Essay/Term paper: Castles

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Humanities Essays

Castles remind us of a time that was full of adventure

and romance. Castles remind us of a time in history in which

there was a lack of government and order. Although there

was not mass confusion and anarchy, there was less order.

Castles were the basis of feudalism. Castles can be seen as a

manifestation of feudal society. Feudalism started with the

rise of castles and ended with their end. The castle set the

tone as the only homestead that nobility would live in during

this time. Castles were influenced by and influenced many

medieval cathedrals in Europe. Although castles served

many purposes, their primary purpose was military. At that

time, people were not protected by merely shutting and

locking a regular wooden door. They needed the protection

of castles and their knights. The lords and constables of

castles needed serfs to work the land to make revenue in

order to pay rent to the more important nobles. Given the

following evidence, it is relatively obvious why castles and

castle building played an instrumental role in the development

of Western Europe. Castles are unique to a time in history

known as medieval times. The word medieval in our times is

an insult to anything as is the word feudal. Through the haze

and ruins, one can imagine dungeons, chivalrous knights, and

mighty Lords who ruled the land and protected the common

peasant from barbarians and other invaders. The rise of

castles marked the rise of feudalism. This was all started by

the crusades. The majority of the knights and nobles went to

liberate the holy land from the Muslims. The Crusades

influenced castle builders back in Europe. Ideas were

gathered from Muslim and Byzantine fortifications. Because

of the lack of protection in Europe, a castle's strength

needed to be increased because of the ever-present threat of

a Muslim invasion. The end of Feudalism also marked the

end of the middle ages and hence the end of the great castle

era. Castles integrated the combination of residence and

fortress. The first castle dates back to King Sargon II of

Khorsabad in ancient Egypt. He erected a grand palace for

himself to protect him and his subjects. The first recorded

references to castles was the Edict of Pistes by Charles the

Bald, king of the West Franks. "We will and expressly

command that whoever at this time has made castles and

fortifications and enclosures without our out permission shall

have them demolished by the First of August" (Brown

Architecture of Castles 13). Other castle laws were the

Norman Institutions handed down by William the Conqueror

after he took over England. One law says that no one shall

raise castles in Normandy without the Duke's license. An

ideal castle site was one that had natural obstacles for

defense such as steep hillsides and water. Castles that were

built on rocks or islands were especially effective. An

example of this is Bodiam in Sussex which was the home of

Sir Edward Dalyngrigge in 1385. A moat offered good

protection, but building on a lake or river offered better

protection. The site should not be too remote. It should have

water and building material readily available nearby. A site

should have a good climate, good pasture, and ample fertile

land. If a castle had all these things, it would increase its

chances of surviving a siege. A large majority of early castles

followed the motte and bailey design. These designs utilized

earth and timber. A motte and bailey design is a design

where the keep is on a hill or motte behind the bailey which

is the open area of the castle similar to a town square. A

bridge usually connected the motte to the bailey. The motte

was a great mound of earth or rock. Sometimes it was

artificial, but the majority of the time it was authentic. At its

base there was a deep trench that resembled a moat. This

was used as defense. Surrounding the motte was a wall of

timber. The motte also contained the keep which is where

the lord of the manor and his family lived. The keep was the

innermost part of the castle. It was the last defense against

attack. The keep has also been referred to as the donjon.

This is where the French got the word dungeon meaning the

jail or place to hold prisoners. Surrounding the entire

premises was a wooden fence that was at least ten feet in

height. These wooden stakes were then implanted in the

ground for support. The fence sometimes stood upon posts

to allow men to get through. During a siege, the perimeter

would be covered with wet animal skins to curb the threat of

arson. Most motte and bailey castles were built before

William the Conqueror's conquest in 1066. Walter the

Archdeacon wrote a biography of John, bishop of

Therouanne about 1130. In it he describes Merchem Castle

near Dixmude: "There was, near the porch of the church, a

fortress which we may call a castle... exceedingly high, built

after the custom of that land by the lord of the town many

years before. For it is the habit of the magnates and nobles

of those parts... to raise a mound of earth as high as they can

and surround it with a ditch as broad as possible. The top of

this mound they completely enclose with a palisade of hewn

logs bound close together like a wall, with towers set in its

circuit so far as the site permits. In the middle of the space

within the palisade they build a residence, or, dominating

everything, keep" (Brown Architecture of Castles 21) Castle

designers saw a need for improvement because wood and

earth were not strong and were not effective protection

against fire. There was also a need for bigger, grander

castles because noble visitors did not travel alone so a castle

would have to have enough room for the occasional visitor

and his or her group. The architects who designed castles

were known as master masons. They saw that stone would

be a more effective building material. Although it was cold

and hard to work with, it provided the much needed

protection against fire. These newer castles are called

enclosure castles. Like motte and bailey designs, enclosures

castles had a wall protecting the perimeter of the manor.

However these castles were not built upon hills or mottes.

The keep of the castle was incorporated into the wall

surrounding the property. These castles still had a bailey.

