Castles were virtually unknown in England until the Normans arrived in 1066. A few had been constructed earlier by French friends of Edward the Confessor. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle recorded that,"The foreigners had build a castle in Herefordshire." This is the first use in English of the French word 'castle'.

The Conqueror is Coming!

William the Conqueror came up from Normandy into Pevensey on 28 September, the eve of St.Michael's mass. Those who opposed him suffered the consequences.

"Having gained control, though over no great space, King (Harold)was the more furious because he had heard that the Normans had laid waste the neighbourhood of their camp. Small wonder, for those foolish folk denied that you were king! Therefore they perished justly and went to destruction."

Harold and the Conqueror clashed and Harold was killed. .

Harold's body was wrapped in fine purple linen, that William might carry out the customary funeral rites. Harold's mother offered to buy her son's body with his weight in gold, but the Duke commanded that it be buried in the earth on the high wumit of a cliff.

"By the duke's command, O Harold, you rest here a king, That you may still be guardian of the shore and sea.

Ruthlessly crushing remaining resistance, William the Conqueror marched into major towns capping his conquests with castles, the key to William's success in subduing the English.

The Bayeux Tapestry documents Norman intentions with an impressively dressed leader who "orders a castle to be dug at Hastings." Armed with picks and shovels, the men to his left are leaping to it.

Get Diggin'

According to the French historian Wace, the Normans had shipped prefabricated components to enable the rapid construction of a fortifications."William at once raised a strongly entrenched castle. Leaving a force of knights in that, he hastened on to Hastings where he quickly raised another."

The most iconic of these he located in London.

The White Tower

A castle has been defined as the greatest physical monument of the medieval knight. Once thought to be essentially a military phenomenon, recent work of archaeologists and historians has uncovered castles that reflected more than military might within medieval society. They served as a residence for the knight and his family and a fortress to lord it over the locals living round about. As well as being defensible strongholds and elite private residences, most castles were also the hubs of estates, conspicuous emblems of royal authority or seigneurial status.

One chronicler described it thus: "The keep is a queen, looming aloft, mistress of all she surveys." While 'keep' is one of the words most commonly associated with castles, the term is virtually unknown in medieval documentation. Donjon was generally used, the word derived ultimately from the Latin dominium ('lordship'). It connotes this conspicuous building as both the ultimate place of refuge within a fortified complex and the proclamation of lordly ambition.

Knight's Castle Set upon a sheer, rocky promontory overlooking the sea. photo by G. Wilson

Knight's Donjon photo by G. Wilson

The ruins of castles, the rocky remnants of history, abound not only in Britain, but across Europe and the Middle East.. The medieval landscape was dotted with castles of all shapes, sizes and status, built by individuals ranging from kings, bishops and major magnates, to petty manorial lords and sometimes their tenants.

Medieval Castle in Northern Ireland photo by G. Wilson

Castles became symbols of power, their size and design reflecting wealth. Pride in palace was reflected in this motto by a lord because of the castle he created.

Not king nor prince,
Duke nor count am I:
I am the lord of Coucy.

Coucy

This vast structure, donjon, towers, ramparts and subterranean network, was built in seven years. Its walls, 54 to 60-k thick (18 to 30-feet), enclosed more than two acres. The towers were each 270-k (90 feet) high and 195-k (65 feet) in diameter. Its three outer sides were constructed flush with the edge of the hill, forming the ramparts.[*]

Richard I Coeur-de-Lion photo by G. Wilson

Legendary Lionheart, the ultimate crusader, designed and oversaw construction of the ultimate fortress. Called Chateau Gaillard, Richard lavished thousands of pounds on his Saucy Castle built over two years (1196-8) and which he described as being, "like a year-old daughter of mine."

Ideally located for defensive purposes, it dominated a rocky spur, a 90-m (300-foot) limestone crag, high above the River Seine and the village of Les Andelyst. The castle walls were built as a series of 19 round arcs, an innovative feature at the time. They provided greater ability at deflecting attacks and improved the view for archers inside the castle. Called the finest fortress of its kind in the world, Chateau Gaillard never served the crusader's cause.

Le Chateau Gaillard

Saucy Castle As it was in the beginning.

The primary purpose of Richard's monumental masterpiece was to defend his Duchy of Normandy and Aquitaine from Philip Augustus. The two kings heartily hated each other and Richard's preeminence and prestige as a warrior fueled Philip's fury, for as Richard's feudal overlord, he demanded dominance.

