Medieval Castles

Medieval Castle History  Normans had first introduced the wooden Motte and Bailey castles, which then led to the design of the stone castles that we know about  Began in the late 900’s  Castles were not only to defend the land from enemy attacks but they were also used to show the power of the king and nobles over the land.  Wood and stone were the materials most common around these areas.

Architecture  Were mostly built on high grounds to over look the land  Stone, mortar, and wood were the main components to making castles.  The stone and mortar architecture made fixing and repairing the castle easy, many stones were reused from time to time.  If there was no high ground the castles would be built to work with the land. Ether by a pond or any water, by a cliff. Anything that could work to defend the castle itself.  The builders of the castles realized that round towers were much more structurally stable then square ones  Walls were built high, for defense and for much needed lookout areas.

Defense  Location was a very important aspect in defending the castle, or making access to castle difficult.  On a hill  Near water-river, pond, lake,  Cliff  Another form of defense for castles were the “curtain walls”, these walls were the first line of defense.  The walls or the towers as we referred in architecture, they were built round instead of square, this helped with the defense of the castle by making the structure much more sturdy  The actual castle had many defenses and was heavily fortified. Such as  Bardican-would have the drawbridge  Portcullis-gate  Machicolations (murder holes)-floor openings on top of castle walls used to drop objects such as rocks if enemies were trying to enter.

Hidden Secrets  The stairwell- designed to help the defenders in so many ways, the staircase turned right for a reason. When enemies would go up the towers, they would have difficulty taking out their swords, and or swinging it, since the wall was right by them. The defendants had room and free space since they didn’t have a wall right next to their sword.  Secret Passages-some were designed to open far from the castle so that people living around could escape during a attack, some also led to chambers or hideouts, or storage areas for supplies.  Dungeons- These were areas for prisoners, or people who were a threat to the king or land.  These areas were not as you think, all dark and damp. These places were like new modern jail cells. They obviously didn’t have the convenient things that we have today.

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