In 1494 the armies of the French king, Charles VIII, invaded Italy to capture the kingdom of Naples. They swept through the country and bombarded and destroyed many castles. This invasion signaled the end of the castle as a stronghold of defense. For centuries it had been the dominant fortification in Western Europe for the defense of kings, nobility, and townspeople. Ancient cities were often walled to keep out invaders, and within the walls there was …showed first 75 words of 1504 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1504 total…built, because of the lack of money or just the lack of need, they will always be appreciated for their beauty, architecture, and most importantly the land that they helped to defend. _Smith, Beth. Castles. p.18. New York: Franklin Watts, 1988. _Macaulay, David. Castle. p.54. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. _Clements, Gillian. The Truth about Castles. p.9. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 1990. _Macaulay, David. Castle. p.13. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1977. _Smith, Beth. Castles. p. 23. New York: Franklin Watts, 1988.