Richard designed Saucy Castle to be just that, bold, bassy, impregnable. He boasted, "I could hold the castle even if its walls were made of butter."

Richard died before his castle was completed and it is a good thing he did, for he would have been mortified to admit his defensive fortress failed to defy Philip's forces. They besieged and seized it in 1204 using an impressive display of strategy. This included building a covered walkway to reach the bottom of the tower and using the walkway to carry rubble with which to fill in that section of the moat. They then built a fire that undermined the tower. Ultimately a section of the tower collapsed allowing access to the outer part of the castle. We'll never know whether Richard's Saucy Castle would have capitulated had the Lion Heart been beating at the battle.

Weather, not warriors, took its toll on "Saucy Castle."

Remnants of Richard's Favourite Fortress

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The first of these donjons dated from the 11th and early 12th century. Initially, knights' castles were timber-and-earthenwork structures, the motte-and-bailey pattern, with moat-and-palisade walls encircling a mound topped with a wooden tower. The motte was a large conical mound with a flat top. Where possible, natural hillocks or outcrops of rock were used, but most mottes were raised by digging a deep ditch around the site and heaping up the resulting soil. Frequently more material was needed to produce the required size and height of mound and this was obtained elsewhere. Archeological evidence has revealed that on occasion, the Normans even made use of material from demolished Saxon houses. Windsor Castle, Elizabeth II's favourite residence, was originally a motte and bailey burg.

The bailey was a simple enclosure with its own ditch. Motte and bailey castles came in a variety of shapes and sizes, but the most common was a single mound and enclosure, with the motte at one end of the bailey, separated from it by its ditch. Both mound and enclosure were fortified by the ditch and an earthen bank behind the ditch, topped with a timber stockade. Where practicable, the ditches were filled with water. In some instances, they had a raised bank in front as well as behind, surmounted by a hedge of thorns or briars.

Tower and motte formed the strongpoint of the castle; the last defense if attackers overran the bailey. The tower was also the residence of the castle's owner and had to be large enough to contain his family and their servants. Within the bailey were the buildings, also of timber, necessary for the running of the castle; the hall where everyone in the castle usually gathered for meals and other social events, the kitchens, barns, workshops, stables and the chapel. The entrance to the bailey was by means of a strongly defended gate, fronting a bridge over the ditch.

Diagram of Motte and Bailey Castle by Jeffrey L. Thomas

Remnants of Motte and Bailey Castle

The primary advantage of motte and bailey castles was that they were quick and cheap to erect, particularly if you had forced labour at your disposal. Yet, in spite of its primitiveness, such a castle would have presented a formidable obstacle to attackers equipped with the weapons of the period. Mottes ranged from 25-30 feet to over 80 feet in height, with the timber tower giving the defenders a further advatange. The bailey could cover anywhere from one to three acres. It was usually laid out so that any point on its circumference would be within bowshot of the tower.

Good visibility was vital for a major fortress. In some cases a sentry on the inner tower was said to have been able to see an approaching enemy force 13 km away. Dominating the lofty landscape, the fortress's strategic location contributed to its defensive effectiveness, for frequently stone-throwing siege devices - mongonels - could not reach such a range.

Check out this view

Crossbows were the most important anti-personnel weapon and assaulting forces faced a withering fire from well-protected crossbowmen. One chronicler observed that no Muslim besieger could, "appear at the entrance of his tent without putting on his armour."

For better protection, archers and crossbowmen fired from crenellated walls and towers or from embrasures in the sides of walls. This design permitted an overhangin structure on a tower or fortified wall, down which arrows could be shot or missles bombarded/dropped or boiling oil poured.

A machicolation battlement projected outwards from the supporting wall

A machicolation is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which defenders could drop down objectives like stones or boiling water on attackers attemping to burrow and break into the defensive wall. The design was developed in the Middle Ages, when the Norman crusaders returned. Oil was also used and some authorities claim that it would have been hot rather than boiling. It had the added advantage of making the attackers’ footing more slippery. Heated oil or pitch were useful against siege machines made of wood, for it could be ignited with a fire arrow or a burning brand. While oil would have been expensive, the consequences for defenders being death by the sword, financial considerations took second place to successful defence. Oil was likely in short supply in any case. Double walls formed a "killing zone" between the two. Heated sand was also used and it getting into one's armour was by all accounts a nasty experience. By the Middle Ages, machicolations and ‘murder-holes’ were essential elements of castle architecture.

