Castles   

The castle that Beowulf and Zack 

built in February 2005

What is a Castle?

The earliest castles began to appear in the 9^th and 10^th centuries and were little more than forts built on earth mounds, roofed with straw, and surrounded by wooden walls.

During the 10^th century, lords began to build castles out of stone.  Sometimes the attackers would try to chip the stone away from the corners to get in.  They were usually surprised by the defenders of the castle who would pour hot oil on their heads to make them stop!  Some attackers even tried to dig tunnels under the wall of the castle in order to get in or to weaken the walls.

How were they designed?

In the mid-13^th Century, the castle design was a circle inside of another circle, which means the castles had a lower outer wall and a higher inside wall.  The outer wall was used by archers to hide behind while they shot at the castle attackers.  Some of the older castles were also put another set of walls around the gatehouse, so the attacker had to get through three sets of  defense walls.  The gatehouse was where people stopped to tell what their business was before they were allowed to enter.  The keep (aka the great tower) of the castle is where the lord and his family and knights lived.  Below the keep you would find the dungeon where prisoners were tortured and enemies were kept.  Some of the castles had man-made moats, or were built in an area surrounded by water on most sides.  Later on some of the castles were built on high rocks to keep attackers from getting too close.

Why were they symbolic?

A castle was also a symbol of power and was a community with many staff.  Some of the most important staff members were:

Marshall – in charge of the horses, outside servants and the garrison

Chamberlain – in charge of the food and drink served in the castle

Constable (castellan) – in charge of all of the buildings and the defense of the castle

Steward – in charge of the finances of the castle

The castle was an important meeting place for kings and their knights.  They discussed sieges and other business.

 Activities