Jamie Shin
Write a one page (hard copy)description of what castles were used for,what was
life like in the castle,who lived in the castle,and what the parts of the castle were.
Castles had many jobs, but the main reason the castles were built were to protect.
Actually at the beginning, castles were built for a different reason. They were meant to
hold down the conquered land. It also served as a threat or intimidation to the villagers,
making them do what the lord said. Later, it became a place of protection for the
peasants, and it was also where the lord lived.
There was no heating in a castle, except for the central fireplace. That heat was for the
lord and his family, so the servants and soldiers had tiny lamps instead and shivered
due to the cold. The lord and his family had heavy blankets and feather mattresses with
fur covers. Tapestries blocked the wind from them. the lord and the lady’s personal
attendants had separate rooms and slept on the floor, but they had the fireplace heat.
Soldiers and servants had lighter bedclothes, and had use you human body heat for
warmth. Most people spent as much time as they could outdoors, and had baths
outside, heating the water (in a wooden bathtub) with nothing but sunlight. If the day
had bad weather, the bathtub was moved inside. Privacy (for places like the
washrooms) was ensured with a tent or a canopy. The cold air still went through.
The guards trumpeted the start of the day at sunrise. Servants awoke, and started
doing their chores. Once the lord and the lady got up, they made sure they were tidy
before they did anything. They all had a light breakfast, and the loyal family went into
the chapel. After that, everyone tended to their own business- the lord governed( he
was a king in his little ‘kingdom’ or domain. Everyone had to do what he told them to do.
He could punish, collect rent, and make his own coins), the lady saw over the maids’
work (which was producing enough clothing for the whole of the castle and teaching/
looking over the pages), and the servants had their duties. At mid- morning, there was
dinner- the main meal with 3 or 4 courses. After dinner everyone resumed their duties.
Many people lived in the castle. There were soldiers and servants. There were pages
and squires and maids. There was also the lord and his lady, and their children
(possibly).The livestock lived at the castle too. There were also knights who lived at the
castle. When the fief was under attack, every villager lived in the castle.
There are many parts to a castle. There was a moat, which surrounded the castle to
protect itself from enemies. There was a drawbridge which helped people get across the
mot, a giant bridge than could be raised and dropped. Then there was a gatehouse,
where the guards lived over the main door. It became more important as the castles
began to get fortified. Only through the drawbridge and the gatehouse could anyone
enter the castle. There also was an outer and inner wall. An outer bailey was the first
courtyard, and situated itself between the outer and inner walls of a castle. if enemies
reached here, the defending archers could rain down arrows from the above. In the left
foreground was the gallows, more commonly known as the ‘executing place’. The
nobility was beheaded while the common people got hanged. The inner bailey was
inside the inner walls, as the the execution grounds. The inner walls were sometimes
Jamie Shin
protected by outer walls, and if an enemy wanted to take over, they would have to get
past the inner wall. The keep was the innermost circular tower in a castle. A castle was
built around a certain ‘point' and this keep was that point. Castles were usually built with
an existing circular tower in the middle, and what used to be that central tower is now a
keep. The lord and his family stayed there, and it was like the heart of the castlecapture it, and you capture the castle, as the keep was the most innermost building.