Fortified (en:Burh) or walled cities of Constantinople and Antioch, castles were not public defense structures, but were built and owned by local nobles, mostly feudal lords. Accordingly, castles were intended for the feudal lord and his overlords. The fief-vassal system is based on the relationship between the overlord and his vassals, where in exchange for military service The vassal's overlord provided him with his sovereign lands and expected loyalty.
There is a misconception that castles only existed in Europe, where they originated, and the Middle East, where the Crusaders carried them. Contrary to this view, similar structures appear in 16th- and 17th-century Japan, where they develop without direct contact or influence from Europe and have a completely different development history, built differently from European castles and designed to withstand attacks of a completely different nature.
Components
Hill
A mound of earth often mixed with gravel, peat, limestone, or brushwood. The height of the embankment in most cases did not exceed 5 meters, although sometimes it reached 10 meters or more. The surface was often covered with clay or wooden flooring. The hill was round or approximately square at the base, the diameter of the hill being at least twice the height.
At the top, a wooden, and later a stone, defensive tower was erected, surrounded by a palisade. Around the hill there was a ditch filled with water or a dry one, from the earth of which an embankment was formed. Access to the tower was through a wooden bridge and a staircase built on the hillside.
Courtyard
A large courtyard with an area (with rare exceptions) of no more than 2 hectares, surrounding or adjacent to the hill, as well as a variety of residential and outbuildings- the dwellings of the owner of the castle and his soldiers, stables, forge, warehouses, kitchen, etc. - inside it. Outside, the courtyard was protected by a wooden palisade, then a moat, which was filled from a nearby reservoir, and an earthen rampart. The space inside the courtyard itself could be delimited into several parts, or several courtyards adjacent to each other were built near the hill.
Donjon
With the end of the Middle Ages, castles began to lose their original - defensive - purpose, which now gave way to a residential one. With the development of artillery, the defensive task of castles disappeared completely; features of the castle architecture were preserved only as decorative elements (French castle of Pierrefonds, late 14th century).
A regular layout with clearly defined symmetry prevailed, the main building acquired a palace character (Madrid Castle in Paris, XV-XVI centuries) or Nesvizh Castle in Belarus (XVI century). In the 16th century, castle architecture in Western Europe finally supplanted by the palace. The castles of Georgia, which were actively built until the 18th century, retained their defensive task for the longest time.
There were castles that belonged not to one feudal lord, but to a knightly order. Such castles were larger in size, for example Königsberg Castle.
Numerous castles survive in the valleys of the Rhine, Loire, Spain and Palestine (Crusader castles).
Castles in Rus' and Russia
Old Russian period, Middle Ages and earlier Modern times.
Mikhailovsky Castle
At the end of the 18th century, Russian Emperor Paul I, romantically and mystically inclined and keen on the ideas of European chivalry, organized construction as his residence Mikhailovsky Castle in the central part of St. Petersburg on the site of the Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, in which he was born. In imitation of European feudal castles and not unreasonably fearing for their safety, the emperor and the architects gave the palace significant defensive characteristics, which was not typical for other Russian imperial residences of the 18th and 19th centuries. Thus, the palace building was surrounded on all sides by water channels of natural (Fontanka and Moika rivers) and artificial (canals) origin, guarded bridges across which were made drawable and raised at night to prevent unauthorized entry of potential attack participants into the castle. As a result, fortification precautions did not help, and the emperor was killed in his castle bedroom by military and court conspirators who had betrayed the monarch and had the legal right of access to the territory.
Mikhailovsky Castle, like a number of other St. Petersburg buildings from the era of Paul I (Kamennoostrovsky Palace and the neighboring St. John’s Church), the Priory Palace in Gatchina, the Vorontsov Palace in Sadovaya street with the Maltese Chapel at this palace historical events and Paul I himself turned out to be truly connected with the then remnants of Western European chivalry. After the atheistic Napoleon expelled the knights of the ancient Catholic Order of Malta from their lands, Paul invited them to Russia, founded the Russian Priory of the Order and received the title of its Grand Master.
