What did castles in the Middle Ages have to protect them from an enemy attack?

The top of the castle walls were the battlements, a protective, tooth shaped parapet often with a wall walk behind it for the soldiers to stand on. The defenders could fire missiles through gaps (crenels). The raised sections between, called merlons, helped to shelter the defenders during an enemy attack.

How did they defend castles in the Middle Ages?

Battlements were walls on the roof of a castle. They had higher walls, called merlons, with lower gaps between, called crenels. Defenders would use crossbows to shoot arrows through the crenels,and then hide behind the higher merlons.

What were castles built to protect?

Medieval castles were built as homes for kings and nobility, the noble class of a country such as royalty and important public figures, to protect them from unwanted intruders. Castles were typically built in the middle of the land the king or lord of the castle was ruler over.

How was the castle built and why did it work during the Middle Ages?

In order to defend themselves, they built their homes as large castles in the center of the land they ruled. They could defend from attacks as well as prepare to launch attacks of their own from their castles. Originally castles were made of wood and timber. Later they were replaced with stone to make them stronger.

What were castles used for?

Castles could serve as a centre for local government, administration and justice. They were also used by powerful lords to display their wealth and power through lavish architectural styles and decoration. Castles were not only built and used by the crown.

How castles were attacked and defended?

Ladders. Ladders were used by those attacking a castle to climb over the walls and fight the castle inhabitants within the castle walls. Castle owners prevented this type of attack by piling earth up against the castle walls so that the Belfry, which was on wheels, could not be pushed near to the castle.

How were castles attacked in the Middle Ages?

Fire – Early castles were made of wood, so they were easy to attack by setting fire to them. Battering ram – A large log that was hit against the castle walls to weaken them. Catapult – Catapults, or trebuchets, threw large stones and burning objects at the castle.

How were Motte and Bailey castles defended?

A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle situated on a raised earthwork and surrounded by a ditch and protective fence. The bailey was an outer enclosure, which was also defended by a fence and sometimes a ditch, providing a first, outer line of defence for the motte.

Why were the castles built?

Medieval castles were built from the 11th century CE for rulers to demonstrate their wealth and power to the local populace, to provide a place of defence and safe retreat in the case of attack, defend strategically important sites like river crossings, passages through hills, mountains and frontiers, and as a place of …

What were castle used for?

Originally, a castle was a fortress built to protect strategic locations from enemy attack or to serve as a military base for invading armies. Some dictionaries describe a castle simply as “a fortified habitation.” The earliest “modern” castle design dates from Roman Legionary Camps.

What were the 4 main reasons that castles were built?

How did they build castles?

Workers use horse-drawn wagons to haul the stones from the quarry to the building site. Stone masons then chisel the raw stone into blocks. Workers use man-powered cranes to lift the finished stones to the scaffolding on the castle wall. Other workers make mortar on the site from lime, soil and water.

What were the disadvantages of the Middle Ages castles?

Although some disadvantages were they took a long time to build, had weak gateways which were easy to attack and because it was made from heavy stone, it would collapse easily if were on a motte. Finally (in 1216-1277) ‘Concentric’ castles were built. They were the largest, strongest and most expensive castles of all four listed above.

What can we learn from the construction of a medieval castle?

The medieval castle showed just how well the principle of Defence in Depth can work. Prior to the invention of modern cannons, castles were mostly impregnable, except occasionally when subjected only to long-term sieges. They possessed a level of redundancy in their defences that would seem paranoid by today’s standards.

How did they protect castles from attack?

Ladders. Ladders inside the Belfry allowed attackers to climb to the top under cover and get into the castle. Castle owners prevented this type of attack by piling earth up against the castle walls so that the Belfry, which was on wheels, could not be pushed near to the castle.

Why were castles built at the top of hills?

Castles were often built at the top of hills or where they could use some natural features of the land to help with their defense. After the Middle Ages castles weren’t built as much, especially as larger artillery and cannon were designed that could easily knock down their walls.