Castles

Castles can be divided into two big categories: MEDIEVAL & POST MEDIEVAL

Medieval are those from the beginning of their formation, in the 9^th c., to about the 15^th c., when the purpose of castles changed from fortifications to living spaces.

Medieval Castles

The medieval castle originated in the 9^th century in France, western Germany and northern Italy because the nobles began building fortifications in response to increasing insecurity in the region. Rich Romans didn't live in castles, they lived in villas. But Roman soldiers lived in military forts called castra, and that is where we get the word castle[i]. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the feudal system developed, to protect rulers against invasion & to help them invade other countries.

Before the X century, villagers had to rely heavily on walls and rivers to stop an invading army's progression. Walls were commonly built of wood or stone. Nevertheless, as time passed; people realized that walls were not as effective as they used to be because of new weapons and siege engines.

Originally as a means of defense, castles were also meant to increase the power of a king or lord throughout the kingdom, by establishing a base in hostile territory. Some of the earliest recorded 'castles' were built of earth and wood in Northern France in the10^th or early 11^th century. These were built by the Normans, who were descendants of the 'Norseman'.

When William the Conqueror (Norman) invaded and conquered England (Saxon), he brought along the practice of building a castle to protect and hold the land...a necessity in the hostile environment of the overthrown Saxons.

William the Conqueror changed history when he conquered Great Britain in 1066. (See Bayeux Tapestry[ii]) Having built more than 40 castles across England, William's belief was that by building numerous castles in key-spots, Great Britain would be able to easily repel foreign invasions, mainly from the Vikings and the French. Even though invasions still continued, he was successful in stopping most of them. Soon afterwards, castles were built in every major European country because they provided a notorious advantage for the defenders.

When William the conqueror was Great Britain's king, his most famous and notorious castle was The Tower of London. William took advantage of an old Roman wall to build the most magnificent edifice that England had ever seen. Protected by the Roman wall to the East and South, by an enormous ditch to the West, by the river and by its walls; the Tower of London is one of the strongest castles ever built.

When estimating the age of a castle, look for advancements in engineering, materials, and features which an early castle would NOT have ≠ windows at the ground level would allow easy entry for an enemy, so isnπt used in early castles.

The First Castles

Fortifications started with a motte and bailey.

motte

bailey

ditch

Image from http://www.castlewales.com/motte.html

Retrieved June 29, 2006

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle. Many were built in Britain and France in the 11th and 12th centuries, especially in England following the Norman Conquest of 1066.

The motte is a raised earth mound, like a small hill, usually artificial and topped with a wooden tower or stone structure known as a keep. The earth for the mound would be taken from a ditch, dug around the motte or around the whole castle. The outer surface of the mound could be covered with clay or strengthened with wooden supports.

The bailey is an enclosed courtyard, typically surrounded by a wooden fence and overlooked by the motte. A castle could have more than one bailey, sometimes an inner and an outer. Wikipedia, June 29, 2006

Lincoln castle, completed 1068, is an example of a motte and bailey castle that evolved over time. The wooden tower became a stone Tower Keep (12^th c.) which housed the ruler, and these became larger over time. As in most early castles, timber fortifications were vulnerable to fire, so more complex strongholds built of stone evolved, stronger and thicker. Most were built of stone, mortar and intensive labor on top of a hill or outcropping, to keep an eye on the countryside and make it harder for enemies to scale the walls.

Tower Keeps

While shell keeps (a stone keep with a surrounding shell, developed from the motte and bailey) became a common feature of English castles, the tower keep is the most striking legacy of Norman castle building. Most tower keeps were built in the 12th Century but the form was used by the Normans in France from the beginning of the 11th Century and brought with them to England. As early as 1070, William the Conqueror ordered the construction of what is the most famous of all English tower keeps; the White Tower at the Tower of London. Other tower keeps, built at the king's command, followed in 1080; at Colchester, Essex, Canterbury, Kent and Pevensey, Sussex . These were clearly deemed by William to be strategic sites of the first importance and required stronger defenses than the customary motte and bailey; possibly for symbolic as well as military reasons.

The tower keep was generally, though not always, rectangular in shape. It had thick walls (10-12ft and thicker at the corners) built of rubble and mortar faced with squared stones. [iii]

A Tower Keep is a self-contained strong house, a defensible residence usually a residence that would also be the whole castle. There was only one entrance to the keep, usually at second floor level. This was reached by an external staircase running up against the outer wall and covered by a forebuilding. Windows were small and restricted to the upper storeys. At the lower levels, their place was taken by loopholes and arrow-slits.

It had all the components, halls, chambers, chapels, and sometime kitchens all together into one compact unit, the result being an impressive tower. There were rectangular towers divided from top to bottom by a cross wall that gave structural strength to the whole and facilitated roofing. The principle suite to the lord himself was marked by extra ornamentation and sometimes rose through two stories to give extra space and light.

The majority of Tower Keeps built in the 12th. Century were rectangular, but later the cylindrical donjon became fashionable, especially in France. This change from rectangular to cylindrical was a symbol of progress, the round tower being stronger in order to withstand the battering of missiles or the assault of pick and bore, and avoiding blind angles for the defenders.

Edwardian Castles

The more money a ruler had, the more elaborate and massive the fortifications. One man ≠ Henry the 1^st, ordered ten castles of stone built in Wales to oversee the population. Among them, Conway, Harlech, Beaumaris, & Caernarfon; these represent the apex of Edwardian castles. His architect, James of St. George, from Savoy, oversaw construction over several castles at once.