Names of neighboring objects associated with Mikhailovsky Castle
According to legend, the castle and its church were named after the Archangel Michael, who appeared to a soldier standing guard at the former palace on this site. The youngest of the sons of Paul I was also named Mikhail, and this name was given to a whole bunch of names of neighboring objects: the palace adjacent to the Mikhailovsky Castle, built by Charles Rossi, where Mikhail Pavlovich lived, and the garden were named Mikhailovsky, as was the square in front of the palace, which became Soviet times, Arts Square, and a short front street leading to the palace from the main thoroughfare of the city - Nevsky Prospekt, which in Soviet times bore the name of the artist Isaac Brodsky, who lived on it, whose museum-apartment is located in one of the houses on the square.
Structure
Early European castles were built primarily from wood; they were surrounded by a wooden fence - a palisade; Even then, moats began to appear around the castles. An example of such a castle is the Vyshgorod Castle Kyiv princes. Stone castle construction spread to Western and Central Europe only in the 12th century.
The main part of the medieval castle was the central tower - the donjon, which served as a citadel. In addition to its defensive functions, the donjon was the direct home of the feudal lord. Also in the main tower there were often living rooms for other inhabitants of the castle, a well, and utility rooms (food warehouses, etc.). Often the donjon housed a large ceremonial hall for receptions. Elements of the donjon can be found in the castle architecture of Western and Central Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, etc.
Usually the castle had a small courtyard, which was surrounded by massive battlements with towers and well-fortified gates. Next came the outer courtyard, which included outbuildings, as well as the castle garden and vegetable garden. The entire castle was surrounded by a second row of walls and a ditch, over which a drawbridge was thrown. If the terrain allowed, the moat was filled with water and the castle turned into a castle on the water.
The centers of defense of the castle walls were towers protruding beyond the plane of the walls, which made it possible to organize flanking fire on those going on an attack. In Russian fortification, sections of walls between towers were called pryasly. In this regard, the castles were a polygon in plan, the walls of which followed the terrain. Numerous examples of such structures have survived to this day in Great Britain, Germany, France, Ukraine and Belarus (for example, Mir Castle in Belarus or Lutsk Castle in Ukraine).
Over time, the structure of the castles became more complex; the territory of the castles already included barracks, a court, a temple, a prison and other buildings (Cousy Castle in France, XIII century; Wartburg Castle in Germany, XI century; Harlech Castle in Great Britain, XIII century).
With the beginning of the mass use of gunpowder, the era of castle building began to decline. Thus, the besiegers began to carry out sapper work, if the ground allowed it - to discreetly dig glanders, which made it possible to place large explosive charges under the walls (the assault on the Kazan Kremlin in the 16th century). As a countermeasure, the besieged dug an underground gallery in advance at a noticeable distance from the walls, from which they listened in order to detect tunnels and destroy them in a timely manner.
However, the development of artillery and the increase in its destructive effect eventually forced the abandonment of the use of castles as the basis of defensive strategy and tactics. The time has come for fortresses - complex engineering structures with a developed system of bastions, ravelins, etc.; The art of building fortresses developed - fortification. The recognized authority on fortification of this era was the chief engineer of Louis XIV, Marshal of France Sebastien de Vauban (1633-1707).
Such fortresses, sometimes developed over time from castles, were also used in World War II to pin down enemy forces and delay their advance (see: Brest Fortress).
