15thc perception on swallowtail merlons?

[Koen G]

Beautiful fresco! Also, interesting to see the underdrawing.

I've never seen merlons like this, but agree that they must be decorative. Maybe to evoke the shape of an open flower?

[Pierre Dumont Himself]

Has anyone ever seen swallowtail merlons that have something in the middle?

Real merlons have a military purpose,namely protect soldiers on the walls from arrows and stones of the enemy below.  I suppose that the notch in the swallowtail variant was meant to support a firearm or crossbow. No?

The "triple tail" merlons in that image are obviously inspired by the military ones, but are purely decorative.  Behind them is a slanting tile roof, with no space for soldiers to stand on.

All the best, --stolfi

There are relatively few castles with merlons that are small enoguh for a crossbow to sit on, and none of them have such a support in the middle. Normally, their purpose is to hide the man while he cocks the crossbow, after which he leans out in order to shoot with greater accuracy. This is oviousy not the case here, since the castle is fictional and designed to appear pompous. The slender body of the merlons beneath the swallotail is documented, and likely ornamental. As you can see, the towers in the back have regular ones.

[Pierre Dumont Himself]

Noli, Liguria

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[Jorge_Stolfi]

There are relatively few castles with merlons that are small enoguh for a crossbow to sit on, and none of them have such a support in the middle. Normally, their purpose is to hide the man while he cocks the crossbow, after which he leans out in order to shoot with greater accuracy.

You mean that the notch in the swallowtail merlons is purely ornamental too?  Or a symbol of political allegiance/control by some specific party?  

I was thinking that the two tails of a swallowtail melon could give a bit extra protection to the archer's  head and shoulders when aiming and firing a crossbow.  Could that be their purpose? (By "support" I meant simply that the archer could rest the front end of the crossbow on top of the merlon before firing it, for a more accurate aim.)

All the best, --stolfi

(Speaking of which, off-topic but not totally: in one of the Lord of the Rings movies there is a scene where the leader of the Elves shouts "Fire!" ... to his archers. Was the verb "to fire" used for bows and arrows too, before the spread of firearms?  Os should he have shouted "Shoot!" instead?)

[Aga Tentakulus]

   
Here you can see the height by looking at the door. The battlements are much too high to simply look over them. The height provides protection for the entire man.
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[Jorge_Stolfi]

Here you can see the height by looking at the door. The battlements are much too high to simply look over them. The height provides protection for the entire man.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Thanks! So the swallowtails are just decorative?  Or symbolic?

All the best, --stolfi

[Aga Tentakulus]

The swallowtail flags represented loyalty to the Pope, while the standard ones represented loyalty to the Emperor. During the period of conflict between the Pope and the Emperor, both symbols were used. From around the 9th century onward.
Later, they were used solely for decorative purposes (no military function). Popular during the Renaissance.

   
Old wall. ca. 1250. Emperor. Swallowtails in Bellinona only after 1330, following the Visconti takeover.

[Aga Tentakulus]

Here’s something else that might be interesting. The standard battlements faced south (toward Italy). However, after 1330, Visconti needed battlements facing north (toward Switzerland). That’s why the wall has both types of battlements in some places.

[riu137]

The swallowtail flags represented loyalty to the Pope, while the standard ones represented loyalty to the Emperor. During the period of conflict between the Pope and the Emperor, both symbols were used. From around the 9th century onward.
Later, they were used solely for decorative purposes (no military function). Popular during the Renaissance.

Old wall. ca. 1250. Emperor. Swallowtails in Bellinona only after 1330, following the Visconti takeover.

I realize that I'm new here and maybe I'm just misunderstanding you. Or perhaps you just accidentally inverted the phrasing.

But I've long believed it was the Ghibellines who both identified their fortifications through the swallowtail merlon design, and were aligned with / arguably 'led by' the Staufer/Hohenstaufen (who were HREs throughout much though not all of the Guelph-Ghibelline conflict period), in opposition to the secular power of the Papacy and its allies.

Have I been under a misimpression all this time?

[MarcoP]

The swallowtail [merlons] represented loyalty to the Pope, while the standard ones represented loyalty to the Emperor. 

It's actually the other way round: swallowtail merlons were ghibelline, i.e. loyal to the Emperor, like the Visconti.

The photo at You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is interesting: to shoot, the archers could also kneel in front of the arrow slits. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. shows a fresco where the slits can be seen from the outside.