With this new style of castles came a new construction

material. Stone became the only material to build one's castle

out of because it made castles much stronger against attack.

The tower of London is an example of a masonry castle. The

ideal stone for castles was the fine limestone of Caen in

Normandy. This limestone was soft when first quarried, but

gradually became hard as it was exposed to air. To insulate

against the cold stone walls of castles, the women made

tapestries for the walls. The tapestries almost always

contained a story relating to the castle. One of the most

famous tapestries is the Bayeux Tapestry. It depicts the

Norman knights before Hastings in 1066. Since they were

now using stone, castle builders were able to integrate

defenses into the castles. Castles needed to have defenses.

They were not made impregnable. They were made so that it

would take an enormous amount of artillery and money to

take the castle. They were made so that it would take a large

amount of time to take a castle. The castle of Newcastle at

Tyne was far from impregnable in 1173, but it was strong

enough to make an ill-prepared Scottish King William think

twice about a siege: "Well sees the king of Scotland that he

will never complete the conquest of Newcastle on Tyne

without military engines" (Ibid 80). Some defenses used by

castles were machiolations. Machiolations were projecting

battlements to protect against arrows and other weapons.

They were at the top of the wall surrounding the castle.

Arrowslits or arrow loops were slits that were cut into stone

to allow sharpshooters a place to shoot. They were angled

so that the sharpshooter was protected from oncoming

projectiles. Another defense used was Greek fire. This was

an incendiary device that was used against wooden attack

machines. The ingredients of Greek fire are a mystery. It is

thought that it contained some of the following components:

crude oil, refined oil, naphtha, pitch, resin, sulfur, quicklime,

and bitumen. This deadly mixture was put on an arrow and

then shot onto one of the attacking machines and it gave

explosive results. Greek fire was probably developed in the

seventh century by the Byzantines for naval warfare. Greek

fire was a morale builder for the defenders during a siege.

The Lord of Joinville described Greek fire as "This Greek

fire was suck that seen from the front as it darted towards us

it appeared as large as a vessel of verjuice, and the tail of the

fire that streamed behind it was as long as the shaft of a great

lance. The noise it made in coming was like that of a

thunderbolt falling from the skies; it seemed like a dragon

flying through the air. The light this huge, flaming mass shed

all around it was so bright that you could see right through

the camp as clearly as if it were day. Three times that night

the enemy slung Greek fire at us from their petraries, and

three times they shot it from their arbalestres a tour" (Ibid

88). Weapons were used against castles during a siege

included the trebuchet, mangonel, belfry, ballista, ram, and

bore. The trebuchet was a big machine that flung artillery like

a catapult. The mangonel was similar to the trebuchet but

smaller and more maneuverable. Its strength was based on

the tautness of the hemp, rope, or tightly twisted animal

sinew. Artillery used by these weapons include rocks,

fireballs, and dead animals to spread disease. The belfry was

a mobile tower which was built higher than the castle walls in

order to scale them during siege. The ballista was essentially

a large crossbow that hurled rocks and other large boulders.

The ram was a device that did what its name says. It was

used to knock the portcullis or gate down. The bore was a

device used by the attackers during a tactic known as

mining. They mined from their camps to the castle walls.

They would set up a support then start a fire to break down

the castle walls. The defenders of the castle also used this

tactic to counter the attackers siege. They would watch the

moat to see the vibrations caused by the attackers shovels.

Then they would start a counter mine. This was the most

effective tactic used in a siege but it was the most dangerous.

It was dark, had contaminated or little air and there was

always a threat that the tunnel would cave in or be caved in

by the castle's garrison. Castles were not just fortresses but

also residences of the nobility. It is this balance of military

and residential qualities which make a castle so different

from other fortifications. Castles had all the best furnishings

and colors. They had chapels because Europe was a

Christian continent. They occasionally had more than one.

On the castle property were things like gardens, parks,

vineyards, dovecotes, fishponds, mills, and stables. Castle

were not as primitive as we think them to be. They had some

of the conveniences that we have today. They had a form of

a toilet. It was a toilet made of stone. People who wished to

use it had to bring some material to protect themselves from

the cold stone. The waste would eventually drain to a river

by way of an underground pool. These cesspits would often

have to be cleaned out by dung farmers. Not all castles were

extravagant fortresses that housed kings and all his subjects.

Many castles were just built for the lord, his family and a few

servants. Other castles that were not well protected or had

no threat of attack were called fortified manors. The design

of a castle was taken very seriously by the lords. There is

reference to Aubree, wife of the Count of Bayeux, executing

on the spot, Lanfred, her master mason after he completed

her castle. She did this because she was so pleased with it

that she didn't want him to build one like it for anyone else.

Castles were the basis of feudalism. They controlled the land

and all within it. A castle was a lord's response to a mounted

cavalry charge. Castles were effective centers of military

power and territorial lordship whether or not the king or

prince was there. Castles are an important part to history.

They are phenomenal structures that still influence modern

houses today.