Licence to crenellate

The term "licence to crenellate" was coined in the 19th century to describe documents that granted the holder permission to build fortifications. The reference to crenellation was chosen specifically because most of these documents made references to battlements. There has been academic debate over the purpose of licensing. The view of military-focused historians is that licensing restricted the number of fortifications that could be used against a royal army. The modern view, proposed notably by Charles Coulson, is that in time battlements became an architectural status-symbol much sought after by the socially ambitious. As he puts it, "Licences to crenellate were mainly symbolic representations of lordly status: castellation was the architectural expression of noble rank.