Castles
Q1- Why castles were necessary?
Castles were necessary due to different reasons. Castles that
belonged to a certain kingdom would give an advantage if a war
ever occurred. They were mainly huge helpful defences in wars,
and often provided guarded protection for everyone who lived in or
near them.
Q2- Castle design and how castles changed over times?
All castles were different in their own unique ways. Castles were all
made out of many different materials. Lots of castles also had
different names, such as Shell keeps, Collapsing Mottes, Square
Keeps and Concentric Castles. Around the year 1100, nobles began
to build castles from stone instead of wood. There were many
reasons why the materials were changed. The main reason was
because it was a high risk to have a castle made of wood, since it
was easily flammable.
Q3- What was life in a castle like?
Life in a castle was definitely not ordinary. Everyday would contain
different adventures, chores and plenty more. Every castle has a
community. Castles were noisy, busy places in peacetime as well as
in times of war. As many as 500 people lived in a castle when the
lord and lady were home. ‘The Lady’ was to have many children, as
well as help run the castle. ‘The Lord’ fought for the noble who
gave him land, while looking after his manor and the people on it.
The ‘ladies-in-waiting’ were girls from noble families who were sent
to another noble’s castle, where they learnt to be proper ladies.
The ‘Castle’s Servants’ were basically a whole team who ran the
castle. For example, in the kitchen there was a cook, baker, brewer
who brewed beer, and a vintner who made wine. The nurses in the
castle looked after young children.
How were castles attacked and defended?
Castles were designed to defend against enemy attacks. To
overthrow a castle, attacking knights and their armies put the
castle under siege. During the siege, the attackers surrounded the
castle and waited until the residents’ food ran out and they
surrendered. They also attacked a castle with flaming arrows used
by skilled archers, battering rams, and catapults.
Why did castle building come to an end?
Castle building for military reasons came to an end because of
gunpowder and explosives being invented, which caused a lot of
issues. When guns, cannons, and bombs became powerful enough
to destroy any built structure, the castles became pointless from a
military perspective. By the late 1300s, feudalism was finally ending
in Europe. Nobles lost the control they had as kings became even
more powerful than before. In some certain places, nobles were
not even allowed to build castles without any king’s permission
granted fully. The king wanted to make sure the nobles did not
have a castle from which to launch attacks against him.
Knighthood grew out of a system known as feudalism, in which a
king or lord gave land or property to an individual, his ‘vassal’, in
exchange for military service. The vassal swore loyalty to his lord
and agreed to fight for him whenever necessary. In return he
received his Lord’s protection. A retained knight had to provide his
own weapons. These included a sword and a shield, a lance or
spear, and a dagger. Tournaments weapons were identical to those
of real warfare, except that they were lighter and meant to be
blunt, although this rule was not always obeyed. Knighthood
became more closely associated with religion, and warfare became
not just respectable but honourable. Knights wore red crosses on
their tunics as a sign that they had ‘taken the cross’- the word
‘crusade’ comes from the Latin word crux, meaning ‘cross’. Knights
began to see themselves as an international brotherhood united
against a common enemy.
Bibliography:
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Ancient-History/thechanging-look-of-medieval-castles-over-the-centuries.html
Author: Kathy Elgin, title: Knights & Chivalry.
Author: Kay Eastwood, title: Medieval Society, Life in A
Castle, the Life of a Knight, publisher: Crabtree publishing
company.
Author: Sean Sheehan, title: Castles, published: in the UK by
Franklin Watts 2004.