David Froehlich
Medieval studies
Kal
4/8/14
Castles of Protection
Do you know how to defend a medieval castle? Well, you are about to learn
that and much more. Castles weren’t all towers and stone walls; there is a method
behind them and this method was developed over hundreds of years by the people
who lived in them. In this paper we will discuss the following topics: defenders of
the medieval Castle, design and different types of castles, and finally the people who
lived there.
For my research I have made a model Stone Keep style castle, with a moat
and working drawbridge. I will be referring back to this throughout the paper.
Medieval castles were made for defense. Almost all castles throughout
history had a moat. This kept the enemy from getting too close to the castle where
they could use ladders and/or battering rams. The is why a moat was an important
aspect of my model. Many castles also had arrow slits-- thin windows from which an
archer could shoot arrows-- but, because the slits were so thin, the enemy couldn’t
shoot back at them. These can be seen on the towers of my model castle. The
problem with these arrow slits is that it’s hard to aim through them; so on the tops
of the walls, castles often had crenellations (alternating extrusions at the tops of the
walls). These were used for archers and other soldiers to duck behind when the
enemy fired at them. You can also see this at the tops of the walls and towers on my
model castle. This is but a fraction of the ways that medieval people used to defend
themselves.
When you think of a castle, you probably imagine a big stone building
surrounded by walls and towers, but there were actually three different main types
of castles during the medieval period. The earliest type was the Motte and Bailey
castle. This type of castle was often thatched and made of wood. It consisted of a big
courtyard where the villagers lived, that was called the Motte. There was also a hill
with a keep. This is called the Bailey. After the Motte and Bailey Castle came the
Stone Keep style castle. This was more of a classic type. It consisted of a big stone
keep surrounded by big stone walls. This is the type of Castle shown in my model.
Finally, there is the concentric circle castle. In this type of castle, there are two walls
instead of one. The second set of walls is higher than the first, so archers can shoot
over the first wall. Out of all three castles, the Concentric Circle castle is the most
defensive because it has two walls, and if an invader gets caught between them, he
can easily be shot down.
There is more to Castles then just defense; there were people who lived in
the castles. The serfs lived outside the walls of the castle or in the courtyard in small
one to two room houses. The middle class, squires, blacksmiths, merchants, etcetera
would live in the courtyard, or Motte. Knights, nobles and servants would live in the
keep. On my model you can see a Brick keep in the center of the courtyard.
Castles were built because of people’s needs to defend themselves. The poor
work for the rich in exchange for their protection and the rich in turn would work
more powerful families or houses. This formed the medieval hierachy called the
feudal system. Castles were at the center of this system, because they were the
ultimate protection!
Works Cited:
1: Morley, Jacqueline, David Salariya, and David Antram. You Wouldn't Want to
Live in a Medieval Castle!: A Home You'd Rather Not Inhabit. New York: Franklin
Watts, 2009. Print.
2: http://www.historyonthenet.com/Lessons/attackdefendcastle/stonekeep3.htm
“How to Attack and Defend a Medieval Castle,” Accessed: 04/06/2014, no author cited.
Updated February 2012. Published on History of the Net/Medieval website.