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Medieval Castles
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When one thinks of
the medieval castle thoughts that come to mind are the
stuff of myth and legend – King Arthur, damsels in
distress, nobler, more romantic times. The castle could
be a church, a bank, a stronghold, or, more commonly,
a home and residence for the owner and his family.
Castle like fortifications first appeared during Roman
times, but following the decline of the Roman Empire,
the emergence of the Saxons and the rise of feudalism,
castle building flourished. In the feudalistic society,
the King was supreme and below him were the numerous landholders.
These landholders would be charged with providing knights
and men-at-arms to the king. Bases were needed for these
men and these bases needed to be fortified and defensible.
Thus was born the castle.
William the Conqueror, following the Norman invasion of
England, largely led the widespread development of the
castle in England. However, these castles were initially
not the large stone fortresses that come to mind today.
These first castles were made of earth and timber and
consisted of two areas, the motte, or enclosure, and bailey,
or central area. These structures were either built on
a hill or, more commonly, a ditch was dug for defense
and the excavated dirt was built up behind the ditch and
covered with timber. The ditch was sometimes filled with
water or hedges were planted behind the ditch as an added
defense.
As castle building progressed, towers were added to the
structure for additional defense and to serve as a final
retreat in times of attack. The earth and timber structures
gave way to the traditional stone structures that are
thought of today when one thinks of castles. In fact,
many of these initial earthen structures were remodeled
and built into stone fortresses. The large stone castles
that survive today first appeared in the 12th century.
 These stone fortresses, made up of the keep, or central
area, tower and gatehouse, were built to withstand long
sieges and allowed for the occupants to remain inside
the castle for long periods of time where the would be
protected. Many of the medieval stone castles had extremely
thick walls, sometimes 10 or more feet thick, with additional
reinforcement at the wall’s base to withstand siege
engines and other forms of attack. However, advances in
siege warfare, improved siege engines, mining, or simply
scaling the castle walls made castles less secure from
attack. To remedy these offensive methods, improvements
were made to the castle design. Walls were rounded or
further reinforced, towers were flanked to allow for layers
of defense when invaders attempted to climb them and wall
bases were extended and gates reinforced to frustrate
battering rams. However, with the advent of gunpowder
and its explosive power, the effectiveness of the castle
was diminished, though their construction continued. As
is evidenced by the number of medieval castles that still
remain, their construction is a testament to the quality
of the workmanship and craftsmanship of the time.
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