Architectural Designs of Castles vs. Modern Homes

A medieval fortress is usually thought to simply be a castle, however, this is not the case. A fortress was anything that ranged from small towers and forts to fortified towns surrounded by walls to actual castles. The fate of a battle was usually decided over who has

Spain has the most formidable castles in the world. Spain has more than 1000 Spanish castles recorded through history. The castles were built for various reasons. However, the primary reason was to stop the Arabs when they invaded Spain in 711. The Spanish built so many of them in fact. These castles were mostly concentrated in the northern part which was where the Arabs advanced when they attacked. And when the Spanish military moved to reconquer the peninsula towards the south, they built additional strongholds to prevent the Arabs from reclaiming Spain. These castles were known as Castilla.

In Europe, the lords would build castles out of stone to protect themselves whilst the Japanese lords, known as Daimyo, built castles out of wood rather than stone.

Castles, palaces, and cathedrals are scattered across Europe. Each one possesses unique characteristics and architecture bearing resemblance of their time. Some castles incorporate Greek influence, roman or gothic influence in design. Other castles and palaces are surrounded by sculptures outside in the courtyard or include sculptures worshiped as an altarpiece. While any one of these things would serve to make an ordinary castle more elaborate there is one palace that possesses all of these: The Palace of Versailles in France. The Palace of Versailles has managed to incorporate classic architecture, exquisite sculptures, and amalgamated the old design with the newer design trends of the day.

The Moors also built atalayas, or watchtowers and rock castles that served as part of the defense system for the castle. The watchtowers were used as communication devices for castles that were great distances apart. The watchtowers would signal the castle in case of an enemy attack by using smoke and mirrors. They built rock castles, or small defense castles high on rocks, using the natural terrain to the maximum effect. Since the rock castles were small they did not house many soldiers.

As knights increased their social standing, with some becoming nobles, the idea of owning a castle became a common idea. War was often a way for one side to gain large amounts of wealth, which allowed more castles to be built. This allowed for the development of many different types of castles.

Castles are huge, strong houses, where kings and lords once lived with their families, soldiers and servants. They were built to provide safety from attack and to display the owner's wealth. The first proper castles were built in England after the Norman Conquest in 1066. They were introduced by William the Conqueror, when he invaded England from his homeland in France.

Castles were extremely important during 1066 – 1500 and they changed overtime to get more protection. A castle is a fortification that was used in the middle ages to protect territory against an invasion. They were important during these times because many kings and lords wanted to show off how wealthy they are and they used them as bases, controlling their land and people from a higher point.

There are many ways that kingdoms defended themselves with things like moats, bridges, walls. (Morris & Exploring-Castles, n.d.). Luckily for the attackers there are ways to get pass defences such as battering rams for heavy doors. Also mining was used to go under a defensive wall. If you thought that chemical warfare was a new thing then you are wrong. In medieval times if a castle had wooden structures you were in grave danger of having it set on fire. Biological warfare was also used in medieval times. Diseases were a very dangerous way

Castles were constructed strategically as military structures to defend against attackers and enemies. They were built to maximize their defense features and limit any weaknesses that the enemy could capitalize on. Around the 10th century, Normans began to build motte and bailey castles to protect themselves from any Viking invasions or attacks which depended on the element of surprise. Motte and bailey castles got their name from their motte which is a mound of earth and their bailey, a flat enclosed area that is usually surrounded by a wooden fence. On top of the motte was the keep which was a tower or structure that operated as the last line of defense. The motte was sometimes human-made and was combined with a nearby hill. The keep was also where

They came up with poles with hooks at the end that would hook on the rider's armor and pull them or make him fall off. They also made the halberg which was a axe, spear, and hook all in one. They would use the hook to pull riders off of there horse or stab them on the horse.("Medieval Weapons."). There was attacks that they would go for a castle. They would need special weapons, they were called siege weapons. They were the mongole, battering ram, siege tower, catapult, and trebuchet. The mongole was like the catapult in the sense it launched projectiles but they were different in their design. The mongole was a giant crossbow. The siege tower was used to cross walls of castles they would make it the same height or even taller than the wall they had to go over and it would protect anybody inside with ladders for the attack. The battering ram is simply a tree truck held up by rope or chain to a frame covered in wooden or sometimes steel in spots. It was used to protect the multiple soldiers inside that would work the trunk back and forth to hit doors or castle gates down so they could get in. The trunk would have a spike

When castles evolved to be stone, they became very strong, tough military buildings. (Murrell 10). Moats were added, and this eliminated one of the most popular ways of attack; digging a big enough hole under the castle walls for the whole army to go through. This was a very big invention, because this is what really allowed castles to be so unstoppable. Moats were only about a meter deep, but even if someone was brave enough to go through it, there would often be sharp stakes placed in the water, so moats became even more useful.

The Siege of a Castle was a guarantied victory, but it took a long time of patience. Patience was the key to victory with this strategy, however it was scarce in the battlefield, because of the angry, impatient soldiers waiting to get home to their families. The city walls were suppose to be fortifying a position that could not be easily overrun, and that it could be strong enough to enable the defense to maintain that position for a long period of time. Siege of a fort, castle, or city walls had four basic concepts. The Sieging technique was directly directed towards these four. In order for the attackers to get inside they would have to go over the wall, tear a passage through the wall, dig a tunnel underneath it, or just wait until the defenders surrendered.

Also, defensive architecture includes metal spikes that appear on windowsills, fences, trees, and buildings. There is a milder form of defensive architecture that is commonly used such as color and sound. The use of colors is powerful in design and have a great effect on the mind. Defensive architecture can even be the use of low decibel noise to deter younger children from congregating in certain areas.

The Tower of London is one of the most famous and visited historic monuments in the world. For some people it conjures up images of Norman architecture and towering battlements, but most associate it with arms and armour, ravens, the Crown Jewels, Yeoman Warders, imprisonment, death and ghostly apparitions. But this does not do it justice: the history of the Tower and its buildings is a vast, fascinating and complex subject, intertwined with the history of the country of England, its government, its kings and queens, and its people and institutions. The castle's first four centuries, during the Middle Ages, saw the development of the layout of buildings that we know today and its