Exploration of Castles Essay

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.

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.

The once subjugated Saxons were required to raise a knoll that was twenty-one meters high and surrounded by a dry trench. There were Wooden pikes or posts that protected the buildings on top of the knoll, while to in the south and east of the knoll there were yards that were protected by banks and ditches this all this was to set in motion the ground work for the castle of Norwich. Edward Boardman a Norwich born architect completed the Norwich Castle, a medieval and fantastic defense structure in the city of Norwich which was one of the greatest castles of its time because of its architecturally advanced structure, a symbol of military power, and a symbol of political control that was founded by the Normans.

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.

“We don’t accept handouts form anyone” says Rose Mary Walls, the mother of Jeannette Walls. In the memoir The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls she describes events from her life from childhood to adulthood and how she overcame her struggles. She had to adjust to her family’s situation and comply with how her parents wanted her to act, which was to be independent. Walls’ memoir embodies the theme of being self-sufficient by illustrating scenes that take place in hers and her siblings life that demonstrate the need to become self-sufficient. Jeannette Walls has been learning how to be independent from a young age.

The wooden towers of a motte and bailey castle were removed and replaced with stone, because the towers were hollow, it was called a shell keep. Castles with a shell keep were better than the early Norman ‘motte and bailey castles’ because it was an expensive way of strengthening the motte, the fragile wooden fence around the motte was replaced with a stone wall. The castle engineers during the Norman period of time did not trust the motte to support the enormous weight of a stone keep, but the a common solution to that problem was to replace the wooden stakes enclosing the castle with a stone wall then building wooden buildings backing onto the inside of the wall. This construction was great because it meant that the walls could be thinner and lighter. The shell keep castles were less popular and were relatively short lived, the style stopped being popular very quickly. Castles like York castle Clifford tower have a stone

Undeniable Love Jeannette Walls, an American writer and journalist, recounts her most loved childhood memories she went through with her father, Rex Walls, in the novel The Glass Castle. Jeannette Walls, comes to adore her father even after all his recklessness and comes to realize that these are portions of the best times in her life. In spite of many occurrences in which her father neglects to ensure his kids, declined to assume liability for them, and even stole from them, Jeannette still adores him until his diminishing days for two reasons: his consistent capacity to make her feel special and his ceaseless source of motivation. Walls purpose is to express the atmosphere she experienced childhood in and demonstrates that a harsh adolescence,

The novel The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls demonstrates about a young girl, Jeannette Walls’, childhood. This book is memoir of the author, Jeannette Walls. Jeannette grew up in a family that had little to no money at times and has to move to different cities in deserts numerous times. Although many events in the novel were depressing the family still managed to keep humor and hope, especially when going through having to move constantly and being broke.An example as to why the family was always short on money because Janette’s father was an alcoholic and he would use up the family's money to purchase liquor. However, when the family was in need of food and money he would go out and a job. In the end the Walls children were moved out of

Brattices (small wooden sheds) were also attached to wall by small jutting stones; these could be built quickly and were effective for defence. The holds for the brattices can still be seen today. The walls were filled with rubble beneath the initial layer to absorb the impact from cannon fire and stop the wall from crumbling. Crenulations on the top of the curtain walls had wooden flaps to allow archers to shoot from quickly and not get hit by enemy fire. We saw evidence of this on the Carisbrooke Castle fieldtrip, where there were small notches in the stone for the flap hinges.

The castle would usually be built on higher ground to see enemies coming from below. This would also help to build a moat, the drawbridge would be the only pathway from the land to the castle. The castle would have multiple stories from basements to dungeons. The toilet would be built at the bottom story to let the waste go down into the water below.

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.

The Norman Conquest was a significant event in British history. William Duke of Normandy’s invasion in 1066 resulted in the battle of Hastings, during which the Saxon king Harold Godwinson was killed, possibly by an arrow in the eye. Following one battle of Hastings, castles were used by William to take control of England. One of the first castles was built at Pevensey, but the most famous castle was the Tower of London, built to conquer and control London and to provide protection for the new Norman Rulers of England

Each wave of migrations and invasions brought different cultures and added to what is now modern-day the United Kingdom. The Romans left their numerous long roads, whose names became lost in time since there was no written records or inscribed sources. Built by the Roman army and long after they returned home, their roads survived, and some routes are in use today. The Normans built fortified castles, which was a new concept since before that time there was none in the United Kingdom. One example is Restormel Castle, which is in a circular in shape as well as surrounded by an entrenched circular ditch for protection against attacks. The Vikings left parts of their language in the names of the towns and villages, such as names ending in by are where Vikings settled first. Places ending in Thorpe are their secondary settlements, and places that end in ton is for town or city.

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.