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High Tower and Curtain Walls photo by G. Wilson

Chapel Tower from East Barbican photo by G. Wilson

Medieval castle design and development were the product of a struggle between the increasingly sophisticated art of the siege engineer and the responses of the military architect. This was a time of rapid development of offensive weapons that included more powerful stone-throwing mangonels, some powered by the counterweight principle, contrasted with the earlier traction trebuchet, powered by men.. The former launched projectiles of up to three hundred and fifty pounds (140 kg) at high speeds into enemy fortifications.

Most of these sites of the motte-and-bailey fortresses survive not as impressive ruins, but as grassed-over remains of slumped earthworks formerly supporting timber structures. Some say these earth-and-timber castles should not be taken as representing crude forms of fortification, as recent excavations, notably at the site of Hen Domen (Powys), have shown that sites with timber buildings could be equally as defensible and impressive as their counterparts built in stone.

Nevertheless, sturdier stone castles replaced these and they too were built on the heights. The main stone tower was called a keep . The medieval landscape was dotted with castles of all shapes, sizes and status, built by a wide range of individuals from kings, bishops and major magnates, through to petty manorial lords and sometimes their tenants.

Crusty Crusader photo by G.Wilson

Many of these were constructed during the tumultuous times of the Crusades.

Crusader Castle photo by G. Wilson

Roman Byzantine and Crusader Elements photo by G.Wilson

Openings into the Building Byzantine Lintel; Crusader Arch; 16th century Turkish opening lowered to keep horses from being ridden into the building photo by G.Wilson

Roman (64 BC-!32 AD) and Byzantine (343-534) remnants and ruins from ages past contribute to Crusader (1099-1270) fortifications.

Overlooking the Dead Sea from Crusader's Castle photo by G. Wilson

As crusaders advanced, they paused to repair castles Saladin had destroyed. These were taken over, enlarged and given most up-to-date elaboration. These served as protection of the extended supply line. Gonnes were mentioned as siege engines in accounts of the siege of Berwick in 1333 a battery of four guns were about the smallest effective artillery force for a fairly small siege. By end of 100 Years war siege trains carried twenty or thirty guns, Cannon balls were originally stone but later iron and several wagons needed for each battery. Lastly forge and powder wagons' needed to carry powder this added 22 wagons per battery of four guns or over a hundred for a major siege. Each wagon needed four horses all needing an escort of soldiers in addition to the gunners.

Mount Fortress 4th Century Crusader Castle photo by G. Wilson

Secret Entrance to Castle at bottom ofthe hill. photo by G. Wilson

12th Century Fortress built for Saladin photo G. Wilson

Crusaders' Fortification photo by G. Wilson

Krak des Chevaliers, Most famous of the Crusader Castles garrisoned by the Hospitalers. (Syria) Huge concentric fortress, its two rings of massive walls dominated by great towers and separated by a wide moat.

Krak des Chevaliers

Krak des Chevaliers

QuPatAsh-Shawba in Jordan photo by G. Wilson

These instruments of war and centres and symbols of supremacy, defied the wrath and raids of other knights and later of Islamic stalwarts, While essentially defensive, the garrison within was offensive, the fortification used as a heavily defended forward base from which to launch attacks and dominate the surrounding country. Conquest required capturing castles or destroying them. When Richard I and Philip August fought for control of land, their success centred on besieging and subjugating the castles and fortresses. Richard fought relatively few battles, but was constantly involved in sieges.

Stone Fortress photo by G. Wilson

A castle's first line of defence was a ditch. These moats or fosses were either shallow excavations or huge gashes cut across the spur of a hill or mountain.Beyond the ditch would be one or more walls, strengthened by towers. These were placed at approximately 30m intervals to provide enfilading fire by archers and crossbowmen. Most ewer retangular but some were rounded and a few triangular. The defensive focus was on the gates, which were rarely attacked for that reason. Each contained a portcullis of iron or timber and iron, raised and lowered along groorves in the side walls. A drawbridge could be raised using chains. Posterns or postern gates were provided to enable defenders to attack flanks of enemy troops coming too close to the walls.

Stronghold of Reynald of Chatillon, who used it to dominate Muslim trade routes from Syria to Arabia and Egypt and from his castles carried the holy war deep into Arab country.

