CASTLES
Large stone castles were built in Europe
from about the 1100’s to about the 1500’s.
These huge buildings served not only to
defend the country from foreign invaders
but as the basic tool in preserving the king’s
and the nobles’ power over the land. The
social system was very rigid in the Middle
Ages.
Under Feudalism, the king gave pieces of
this land to various high nobles, in return
for their help in fighting his wars or in
putting down rebellions. Not only did the
higher nobles have to fight for the king
themselves, they had to supply a certain
number of lesser lords and other knights to
help fight also. These higher nobles then
gave some of their land to lesser knights, in return for their help in battle. Below all the knights were
the serfs, who actually farmed the land. They gave a portion of their crops each year to the lord who
ruled over them, in return for use of the land and protection.
The king’s vassals, the lords, however, could be all over the country, with their castles as symbols of
their power for all to see. The castle was both a residence for the lord and his family, and a
fortification. It was a strong place for the lord to defend himself against his enemies (and the king’s
enemies, and his overlord’s enemies), a safe place for him and his knights to return to, and a place to
live which emphasized his power.
Castles were built to keep out enemies.
When an attack was expected, the
drawbridge was raised, the gates and
portcullis were closed, and archers were
stationed on the towers. The walls were
not only high, in a well-planned castle, but
they were arranged as much as possible so
that anyone climbing the walls could be
shot at from two directions. Many castles
have strange shapes because the castle was
designed to accommodate the terrain, and
to catch attackers in a crossfire.
Wharram Percy
The Lost Medieval Village
It was once thought that medieval peasant villages
were "deserted" due to the months of the Black
Death in 1349. Reseach at Wharram Percy -- and a
few other villages -- has shown that, on the
contrary, there are over 3000 such "deserted"
villages in England and that they were
depopulated by economic forces in the 15th c.
Indeed, the Wharram Project, which began in
1950, has shown that many of these sites were
inhabited for centuries before the middle ages.
Also, the evidence gathered at Wharram Percy has
added immensely to our knowledge of English
medieval peasant life.