European Castles Research Paper

The earliest Motte and Bailey castles were simply a wooden blockhouse placed on a mound. The rapid construction of the Motte and Bailey castles enabled the Normans to control the conquered English.

The first stage of the castle development is the motte and bailey castles. The motte is a hill or a mound with a flat surfaced top and it is the hardest point to attack. Whereas the bailey is inside the wells were people lived and the cops were grown. The King and lords who built castles used them as bases from which they could control their land and people, furthermore it also protected them from wars and showed people how powerful and rich they were. Examples of motte and bailey castles are Windsor castle, Lincoln castle,

So, who was the person who had such a masterpiece of a castle constructed and what were their motives? The story is just intriguing as the castle itself. The castle was decorated in scenes of medieval legends of Dragons, and the breathtakingly beautiful but rare fire and ice roses. Inside are many secrets, including secret grotto's and underground

Most believe this shift started under the rule of Tokugawa Ieyasu, but it actually was credited to Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Nobunaga innovated the way castles were built by constructing fortifications in lower areas. Usually near important land and water transportation routes. This area is harder to defend as opposed to mountainous area; it was significantly more accessible (Howell 357). With the assistance of Hideyoshi, Nobunaga also required that supports live within the new castle. Merchants were attracted to the thought of this castle, because half of the inhabitants were samurais who were funded by the government. Also, the location made trade with others much more available. Eventually, a fully functioning city was created.

Fire was the best way to attack the early Motte and Bailey castles since they were made entirely of wood. The fire might be started by building a bonfire against the outer wooden fence (palisade) or, more usually, by archers shooting fire-arrows into the castle. As the fire spread through the castle those living inside would be forced to leave allowing the attackers to take them prisoner or kill them. This was one of the reasons why Motte and Bailey castles were soon replaced by Stone Keep castles. Fire has little effect on a stone castle.

Thornbury Castle The first part of the assignment concerns the characteristics of Thornbury Castle, and in particular its defensive and palace like features. Having visited the site, in my opinion Thornbury Castle displays both defensive and luxurious, palace like features. The Castle has the beginning of a ditch which could be argued as being a moat. Crennelations, machicolations, gun/arrow loops and portcullis grooves are all strong defensive features included in the building of Thornbury Castle.

This caused the need for castle designs to be changed. The first castles were mounds of earths which were built for defence as enemies had difficulties climbing over them. The Normans then developed the Motte and Bailey castle designs. "A Motte was a large mound of earth, and a Bailey was the flattened land beside the mound."[4] Motte and Bailey castles took a small amount of time to build and it was very hard to attack. Castle architects developed a way to further strengthen the Motte and Bailey Castle which was building "a shell keep - a thin ring of stone around the buildings on top of the castle Motte."[4] Castle architects then constructed a castle made from stone. Stone was much harder to be stormed by attackers and it was protected against fire. A new style of constructing castles developed which was the gothic style. Gothic castles were much more imposing and comfortable to live in. In 1270, concentric castles were then developed. "They had thicker outer walls and rings of extra outer walls."[4] Concentric castles were very expensive stone castles. In Northern Wales, Edward I built some concentric castles. After the development of cannons, castle walls were easily destroyable. The nobles then decided to turn the castles into imposing grand

The Burg Eltz is an early German castle that focused more on looks and the good medieval life of a royal rather than the hard lines and toil of a defensive fortress. Castles are considered to be large, fortified private residences. Castles started showing up during the 9th and 10th centuries. These fortifications provided a home base from which attacks could be launched, or as protection from enemy raids. Also, the structures served as symbols of power and centers of administration. Castles were first constructed from timber and earth, but had their walls replaced later on by stone. Even though gunpowder was introduced into Europe during the 14th century, it was not powerful enough to significantly affect the construction of new castles until

Motte and Bailey Castles were the first castles brought by the Normans in 1066. They were wooden and kept on an “an artificial mound” called a motte (Johnson). The castle would be surrounded by an enclosed courtyard called a bailey. The whole area would be surrounded by a “ditch and palisade” for extra protection (Johnson). The mote would be used as a final fighting destination when the castle itself had been breached.

While William’s repressive measures were taking place, there were needs for fortification. Motte and Bailey castles were

This castle was originally built for troop protection for the Imperial army of the Holy Roman Empire. It was very small, but over a period of more than 900 years, it was transformed in many different ways. This fortress became the city’s most important defense when Archbishop Gebhard had a conflict with Emperor Henry IV and was influenced to expand the castle in case of invasion. The expansion continued gradually for the next few centuries, then in 1462, builders under Prince Archbishop Burkhard III von Weißpriach, constructed the four main towers along the outer wall, a bell tower in the northern wall, the trumpeter tower in the northeast, the kraut tower in the north and a type of prison is the south. Prince-Archbishop Leonhard von Keutschach during his term further expanded the castle, and the beast was growing. His coadjutor ( a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop) Matthäus Lang von Wellenburg wrote descriptions of his idea of a Riess

Iron Age forts had many defensive systems, but are not seen as a castle like structures. This may be due to the lack of a keep, gatehouse and other buildings associated with the castle, yet the extensive defence systems suggest otherwise. For example at Maiden Castle where there is conclusive evidence of multiple ditches. These ditches made it increasingly hard for an attacker to enter the fort. As Sharples states ‘there is then evidence for a gradual increase in the occupation of the interior: small cluster of houses.’ (1981; 98). This idea is similar to the construction of the motte and bailey castles. Once an area was seen as a secure place, more people occupied the area. One example of this is at Stafford, where the bailey increased in

This castle was very well thought out and the castle had a good defence from the invaders.

History is made and altered throughout time. A motte-and-bailey is a major part of our history, especially of castles. It was a form of castle on a raised surface that was surrounded by a ditch and protective fence. It was the most common form of castle in Europe in the 11th century in many places.

The White Tower was protected to the east and south by the old Roman city walls, while the north and west sides were protected by ditches and an earthwork with a wooden wall on top. The tower was reinforced on the two western corners by square turrets, by a round tower housing the main staircase on the north-eastern corner, and by a half-round projection housing the chapel on the south-eastern corner. Inside, each of the building's four levels was divided into three parts. The lowest level contained access to the well while the main entrance was situated on the floor above and reached by a timber staircase. In the 12th century a 'fore-building' was added to the south front of the White Tower to protect the entrance. From very early on the enclosure contained a number of timber buildings for residential and service use.