Built in 1142 by Payen Le Bouteiller, Lord of Montreal photo by G. Wilson

Castle of Kerak

In 1126, Paganus the Butler, Lord of MOntreal, received Kerak from King Baldwin II of Jerusalem as part of the lordship of Transjordan. In 1142, he built the castle of Karak des Moabites on the eastern side of the Dead Sea over the existing foundations on the site.

Built in 1142 by Payen Le Bouteiller, Lord of Montreal photo by G. Wilson

Constructed on a 5000 year old highway, it controlled traffic flow north and south. Pagan the Butler (French: Payen le Bouteiller) (died 1148) was a Crusader lord in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Around 1120, he first appears as the butler of Baldwin II.In 1134, King Fulk deprived the rebellious Roman of Le Puy of the fief of Oultrejordain and granted it to Pagan. Pagan remained butler until 1136. Pagan ruled from the castle of Montréal, but during his reign, he began the construction of the great castle of Kerak Montreal is a Crusader castle on the eastern side of the Arabah, perched on the side of a rocky, conical mountain, looking out over fruit trees below. The ruins, called Shoubak or Shawbak in Arabic, are located in modern town of Shoubak in Jordan.

Where necessary castles were built from scratch. protected on three lines of defence: a moat and low wall, a second wall with three rectangular towers, and a bailey (coiurtyard) defended by two towers 110 feet high in a massive curtain wall. Some were built on a mountain spur with a double line of fortificatiions and a great circular towere described as seeming "to support the heavens rather than exist for defence." Castles were used as bases for defensive operations. They were well stocked with food and other supplies. Its neighouring courtyard usually contained the lord's castellan, the residence and barracks for the garrison knights.

Turkish Fortress photo by G.Wilson

Three towers with walls, took 1000 craftsmen and 2000 labourers four months to build in 1452.

A long way to Madrid Fortress photo by G. Wilson

Fortress overlooking Aegean Sea photo by G. Wilson

Ranparts of Fortress in Oslo photo by G. Wilson

Fortress Gate photo by G. Wilson

Vertical mining was always a psychological threat where the rock was soft; Where water was stored before the rainy season damage to the cistern or pollution of thw ater was a serious threat and could lead to an early surrender..The inconvenience of the borough's position adjacent to the castle was highlighted in a remarkable poem of Henry d'Avranches, a court poet of the time of Henry III:

A fortress stood upon the hill, exposed only to the winds, which were strong enough to shake its summit. Little water was to be found; but chalk in abundance. The winds howled, but no nightingale ever sang. The chalk soil was bad enough, but the shortage of water worse. The former dazzled the eyes, and the latter provoked thirst. The silence of birds was a loss still worse than the violence of the wind. The one deprived us of pleasure, and the other destroyed our very dwellings.

Skirmishing took place around the walls with spears, swords, bows and crossbows. Besiegers were often foiled by the Crusader garrison's hevy crossbow balistas. ((a large crossbow) There were advances in the design of crossbows. These were Used to keep Saladin's fully armoured asaault troops from hauling themselves up the extremely steep slopes to attack, a tiring climb for the troops ascending the steep sides of the slopes. Shortage of horses was an ever-present problem, pack horses as well as large war-horses. Limited pasture was a problem when horses were present. Muslims had fewer difficulties getting mounts like those associated with Turkish horse-archers. They also had large, finely bred and hot-blooded mounts used by elite cavalry.

14th century Venetian Fortress. photo by G. Wilson

Ancient fortress from the sea G.Wilson

Venetian Fortress and Moat

Little is left of the savages sieges of castles that once awed and outwitted the enemy,but rocks and remnants, the fragments of history,

Reused stones - note round ones from ancient columns

Hill in Golan Heights

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In the meantime, they built castles. Even today, 700 years after the last boatload of retreating crusaders set sail for Europe, crusader fortresses stand forlorn guard beside harbuor entrances and atop windswept ridges in the region of Jerusalem, in southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan and on the island of Cyprus.

Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island built by Henry VIII

Historian Robin Fedden, co-author of Crusader Castles, wrote, "The desperate shortage of manpower encouraged every device by which stones might do the work of men." In the beginning castles were a defensive refuge, "strong points from which control could be resumed over the surrounding country when the invader had retired. Castles were the key to the land."

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