Changing the topic slightly, as far as I understand building fortifications was a right of kings, in the Holy Roman Empire at least.

Yes, or whatever central authority held power. In historical Britain the kings exercised this, although whenever the king was weak the lords raised their own castles, only to have them torn down when the next strong king came along.



According to the Sachsenspiegel


I am unfamiliar with this. What is it?



one was not allowed deeper ditches then one man alone can dig or stockades higher then a knight could reach, entry points no be higher then knee level above the ground and so on.
What would be the law in Uther Pendragon/Arthurs Britain ?



Much the same. Only King Arthur has the right to make castles, or to license others to do so. Others may hold them, perhaps even in their own right; but not without the king's permission.

GMs might want to ignore this. It's up to you for your game. It is so in my game.

--Greg

I am unfamiliar with this. What is it?


A codification of german (well saxon tribal law anyway) during the first part of the 13th century.
In parts of germany the law of the land till 1900, it dealt mainly with the law of free people (inheritance, marriage, ,,,) and feudal law (
relationship between the estates (Stände ?), rights of the king and of the lords, ...).
It is written in low middle german just close enough to modern standart german that I think I ought to understand it, but dont.

A digitalized version can be found here: http://www.sachsenspiegel-online.de
The website is in german and offers a scanned version of the original pages, a transkription of the text and translations into modern standart.

Yes, or whatever central authority held power. In historical Britain the kings exercised this, although whenever the king was weak the lords raised their own castles, only to have them torn down when the next strong king came along.




Like all the illegal castle-building during the civil war between Stephen and Matilda, followed by Henry II having them torn down once he became king (which corresponds to the Anarchy/Boy King Periods in "Pendragon").

I'm not certain, of course, whether the equivalent of the Stephen-Matilda period in "Pendragon" is the Anarchy Period (which is how I initially saw it), or the civil war with King Lot in the opening years of Arthur's reign.