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Feudalism Vs Dark Ages

Decent Essays

Throughout the course of history, leaders have utilized their resources and wealth to surround themselves with protection from their enemies. The dark ages and the arrival of feudalism in Europe were no different. After the fall of the strong Roman Empire, the entirety of Western Europe lacked a strong central government. People abandoned their lives in the city because the Germanic tribes had endangered them. The rural countryside of Western Europe saw the emergence of manors created by the rich. Manors were self-sustaining communities inside the protection of walls. The idea of a manor was to provide everything the community needed inside the walls without needing to leave. There was a strict social class on manors with each class providing …show more content…

Inside of a castle was the private home of the manor owner or lord. Castles were also a meeting area for nobles and were locations of important ceremonies, announcements and celebratory events. During the times of the dark ages, 500-1500, feudalism divided the countryside of Western Europe into large sections of land owned by different lords and castles begin to arise out of a necessity for protection from rival manors and sieging enemies who wished to take the land and riches of other land lords for …show more content…

The keep was the heart and soul of a castle. It included a great hall, a chapel as well as other important aspects of castle life. As well as walls as thick as eight to feet thick, castles featured many additions and structures used for defense. If the watchman in the watchtower spotted enemies, the drawbridge would be retracted back across the moat that surrounded the castle. Valuable items inside the manor would be brought inside the castle such as livestock and food. If there were crops in the field that hadn’t been harvested they were burned along with serf’s wooden homes. This was to not to provide the enemy with any food. All of the citizens of the manor would retreat within the walls of the castle and prepare to put up a powerful defense. The moat that surrounded the castle include many objects submerged below the surface such as spikes that served as a harsh impediment for unlucky attackers that waded through the water on their way to the tall curtain walls that shielded the castle. The heavy wooden, iron studded door would be shut and protected by a metal gate called a portcullis. The portcullis was lowered in front of the entrance and protected the wooden doors from battering rams and the risk of fire. Archers would take up positions in battlements atop the walls all around the castle. Windows called arrow loops allowed archers to shoot from within the safety of the castle as well; they were constructed so it was

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