Third Post

Hey readers,

for my post today, I would like to talk about the architecture of castles, and how it changed over time.

For many years, castles in the early 700 AD-1000 AD were something called Motte and Bailey structures. These were formed as little baileys that had most of the functions in it, like the hall, stables, and granery. There was a large mound connected to it by a wooden walkway and drawbridge, this was the motte, which had the keep on it, which defenders would retreat to if the bailey was overrun.

After that period, the mottes were built into stone, as well as the walls. The buildings were put inside the walls and it was turned into one place, called a Shell Keep. The Shell Keep had a large tower that was the keep at one point in the circle, and the other buildings were on the inside of the wall around the tower in the circle. These keeps would generally be placed atop a hill with a moat or dry ditch surrounding it.

After that, the castles would gain in complication, often having a large keep with square towers and walls enclosing it, with buildings in the area between the two, called the courtyard. The keep could be seperate from the rest of it and would be able to hold out well. Sometimes, it would only be a keep, without walls or towers to help protect it. During this period, the design was usually square, with many angles.

Over time, around the 1200 AD - 1400 AD period, the design changed to be consentric, meaning multiple walls, and being circular, as they figured out that projectiles would do less damage to circular towers than to square. An example of a concentric castle would be Beaumaris of Wales, which had two sets of walls which attackers would have to get through. So, I hope this has been informational, and I hope you join me next time while we talk about foreign castles, and then how castles are interpreted today!

Clark

Second Post

Hey Readers,



Here is the second post by me. I would like to mention some things about sieges.

Once a castle was begun to be sieged, the defenders would settle in and prepare for the torrent of missles that would be fired by siege weapons like trebuchets, ballistas, and catapults. They would of course have several months worth of provisions stored throughout the castle, like in the base of towers or within the keep. Meanwhile, the attackers would also be preparing by cutting down trees for wood that would go towards fires and the making of siege weapons. Tunnelers would begin to dig tunnels that would try to go underneath castle walls and destroy the foundations. If the castle had a moat, it was a big deterent for tunnelers, as it would flood the tunnel once they try to dig. Another type of siege weapon was the wall scalers. These were ladders and siege towers; mobile towers of wood with multiple levels and a bridge onto which attackers could travel from the tower onto the wall once lowered. Both sides would settle in and battle it out for several months until the attackers gave up or until the defenders surrendered. The defenders would wait mainly for the reason of keeping the castle, but they also hoped that help would arrive from a friendly army and rout the attackers. Here is an example:

First Post

Dear Readers,

The purpose of this blog is of an informative nature. This blog is also to discuss castles, their architecture, famous ones, not so famous ones, and battles/sieges that have occured.

I think that some of the most famous instances have occured between the high time of medieval history - the period between 900 and 1300 A.D. The best castles in my opinion were those built in the 'iron ring' around Wales by King Edward I and Sir George de Crecy.

Harlech Castle

Beaumaris Castle