Grove Road Evangelical Church

On Saturday May 6th, Britain and beyond will celebrate the coronation of King Charles III. The Bible urges Christians to pray for their leaders, so that everyone might live safely in a way that pleases God. As Charles is crowned king, let us pray for him, that he sees his duty to serve both the British people and God, just as his mother Queen Elizabeth II did throughout her long reign.

Christians will be celebrating another coronation during May. It is celebrated every year 40 days after Easter Sunday. Ascension Day as it is called, marks the return of Jesus back to the throne of heaven, and celebrates his coronation as king after his triumph over sin, death and all that is evil on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. The Jewish king David, looking forward to the coronation of King Jesus, wrote what we know as part of Psalm 24. Christians still use these words as a central part of their celebration of the crowning of Jesus as king of the universe:

‘Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!’

Christians will this year be celebrating the coronation of Jesus on Thursday May 18th, or on the following Sunday on May 21st, which is the day we will be celebrating his coronation - and we welcome you to join us at our 11am morning meeting.

Philip Loose, Senior Pastor

Grove Road Evangelical Church (Behind Tesco Express, Moulsham Street) www.grecuk.co.uk pastor@grecuk.co.uk

MT History: Essex Castles - By Henri Lewi

Three fortresses in Essex provide a unique insight into the changing nature of defensive fortresses that evolved in Europe from the time of the Norman Conquest to the late medieval age, as the nature of warfare evolved.

The simple motte-and-bailey style castle as seen at Mountfitchet Castle in west Essex, evolved into the Norman keep with its tall perpendicular walls that dominated the surrounding countryside; this is clearly demonstrated by Hedingham Castle in North Essex. Tilbury Fort in East Essex is classically described as a ‘Star Fortress’ - a fortress design that had evolved in the late 16th century in response to the increasing use of siege artillery.

The purpose of the tall Norman keep of Hedingham Castle was to provide a defensive base with it’s high thin walls being a simple design to protect the defenders against arrows, catapaults and battering rams. As the military revolution gained momentum from the 14th century onwards, with the increasing use of cannon on the battlefield, the tall simply constructed castle keep became easy prey to the solid shot fired from the battlefield cannon. The whole aim of the tall Norman keep was also to allow a greater distance for the arrows unleashed by the longbowmen and crossbowmen to travel, enabling at that time, both a long and close range defense to be provided by the numerous archers defending the keep. As these keeps could not mount cannon, they could not entirely provide an answer to siege artillery.

The first use of the battlefield cannon is said to have taken place in the latter stages of the Hundred Years War when the French used ‘field artillery’ which proved initially successful at the Battle of Formigny in 1450. In this battle the English, under Sir Thomas Kyriel in their standard defensive posture (massed dismounted knights at the centre and both flanks packed with archers), met the French led by the Comte de Clermont whilst en route to Caen. The French used their cannon to bombard the English flank (composed of longbowmen) to good effect. The English flank broke in an attempt to capture the cannon and the French were able to attack and defeat the now broken English line, demonstrating an effective use of the now superior technology of battlefield cannon to overcome what was always considered to be an impregnable battlefield defensive position.

In the final act of the Hundred Years War in 1451, the English army attacked the French at Castillon who were armed with over 100 artillery pieces in their entrenched positions, with which the French were now able to demolish the English columns on the open battlefield with little loss to themselves. Thus by the latter half of the 15th century the dawn of battlefield artillery had arrived.

As a consequence, there was a fundamental shift in the nature of warfare away from the medieval nature of heavily armed mounted men and archers fought on a narrow battlefield, to the clash of large armies incorporating mobile artillery and heavy cavalry fighting on large open battlefields.

Similarly, there was a paradigm shift in the method of attack on the static fortress. With the improvements in artillery as seen during the French invasion of Italy in 1494, the use of siege artillery exposed the frailty of Italian Medieval fortifications with their thin high walls.

In response, the Italian city-states developed the ‘trace Italienne’ a fortification with lower thicker walls protected by earth and the presence of armed bastions, which are now known as ‘star fortresses’. Michelangelo first designed these star fortresses or Bastion forts for the city-state of Florence, which proved successful as a defense against siege artillery. By the mid 16th century the star fortress design had spread out from Italy and across Europe.

Tilbury Fort was constructed during the reign of Henry VIII following the split from Rome and the increasing likelihood of a French invasion and the threat to London by elements of the French navy. To counter this threat, the king ordered a ‘device programme’ in 1539 to build a series of defensive forts along the coast to counter the threat from France. The low, thick walls protected by earth bulwarks provided protection from the solid shot from the siege artillery of the time, with the bastions providing a sound base for the placement of defensive artillery.

With the advent of explosive shells in the 19th century, the star fortress and its subsequent evolutionary designs became effectively obsolete.