4/6/2023 0 Comments Defend your castle 5This slope could also prove useful if projectiles were thrown down on the enemy as they tended to bounce off at unpredictable angles. To prevent undermining and make their scaling more difficult both walls and towers could be built on a sloped plinth or a sloped protective curtain (spur) was later added. Most walls were made of two layers of dressed stones covering a rubble and mortar core. Some were thick enough to contain passageways or murals. Walls varied in thickness, but an average seems to have been around 2.5 metres. Alternatively, oak piles could be driven into the soil to make it more stable. The most common method was to dig a trench wider than the width of the wall and fill it with rammed stone rubble. If the foundations were not of rock then they had to be specially prepared to bear the tremendous weight. Walls surrounding the castle proper presented a formidable challenge to attackers. By the mid-13th century CE, barbicans were set more distant from the outer wall, at an angle from a gate and incorporating a 90-degree turn within them (between the entrance and exit bridges) to further impede access to the castle proper. A second type was the passageway barbican which was similar to a fortified corridor leading from a gateway outwards. The barbican could be protected by covering fire from the towers behind it and was sometimes surrounded by its own wall and/or ditch (with accompanying drawbridge or swing bridge) when it was known as a courtyard barbican. Typically consisting of a short stretch of fortified wall, perhaps forming an echelon form, it allowed the defenders to ward off a direct attack on the wall or gate proper. The barbican was a defensive fortification built to protect potential weak spots like a gate. If filled with water, only a half-metre depth was required to obstruct the enemy and make them more vulnerable to missiles fired from the walls above. Stakes might also be placed in the bottom to further impede crossing. The sides were steep and could be riveted with wooden stakes to increase their slipperiness. The moat was made deep enough to impede attackers on horse, foot or equipped with siege towers. The earth or stone excavated while preparing the moat could be used to build up the mound on which the castle would be subsequently built. As creating a moat was a huge undertaking, the presence of natural rises and depressions were important factors in choosing where to build the castle in the first place. Bailey or Inner Ward (courtyard) - the area within a curtain wall.Īn artificial ditch or moat was dug to surround the entire castle complex and could be filled with water permanently or temporarily during attack in some cases.Keep (aka Donjon or Great Tower) - the largest tower and best stronghold of the castle.Fortified Gatehouse - the main castle entrance.Curtain Walls & Towers - the perimeter defensive wall. Barbican - a fortification to protect a gate.Moat - a perimeter ditch with or without water.The typical features of a medieval castle were: Before they got to the keep, though, attackers had to negotiate a long list of defensive features. The keep was the heart of the medieval castle and the last point of refuge in case of attack or siege. Usually with three or more stories (tower keeps) some were lower and are called hall keeps. The keep became a staple feature of castles, although they were called a donjon (from the French word meaning 'lord') prior to the 16th century CE. Indeed, entirely new locations might be preferred or required, and the foundation of choice was bedrock which prevented any undermining by an attacking force. Finally, in the 12th century CE, the outer wall and main central tower also came to be built of stone, but not usually on the motte itself as that was not stable enough to use as a foundation for such a heavy structure. In the next stage of development, an outer wall was built of stone on top of the motte and then known as a shell keep.
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