Provins () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Known for its well-preserved medieval architecture and importance througho ...

Seine-et-Marne Seine-et-Marne () is a department in the Île-de-France region in Northern France. Named after the rivers Seine and Marne, it is the region's largest department with an area of 5,915 square kilometres (2,284 square miles); it roughly covers its ...

, France

References

{{Fortifications Castle architecture Types of gates

Tactical use

Examples

Literature

See also

References