Construction
The construction of the castle began with the choice of location and building materials. A wooden castle was cheaper and easier to build than a stone castle. The cost of building most castles has not survived to this day; most surviving documents on the topic relate to royal palaces. A wooden castle with motte and bailey could be built by unskilled labor - peasants dependent on the feudal lord, who already possessed the skills necessary to build a wooden castle (they knew how to cut wood, dig and work with wood). Forced to work for the feudal lord, workers most likely were not paid anything, so building a castle out of wood was cheap. According to experts, to build a hill average size- 5 meters high and 15 meters wide - required 50 workers and 40 days. The famous architect James of Saint George, responsible for the construction of Beaumaris Castle, described the costs associated with the construction of the castle:
| If you are wondering where so much money can be spent in a week, we inform you that we needed and will need in the future 400 masons, as well as 2000 less experienced women, 100 carts, 60 carts and 30 boats for the supply of stone; 200 workers at the quarry; 30 blacksmiths and carpenters to lay cross beams and floors, and to do other necessary work. This is all without taking into account the garrison... and the purchase of materials. Which are required a large number of... Payments to workers are still delayed, and we are having great difficulty keeping workers because they simply have nowhere to live. . Finding stone for construction was one of the main problems; Often the solution was a quarry near the castle. Due to a shortage of stone, they were used alternative materials, for example, brick, which was also used for aesthetic reasons, as it was in fashion. Therefore, even despite the sufficient amount of stone, some builders chose brick as the main material for building a castle. The material for construction depended on the area: in Denmark there are few quarries, so most of its castles are made of wood or brick, in Spain most castles are made of stone, while in Eastern Europe castles were usually built using wood. And the historical novel received new development. Romantic fiction in these genres is often set in the Middle Ages and/or takes place in castles. In addition, romanticism and the development of mysticism indirectly related to it (especially in high society) sharply strengthened the tendency that already existed in various strata of society to inhabit castles with various kinds of ghosts, spirits and other mystical creatures. Soon the style of the Gothic novel began to take on mystical characteristics, and a wave of reports of contacts with castle ghosts swept across Europe. The wave of Romanticism also gave rise to a number of architectural styles emulating the Middle Ages, in particular Gothic Revival. These styles had a general tendency to stylize the building as a castle, for which decorative machicolations and walls, high narrow windows, false loopholes, etc. were widely used. |
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INTRODUCTION
Choosing a theme "Medieval castle: secrets of fortification" was no coincidence.
The Middle Ages is a majestic mystery, largely unsolved by medievalists. One of the components of the Mystery is medieval castles: magnificent monuments of architecture and fortification art.
These citadels, which arose as a refuge for the feudal lord, his family and at the same time indicators of the wealth and strength of the owner, which became widespread in the first half of the era, gradually turned into fortresses and were mostly destroyed during numerous wars.
We really wanted to learn more about these impregnable structures than what is written in textbooks, and to answer the question: what allowed the defenders of the castles to withstand a long siege and what secrets of castle architecture helped them in this.
Relevance: from Today, medieval castles and their fortification architecture are becoming objects of close attention not only by scientists and tourists, but also by authors of computer games, strategies, books and films in the “fantasy” style, where events develop in ancient fortified palace-fortresses. This develops our interest and curiosity, the desire to learn more than what is written in educational literature about the castles of the Middle Ages surrounded by mystery.
At the same time, the castle becomes for us not only a place of exciting adventures and battles together with the heroes of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warmachine, Kings of War, Confrontation, “Games of Thrones”, “Robin Hood”, “The Lord of the Rings” and other fantasy novels, films and wargames, but also that calling card of the Middle Ages, which helps to comprehend its content, opening one of the most interesting pages of history.
This judgment is justified, since the Middle Ages went down in history as a period of endless wars, not only interstate, but also internecine and feudal. Under these conditions, the knight's (feudal) castle became a reliable fortification, and the features of its fortification structure helped the owner and the garrison withstand a long siege of the enemy.
As we can see, from the point of view of relevance, the study acquires a special meaning. And if earlier researchers and authors of projects talked mainly about the castle - a masterpiece of medieval architecture, today - about the secrets of architecture for special, military purposes, turning a home, the center of civilization of a single feudal estate into a citadel.
Object of study
A medieval castle as a dwelling, refuge and palace of a feudal lord.
Subject of study
Elements of castle fortification architecture and the secrets contained in them.
Purpose of the study
Find out the structure of the most important parts of a medieval castle-fortress and their special purpose in defense against the enemy.
To achieve this goal, the following were set: tasks:
Study literature containing information about medieval castles, the history of their construction, and purpose.
Find out the features of the fortification purpose of the elements of a knight's castle.
Educational (problematic) question
1. What fortification secrets allowed the defenders of the castles to withstand a long siege?
Research methods: collection and study of information; generalization and description of the fortification features of the medieval castle.
