Defending and asserting one's authority

There was a square building here that controlled access to the tower. Between the staircase and the entrance into the tower, staggered walls and a narrow corridor intersected by doors reinforced the keep’s defences. Its defensive capacity should not be over-estimated. Ten or so armed people could surely capture it. Though it was a fortification, above all it enabled the lords who owned it to project their authority symbolically. But this was also a residence of local seigneurs. Although there is no precise information about the Tour du Canourgue, by comparison with similar buildings one can estimate that 20 to 30 people lived in it.