Everything in an Edwardian castle is designed for defense and mental intimidation. They were built by men with shovels, animals, simple machines, and thousands of craftsmen and laborers. Conway alone took 4 and a half years ot build. Caernarfon had 13 towers.

Location

A fresh water spring was the most important thing to decide where to build, when establishing a castle, as lack of water could put a stop to a siege very quickly.

The castle of Edward I at Caernarvon succeeded first a Roman fort, and then a Norman motte and bailey ≠ demonstrating the strategic importance of the site.

A cliff or obstacle was next, which hindered the approach of an enemy, but if these werenπt available, a Moat could be built, not necessarily with water, sometimes with sharpened stakes.

Walls

Scaffolding was utilized by building a rock wall up about 5 feet, then inserting a timber which stuck out from the wall to hold stairs up to the top of the wall. They then climbed up to the next layer, where this technique was repeated until the walls were the desired height. They used cranes and winches operated by animals and men, and lime mortar was used to set the stones, which was learned in Roman times and had not been lost.

The walls were often white washed, and castles were white all over, inside and out, with colorful paintings on inside walls and glass in the windows. Medieval glass was blown in a bubble, then cut into thick slabs, and joined with lead.

retrieved Jun 29, 12006

image from http://www.castlewales.com/dyserth.html

Edwardian Castles (cont.)

Towers with loopholes or arrow slits took advantage of the use of a crossbow, which could shoot 3-4 bolts per minutes. Arrow slits or loopholes were laid out to cover overlapping areas, so that attackers were always in view, and could be caught in cross fire from two openings at once. The crenellation was designed to defend; you could stand behind the merlot and come out to fire an arrow.

The walls could be 20-30 feet thick, so stones were thrown at the top of the walls, and broken down from the top down. The gateway was the most vulnerable spot, so the gatehouse had extra fortifications. There was sometimes a gate which could be raised and lowered, but there was always a portcullis, usually built of wood, and a gate, built of solid wood. On each side were arrow slits, and murder holes above, to drop heavy stones upon attackers. Once you reach the yard, you now have archers in the walls behind you shooting at your back, while those in the tower in the center were also shooting at you. This crossfire was particularly deadly.

Conway Castle, photo from http://www.walesdirectory.co.uk/his/cas/conwy.htm

Retrieved June 29, 2006

Most attackers dug under the walls, if they were built on soil, and caused the walls to collapse.

Medieval feasts, wedding celebrations, receiving visiting nobles, and holiday festivities would all be celebrated in the castle's great hall. Elaborate tapestries and silks would line the walls, but straw was used on the floors to soak up waste, rather than rugs or carpets. This could be swept out by servants daily.

The upper rooms were the bedrooms or chambers, which had breezes and stunning views of the countrysid. Medieval furniture included intricately carved wooden chests for clothing and wall pegs to hang robes. A small stool might have been in the room to be used while dressing. Armchairs became popular in the late Middle Ages. The lord's bed would be made with a heavy wooden frame and have a canopy that would be pulled back during daylight hours.

Henry was bankrupt for 14 years after the castles in Wales were finished, because it so expensive to build them. This actually helped establish international banking, because of the loans made to him by European firms.

At the basement level

Dungeon is actually a word for the keep or castle, and this somehow became the word for the oubliette, which was used for keeping prisoners. Oubliette is French for ≥to forget≤. It was usually a deep, round hole with corbelled walls, forming a beehive shape, with a trap door at the top and a ladder for entering and leaving.

Some dungeons (from the French, donjon) had multiple levels, with a higher dungeon for political prisoners who you wanted to treat a little nicer. The lowest dungeon was always about 54 degrees F. and had no light, with straw on the floor to absorb fluids. Few castles actually had torture chambers as in movies, as most prisoners were either punished and released, or put to death.

Spain was the last to build true castles for fortification, due to the wars between Christians and Moors. The region of Castillo, Castile, gets its name from the casltes built by Christian rulers as they retook land from the Moors in Spain.

Alc·zar at Segovia, Spain was built at the intersection of two rivers, and was a blend of two cultures, both Muslim and Christian. During the Middle Ages, the alc·zar of Segovia was the favorite residence of kings of Castile, and almost each king added new parts to the building, transforming the original fortress into a courtier residence and prolonging the construction of the castle till 16th century, when king Philip II added the conical spires and the slate roofs.

Castles were very effective from the X to the XV century. Castles notoriously changed the course of history since warfare was different than before. An open-field battle was very rare, making conquering new land harder than before.

Post-Medieval Castles

In 1346 came the Battle of Crecy; the first of the Hundred Years War between France and England. For the first time ever, cannon fire was used in open country against a castle. It was evident that even the mightiest of castles would prove to be useless against such devastating weapons. Castle walls were not enough to protect its inhabitants anymore.

At the same time cannons were invented, larger, more centralized governments were developing, and nobles were able to build luxurious homes rather than fortifications, so many fortresses were abandoned. Some were also town down by kings who wanted to make sure the nobles didnπt have a stronghold, or for their materials, which were needed for new buildings.

From the 15^th century castles evolved into chateaus, and though they may be called castles, they were not built for fortifications, but for comfort, pleasure, and politics. It is sometimes hard to tell when a castle was first built, as they were changed and extended with time. One of the most famous castles was the Louvre, which was transformed into a palace for the king of France, and then into a museum of fine art when the French Revolutionaries liberated art and castle.

In the 19^th c. many castles were built to recover the romance of the middle ages. This was when one of the most lavish was built in Bavaria, Neuswanstein, which is said to be the model for Cinderellaπs castle in Disney theme parks. Others say it was Alc·zar, above. Wikipedia states , however, that it was inspired by several French castles, among them the Ch‚teau d'UssÈ in France