Research Products
1. Model of a medieval castle.
2. Book - manual "Medieval castle: secrets of fortification."
3. Medieval castle (crossword puzzle “on the contrary”).
The work consists of an Introduction, three sections, a Conclusion, a list of references and an Appendix.
The Introduction substantiates the relevance of the study, defines the purpose, objectives, object and subject of the study.
In section 1, “Knight’s castle of the Middle Ages: a little history,” a general idea of the time and necessity of the appearance of knight’s castles in Europe is considered, general principles location on the ground and arrangement.
Section 2, “The most important elements of a castle and “traps” for the enemy,” discusses fortification details, tricks and their purpose.
Section 3, “Approbation of research materials and conclusions,” presents diagrams illustrating students’ knowledge indicators before and after familiarization with the research materials we prepared (Manual book “Medieval Castle: Secrets of Fortification”).
The “Conclusion” summarizes the general results of the work, outlines the conclusions, and substantiates the practical application and significance of the work.
The “Bibliography” reflects the sources that we used to conduct our research.
The “Appendix” contains testing materials, separately - the book-guide “Medieval Castle: Secrets of Fortification”, diagrams reflecting the level of knowledge of students BEFORE and AFTER getting acquainted with our work, as well as a “crossword puzzle in reverse” as material for reflection.
SECTION 1. Medieval knight's castle: secrets of fortification
Medieval castle: a little history
Our history teacher often repeats that the causes of phenomena and events must be sought not only in the era contemporary with the event, but in what preceded it, even if such a connection is hidden behind the curtain of many years...
Indeed, slavery and Antiquity were born from primitiveness, which had outgrown itself, and the distant Middle Ages - from Greco-Roman civilization, when it had exhausted its capabilities...
But it would seem to find similarities between Roman times and European Middle Ages in particulars, details, it is either impossible or very difficult. What if you take a closer look?
And if you look closely, the theme of our work “A medieval castle and its fortification features” in the main detail - “the purpose of the castle” - takes us back to the structure of a Roman camp, the direct purpose of which was to protect its inhabitants.
Judge for yourself, the site of the Roman legionnaires is a fenced area, inside of which there is a tent camp. A medieval fortification is a complicated version of such a shelter.
Based on the experience of fortifications of the past, aware of the danger of the Norman invasion, man beginning of XII century begins to build shelters that can protect it from external invasion. At first, he fences a fortress house on a hill with a palisade, digs a ditch around it and supplies water to it, and then, realizing that wood and limestone are unreliable materials, he begins to build a fortress out of stone and surround it not just with a fence - with a wall, the height and thickness of which is now measured in meters.
With each new castle on the map of Europe, a new design of its structure appears, the main purpose of which is not only to prevent enemy plans, but also to stop the enemy, defeat him, if not on the approaches to the citadel, then inside it, using the tricks of fortification architecture.
Today we are playing computer games, empathizing with the heroes of fantasy films, assembling puzzles, we partially delve into the meaning of the construction of huge protective structures, we analyze the internal structure and system of fortifications, often asking ourselves: what is there, behind the stone barrier standing in the way of the conquerors, why did the knights build not just beautiful and solid houses, but shelters, fortresses?
The conclusion suggests itself: the wars prompted them to do this! With whom? With everyone! In particular, and among themselves for land, peasants, wealth, prestige, honor...
The 12th century came to Europe as a time of disasters and great bloodshed and made you think about whether a rival of superior strength might come and take a fancy to your home, forest, river, fields?
And then, like mushrooms after a good warm rain, such castles appear that even today inspire awe, respect, and sometimes serious fear: will a ghost in armor emerge from the wall with a rusty sword in his hands?..
The owner of the citadel clearly knew what he wanted: the castle should be inaccessible to the enemy, provide surveillance of the area (including the nearest villages belonging to the owner of the castle), have its own source of water (in case of a siege) and show the power and wealth of the feudal lord.
