What is "bastille"

Bastile \Bas*tile"\ Bastille \Bas*tille"\(b[.a]s*t[=e]l" or b[.a]s"t[-e]l; 277), n. [F. bastille fortress, OF. bastir to build, F. b[^a]tir.]

1. (Feud. Fort.) A tower or an elevated work, used for the defense, or in the siege, of a fortified place.

   The high bastiles . . . which overtopped the walls.
   --Holland.

2. ``The Bastille'', formerly a castle or fortress in Paris, used as a prison, especially for political offenders; hence, a rhetorical name for a prison.

14c. Paris prison destroyed by revolutionaries on July 14, 1789, French, literally "fortress, tower" (see bastion).

n. 1 A castle tower, or fortified building; a small citadel or fortress. 2 A prison or jail.

n. a jail (literally, a French jail)

The Bastille was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a crowd on 14 July 1789, in the French Revolution, becoming an important symbol for the French Republican movement, and was later demolished and replaced by the Place de la Bastille.

The Bastille was built to defend the eastern approach to the city of Paris from the English threat in the Hundred Years' War. Initial work began in 1357, but the main construction occurred from 1370 onwards, creating a strong fortress with eight towers that protected the strategic gateway of the Porte Saint-Antoine on the eastern edge of Paris. The innovative design proved influential in both France and England and was widely copied. The Bastille figured prominently in France's domestic conflicts, including the fighting between the rival factions of the Burgundians and the Armagnacs in the 15th century, and the Wars of Religion in the 16th. The fortress was declared a state prison in 1417; this role was expanded first under the English occupiers of the 1420s and 1430s, and then under Louis XI in the 1460s. The defences of the Bastille were fortified in response to the English and Imperial threat during the 1550s, with a bastion constructed to the east of the fortress. The Bastille played a key role in the rebellion of the Fronde and the battle of the faubourg Saint-Antoine, which was fought beneath its walls in 1652.

Louis XIV used the Bastille as a prison for upper-class members of French society who had opposed or angered him including, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, French Protestants. From 1659 onwards, the Bastille functioned primarily as a state penitentiary; by 1789, 5,279 prisoners had passed through its gates. Under Louis XV and XVI, the Bastille was used to detain prisoners from more varied backgrounds, and to support the operations of the Parisian police, especially in enforcing government censorship of the printed media. Although inmates were kept in relatively good conditions, criticism of the Bastille grew during the 18th century, fueled by autobiographies written by former prisoners. Reforms were implemented and prisoner numbers were considerably reduced. In 1789 the royal government's financial crisis and the formation of the National Assembly gave rise to a swelling of republican sentiments among city-dwellers. On 14 July the Bastille was stormed by a revolutionary crowd, primarily residents of the faubourg Saint-Antoine who sought to commandeer the valuable gunpowder held within the fortress. Seven remaining prisoners were found and released and the Bastille's governor, Bernard-René de Launay, was killed by the crowd. The Bastille was demolished by order of the Committee of the Hôtel de Ville. Souvenirs of the fortress were transported around France and displayed as icons of the overthrow of despotism. Over the next century, the site and historical legacy of the Bastille featured prominently in French revolutions, political protests and popular fiction, and it remained an important symbol for the French Republican movement.

Almost nothing is left of the Bastille except some remains of its stone foundation that were relocated to the side of the Boulevard Henri IV. Historians were critical of the Bastille in the early 19th century, and believe the fortress to have been a relatively well-administered institution, but deeply implicated in the system of French policing and political control during the 18th century.

Bastille is a Dutch film by Rudolf van den Berg. It is based on the book '' La Place de la Bastille'' by Leon de Winter, alternatively known as De Burght.

The Bastille is the name of a fortress culminating at 476 m (ft) above sea level, located at the south end of the Chartreuse mountain range and overlooking the city of Grenoble, France. The Bastille, which also gives its name to the hill, is the main tourist site of the Grenoble area with 600 000 visitors per year.

The Bastille was a prison in France.

Bastille may also refer to:

Bastille is a station on lines 1, 5 and 8 of the Paris Métro. It is located near the former location of the Bastille and remains of the Bastille can be seen on line 5. The platforms for line 1 are situated below road level but above the Bassin of the Arsenal and Canal Saint Martin in a short open-air segment. The western end of the line 1 platforms have the sharpest curve used by passenger trains on the Métro, with a radius of only 40 metres. The line 1 platforms, at 123 metres long, are significantly longer than the average Métro platform length.

The line 1 station opened as part of the first stage of the line between Porte de Vincennes and Porte Maillot on 19 July 1900. The line 5 platforms were opened on 17 December 1906 when the line was extended from Gare de Lyon to Lancry (now known as Jacques Bonsergent). The line 8 platforms were opened on 5 May 1931 when the line was extended from Richelieu – Drouot to Porte de Charenton. The platforms on line 1 were decorated in 1989 to celebrate the bicentenary of the French Revolution.

Bastille (stylised as BΔSTILLE) are a British indie pop band formed in 2010. The group began as a solo project by singer Dan Smith, who later decided to form a band. Beside Smith, the four-piece consists of Chris Wood, Will Farquarson, and Kyle Simmons. The name of the band derives from Bastille Day, which is celebrated on 14 July, Smith's birthday.

After an independently released debut single and a self-released EP, the band signed to Virgin Records. Their first studio album, Bad Blood, was released in March 2013 and entered the UK Albums Chart at number one. The band was nominated for four Brit Awards at the 2014 ceremony, winning the British Breakthrough Act. As of November 2014, Bastille have sold over 5 million records in the US and 2.5 million records in the UK.

A bastille is a form of urban fortification. A bastille is a fortification located at the principal entrance to a town or city; as such it is a similar type of fortification to a barbican, and the distinction between the two is frequently unclear. While today found in a variety of cities, such as Grenoble and Lübeck, the word bastille is associated above all with the famous bastille in Paris, the Saint Anthony Bastille, which played a prominent part in the history of France under its monarchy. Bastilles were often forts, but could be more similar to gatehouses in smaller settlements.

Like the word bastide, the word bastille derives from the word bastida in the southern French Occitan language, which can mean a fortification or fortified settlement.