“Explain why castles changed in England between 1066 and 1500”
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.
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,
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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
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.
Ian Mortimer uses his book The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century to describe how one might live in the fourteenth century. This book covers a wide range of topics from what one might see and smell when approaching a city, to what one might wear, to how to stay alive. Mortimer’s clever use of a travel guide inspired book lends itself to a much wider audience. The evidence presented in this book is both engaging and intriguing, and provides easy reading for academics and non-academics both.
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.
Over the years the Castle grew in size; sections of floors were added for rooms. The Grand Ballroom was constructed for celebration purposes; and the Twin Towers, for means of watch. High walls became the surroundings of Castle Grisrock, and with the King’s family also growing in number; houses were built beyond these walls and were later called the Domains.
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.
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.
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 are huge, they are the homes to many kings and lords. They are made of stone and are well fortified and protected against any attacks like sieges. Inside the castle there are many different rooms with different purposes. Three of the most important rooms in this castle that you would need to know about is the Great Hall, the Courtyard, and the Dungeon. These rooms all have a different purpose and different than all the other rooms in the castle.
Life in a medieval castle would have been ordered and organized, full of ceremony, and cold and smelly. Castles were first built in 1066, in England. Essentially, castles were the heart of the society in Medieval times. They sorted out a new social system of feudalism in place. Each new castle secured the power of a local lord over his vassals, “who was a holder of land by a feudal tenure on conditions of homage and allegiance to the land.” (Google Dictionary). Medieval castles did not have electricity back then so people would only use candles or open fires for heat and to see in the dark. Medieval castles had their own traditions such as Heraldry, jousting, and hunting and hawking.
Medieval tactics were essential for an attack or siege of a castle. Many tactics and strategies helped develop much-improved version of an attacking artifact, like weapons and sieging machinery. The knights of Medieval England which were the cavalry, improved as the years went by, but never actually had any tactics or strategies. The usual knight would just go out there and fight. The knights were the counter offensive against a small siege, but they were ineffective against a large siege of a castle. A siege was very essential for medieval warfare. Siege was like the most important part of an attack; that is if you’re attacking a castle.
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.
Before Edward became a king, he had been very good at building and constructions. Some of the castles he built are the Beaumaris Castle, Conway Castle, Harlech Castle and Caernarvon Castle.
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
Castles were the main form of protection for most people living during the Medieval Period. The main purpose of the castle was for the defense of the
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.