How were stone castles attacked?
A good way of attacking a stone castle was through mining. Attackers would dig a tunnel underground up to the castle walls, under the gatehouse if possible. They would then set a charge and make an explosion which would make the walls crumble and collapse.
How might a castle attack?
There are a number of ways of assaulting a castle: over the top of the walls using towers or ladders, under the walls using a mine, or through the walls using a battering ram, pickaxes or other tools.
What are some ways to defend a castle against attack?
The defenders could fire missiles through gaps (crenels). The raised sections between, called merlons, helped to shelter the defenders during an enemy attack. These were stone boxes that projected from the walls of castles and had holes in the floors for dropping stones or boiling oil on attackers.
How does a moat defend a castle?
The moat served a number of useful purposes. Firstly, it meant that attackers couldn’t get too close to the outer castle walls. This prevented them from being able to use battering-rams, and made it harder to be accurate when flinging missiles. It also made it easier for archers in the castle to aim at on-comers.
What is the water around a castle called?
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence.
Were there alligators in moats?
These were called dry moats. In many stories, moats are filled with alligators or crocodiles. This is a myth. However, moats were sometimes filled with fish or eels for food.
Where is a castle moat filled with bears?
Český Krumlov Castle
How did they fill moats with water?
Moats filled with water were usually supplied by a nearby source of water, such as a spring, lake, or river. Dams could be built that would control the level of water in the moat. While some fancy moats may have had stone sides, most moats had simple banks of earth left over from when they were dug.
What is the name for the part of a castle lowered to allow people to cross the moat?
A portcullis (from Old French porte coleice, “sliding gate”) is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in Medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway.
What is the most important part of a castle?
At the heart of a castle is its tower, known as the keep. The number of floors within the keep depended on its size and the wealth of its owner. All Keeps contained a large room known as the Great Hall. The enclosed area between the inside of the wall and the keep.
Which was the safest part of a castle?
At the time of Chr tien de Troyes, the rooms where the lord of a castle, his family and his knights lived and ate and slept were in the Keep (called the Donjon), the rectangular tower inside the walls of a castle. This was meant to be the strongest and safest place.
What are the disadvantages of stone keep castles?
Stone keep castles were a lot bigger than motte and bailey castles and were able to hold more soldiers. Because of their vast size they were much harder to attack. However, they had two main weaknesses – there was nothing to be done if the enemy surrounded except remain in the castle.
What replaced castles?
Stone castles replaced the motte and bailey castles but the stone castles also changed over time. Shortly after the Normans invaded England, they began building rectangular stone keeps. The White Tower at the Tower of London was started in 1070.
What are the disadvantages of Motte and Bailey castles?
At a glance: disadvantages of Motte and Bailey castles
- Timber burns easily -and attackers quickly learned that firing flaming arrows could defeat the castle.
- Timber rots, to0 – castles quickly ran into disrepair, and often became abandoned by their owners.
- Mottes often had a broad base.
Why did they stop building Motte and Bailey castles?
Also, in the more remote west and north of England, peasants could be forced to construct the castles, as the structures required little skilled labour. Nevertheless, owing to the importance of stone structures for defensive and symbolic reasons, the motte and bailey design declined a century after William’s invasion.
What makes a Motte and Bailey castle strong?
The sides of the motte were very steep. It would have almost impossible to run up the sides of the motte, making it an excellence defence, A deep ditch was dug around the bottom of the motte for extra protection.
How long does it take to build a Motte and Bailey castle?
This contrasted favourably with stone keeps of the period, which typically took up to ten years to build. Very little skilled labour was required to build motte and bailey castles, which made them very attractive propositions if forced peasant labour was available, as was the case after the Norman invasion of England.
Who lives in a Motte and Bailey castle?
Life in the Norman Motte and Bailey Castles depended on the rank of the people who inhabited the castle. The Lord of the Castle and possibly his family would live in the most protected part of the castle – the Tower or the Keep. Servants would be expected to provide food for the Nobles and soldiers.
What does a Motte and Bailey castle look like?
Motte and bailey castles contained a large, circular mound, usually up to 5m high, on which stood a wooden tower or keep. The mound was surrounded by a ditch and there would have been a bailey, or enclosed courtyard, attached.
Why is it called a Motte and Bailey castle?
The term motte and bailey castle comes from Norman French words for mound and enclosed land. The Normans from France, introduced the Motte and Bailey castle to England, when they invaded the country in 1066. It is believed that as many as 1000 Motte and Bailey Castles were built in England by the Normans.
Who survived stone keep castles?
The Normans were master castle builders. After 1066, England witnessed a massive castle building programme on the orders of William the Conqueror. First, motte and bailey castles were built. Once William had firmly established his rule in England, he built huge stone keep castles.