Medieval Castles
After the famous medieval battle of Hastings, William the Conquer took over all of England. After being crowned, he introduced castle building.
Originally, castle building was a Norman thing and in England, the royal family and nobles had large fortified homes, not castles. It wasn’t until the Norman conquest of England castles become an English thing.
William built the very famous Tower of London shortly after his crowning. At first, the Tower of London was a symbol of Norman oppression but now, it is a very famous English landmark. Why did he build it? Well, the people of England did not like the idea of foreign rulers over them so, they had many riots against their new Norman king so, William needed a way to protect himself from the angry English people. So, he built the Tower of London. The Tower of London was a house for the royal family, a prison, an armory and a treasury. It was besieged several times but, has heeled its ground.
Over time, the English people were so out of order that William the Conquer built many smaller castles throughout England to protect the nobles who governed different parts of the land. That is why there is several small castles through out England that are either in ruins or are not livable.
Part two: Parts of a castles
The first castles were made of wood and earth materials. But over time, stone was added for strength. The Normans built in the Motte-and-Baily style.
The Keep- The strongest part of the castle that was usually on top of a Motte.
The Motte- Was a man made mound of earth that usually had a keep on the top of it.
The Bailey- The strong surrounding walls
The Curtain Wall- Surrounding walls that surrounded the Bailey
Gate Houses- They were attached to the Curtain Wall and were a way to get into the castles.
The Mott- A very steep ditch that surrounded the castles walls and was sometimes filled with water. You wouldn’t be able to get into the castles unless the drawbridge was down.
The development of the castle was continued all across Europe over several centuries. Castles were very important in England and, progressively became more of sybols of status than a defense.
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