CASTLE
INTRODUCTION
HOW
CASTLES WERE MADE
Castles in the Early Ages were
built of wood. A wooden tower was
built on a mound of earth called a motte. (A
motte is a steep hill). At the foot
of the mound there was a fenced yard called the bailey. As it was necessary to fortify castles in preparation for war
battles, many lords later replaced the wooden tower with a square stone
building. Therefore, stone replaced
wood, because stone was more effective in preventing enemies from intruding into
the castle. Stonemasons cut the
stones so that they fitted together exactly.
By
the 12th century, many castles had massive towers of stone surrounded
by high walls that rose up to 33 feet.
WHAT
WAS A CASTLE?
A castle was usually someone’s home.
It was well fortified with high walls that made it difficult for
attackers to get in. Some powerful
landowners and barons owned castles, and so did many kings.
A castle housed a baron and all his servants for example, and protected
the baron’s large farming estates that were a source of his wealth.
A castle also contained Men-At-Arms or soldiers.
The castle was their base and provided them with shelter, weapons, and
food. The soldiers protected the
castle from invaders, and fought during a war.
For added protection, deep ditches were dug around a castle and filled
with water. These ditches called
moats, made it difficult for attackers to get close to the castle walls.
Some of the royal families, their workers, and their defenses were in a
land surrounded by enemies, and they had to build their castle as quickly as
they could. Therefore, they used
something that was the easiest to build with and the cheapest – wood.
Although the advantage in building with wood was that it was cheaper and
easier to use, it was also a disadvantage.
When attacked, wooden castles would be easily burned, or they could rot.
WHY CASTLES WERE BUILT
Castles
were the most important between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries during a
period called the Middle Ages. They
were built for a number of reasons such as protection, to show how rich or royal
the people were, or sometimes just as a place to live.
A castle was a
fortress built
for protection against enemy armies; but it was also the home of a lord and his
army followers. It protected the
people who worked on the castle lands and who lived in the villages nearby. Over the centuries however, castles often had to be
strengthened many times. This was
because weapons became more powerful.
WHERE CASTLES WERE BUILT
The
castle was a very important part of the community, and people had to be able to
visit and get inside without difficulty. Farmers
for instance, needed to get to their nearby farms inside the castle, and food
had to be sent back to the castle easily. Therefore,
most castles were situated close to where people lived; it tended to be in a low
river valley.
The
majority of castles had to be on low ground, and near a good water supply.
The water supply had to be within the castle itself, and deep wells were
dug into the water table. Streams
were no good as they could be dammed or poisoned by an attacking enemy.
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