# Merlon
> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merlon
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Merlon.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlon
> Source revision: 1347333052
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{short description|Part of a medieval fortification}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Horizon créneaux Alcazaba, Almeria, Spain.jpg|thumb|260px|Merlons of [Alcazaba of Almería](/source/Alcazaba_of_Almer%C3%ADa) in [Almería](/source/Almer%C3%ADa), Spain]]
A '''merlon''' is the solid, upright section of a [battlement](/source/battlement) (a [crenellated](/source/crenellated) [parapet](/source/parapet)) in [medieval architecture](/source/medieval_architecture) or fortifications.[Friar, Stephen (2003). ''The Sutton Companion to Castles'', Sutton Publishing, Stroud, 2003, p. 202. {{ISBN|978-0-7509-3994-2}}] Merlons are sometimes pierced by narrow, vertical [embrasure](/source/embrasure)s, or [tooth](/source/tooth)-like slits designed for observation and fire. The space between two merlons is called a [crenel](/source/crenel), and a succession of merlons and crenels is a crenellation.[{{cite book |author1=J. E. Kaufmann|author2=H. W. Kaufmann|author3=Robert M. Jurga|title=The medieval fortress: castles, forts and walled cities of the Middle Ages |year=2004|publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81358-0|page=307}}] Crenels designed in later eras for use by [cannon](/source/cannon)s were also called embrasures.[{{cite book|author=Ward Bucher|title=Dictionary of building preservation|year=1996|publisher=Wiley-Interscience |isbn=978-0-471-14413-7|pages=43, 126, and 165}}]
==Etymology==
The term ''merlon'' comes from [French](/source/French_language) [1704], adapted from the [Italian](/source/Italian_language) {{lang|it|merlone}}, possibly a shortened form of {{lang|it|mergola}}, perhaps connected to [Latin](/source/Latin) {{lang|la|mergae}} ("two-pronged [pitchfork](/source/pitchfork)"),[{{cite web |author=Douglas Harper |title=merlon |website=[Etymonline](/source/Online_Etymology_Dictionary) |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/merlon#etymonline_v_14680 |access-date=1 February 2025}}] or from a diminutive {{lang|la|moerulus}}, from {{lang|la|murus}} or {{lang|la|moerus}} (a [wall](/source/wall)). An alternative [etymology](/source/etymology) suggests that the [medieval](/source/medieval) Latin {{lang|la|merulus}} (mentioned from the end of the 10th century) functioned as a diminutive of Latin {{lang|la|merle}}, "[blackbird](/source/Common_Blackbird)", expressing an image of this bird sitting on a wall.
==As part of battlements==
{{parapet_parts.svg}}
As an essential part of [battlement](/source/battlement)s, merlons were used in fortifications for millennia. The best-known examples appear on [medieval](/source/medieval) buildings, where battlements, though defensive, could be attractively formed, thus having a secondary decorative purpose. Some (especially later) buildings have false "decorative battlements". The two most notable European variants in Middle Ages merlons shape were the [Ghibelline](/source/Ghibelline) and the [Guelph](/source/Guelphs_and_Ghibellines) merlon: the former ended in the upper part with a swallow-tailed form, while the latter term indicates the normal rectangular shape merlons ([wimperg](/source/wimperg)).
Other shapes include: three-pointed, [quatrefoil](/source/quatrefoil), shielded, flower-like, rounded (typical of Islamic and African world), pyramidal, etc., depending either from the type of attacks expected or aesthetic considerations.
In [Roman times](/source/Ancient_Rome), the merlons had a width sufficient to shelter a single man. As new weapons appeared in the [Middle Ages](/source/Middle_Ages) (including [crossbow](/source/crossbow)s and the first [firearms](/source/firearms)), the merlons were enlarged and provided with loop-holes of various dimensions and shapes, varying from simply rounded to cruciform. From the 13th century, the merlons could also be used to pivot wooden shutters; these added further protection for the defenders when they were not firing, or were firing downwards near the base of the wall. The shutters, also known as [mantlet](/source/mantlet)s, could be opened by hand, or by using a [pulley](/source/pulley).
File:Creneau.romain.png|Usage of merlons, from [Eugène Viollet-le-Duc](/source/Eug%C3%A8ne_Viollet-le-Duc)'s [http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Dictionnaire_raisonn%C3%A9_de_l%27architecture_fran%C3%A7aise_du_XIe_au_XVIe_si%C3%A8cle ''Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle'']
File:Castello di St.Pierre.jpg|Ghibelline merlons at [Saint-Pierre Castle](/source/Saint-Pierre_Castle), Italy
File:Castello_montechino_torrione.jpg|Guelphs merlons in the [Castle of Montechino](/source/Montechino_Italian_Castle_Piacenza), Italy
==Later use==
After falling out of favour when the invention of the cannon forced fortifications to take a much lower profile, merlons re-emerged as mostly decorative features in buildings constructed in the [Gothic Revival](/source/Gothic_Revival) style of the 19th century.
==See also==
* [Defensive walls](/source/Defensive_walls)
* [Machicolation](/source/Machicolation)
==References==
{{reflist}}
*{{cite journal|last=Balestracci|first=Duccio |title=I materiali da costruzione nel castello medievale|journal=Archeologia Medievale|issue=XVI |year=1989|pages=227–242 |doi=10.1400/244020}}
*{{cite book|last=Luisi|first=R.|title=Scudi di pietra, I castelli e l'arte della guerra tra Medioevo e Rinascimento|location=Bari |year=1996|isbn=88-420-5083-0}}
{{Fortifications}}
{{Sister bar|auto=1|wikt=merlon}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Castle architecture
Category:Types of wall
---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Merlon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlon) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlon?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.