The location was chosen based on these requirements: a mountain, a high rock, in extreme cases a hillock, it would be good not far from the water. The construction of the main dwelling, the donjon, began. The matter is troublesome, slow, and carefully planned. While the builders were erecting walls and digging a well (a source of water, and therefore life!), local people (from the owner's artisans, warriors, peasants) guarded the approaches to the future fortification and paved roads to it. The road necessarily contained numerous obstacles that only a knowledgeable person could overcome (camouflaged pits, false crossings across rivers and large streams, ambushes with cleared sectors for shelling the enemy...). Required condition- the road must twist so that the horseman or foot warrior certainly ends up with his right, unprotected side towards the citadel.
Having completed the construction of the donjon, they began to build defensive walls. The richer owners built several obstacle walls, the poorer ones made do with one, but it was always powerful, high, with towers and loopholes, strong gates, a protruding barbican, a drawbridge over a moat filled with water.
It also happened the other way around: they started with a moat and walls, and ended with a donjon. But, most importantly, the outcome was always the same: another fortress appeared, an impregnable citadel, striking in its power, beauty or architectural inventiveness. Take a look at these European castles.
Amazing, isn't it?
SECTION 2. “The most important elements of the castle and “traps” for the enemy”
Loopholes, their types and purpose
A medieval castle with its fortifications, which had a specific defensive purpose, is not today’s rich “antique” house. A medieval castle is a formidable, often gloomy fortress with towers and sentries warily surveying the surroundings from their eye sockets.
The towers were built hollow, inside they were divided into floors by ceilings made of wooden planks with a hole in the center or side. A rope passed through them to lift shells to the upper platform in case of defense of the castle.
The stairs were hidden behind partitions in the walls. Take a look: each floor is separate room, in which the soldiers were located. For heating, a fireplace was often built in the thickness of the wall, in which, by the way, it was possible to cook game on a spit...
The only holes in the tower connecting with outside world, are loopholes for archery. Long and narrow openings, they expanded into the room. Typically, the height of such loopholes is 1 meter, and the width is 30 cm on the outside and 1 meter and 30 centimeters on the inside. This design prevented enemy arrows from getting inside, and the defenders had the opportunity to shoot in different directions.
For archers, the loopholes were long narrow slits in the wall, and for the crossbowman there were short loopholes that widened to the sides. They were often called keyholes.
There were also loopholes of a special shape - spherical. These were freely rotating wooden balls with a slot fixed in the wall. They provided the shooter with maximum protection.
The number of loopholes should have frightened the enemy, who understood that the more loopholes, the more defenders, the stronger the defense, of course.
As contemporaries of the Middle Ages, historians and even tourists write, the presence of loopholes became especially important during a war or siege, since in a narrow vertical hole it was not visible whether the shooter was behind it or not. The height of some loopholes was even calculated taking this circumstance into account.
What is interesting for us is the fact that loopholes in walls were not common in Europe until the 13th century, as it was believed that they could weaken their strength. But, regardless of their purpose, loopholes became a mandatory attribute of medieval castles starting from the 13th century.
Secrets of the spiral staircase. Knight's swords*.
Secrets of the spiral staircase.
The Middle Ages are considered to be the time when the technique of constructing a spiral staircase appeared and then flourished. Trying in every possible way to complicate the lives of their enemies, the knights adapted spiral staircases to all structures, and the screw always tightened clockwise.
When advancing to the top of the tower along such a staircase, attackers faced a large number of troubles: steps turning around their axis, a narrow passage, lack of space to swing a sword, open space for an attack from above, repeated at each bend. In such conditions, even a very modest garrison is able to hold its positions without losses, which is ordinary stairs it would be impossible. You couldn’t shoot through a crossbow or a bow, you couldn’t pierce the steps of the stairs with a spear or a sword, but the holes in the steps made it possible to assess the situation, watch the besieging enemies making their way up, and finally break their legs.
However, there is a castle in Europe in which the stairs twist counterclockwise. This is the ancestral seat of Count Wallenstein in Bohemia. The fact is that this ancient and warlike family became famous not only for its great victories and commanders, but also for its left-handed warriors...
In the Middle Ages, only privileged guilds of craftsmen had the right to build a spiral staircase. Drawings, sketches of stairs and even indirect indications of who and where built the “cunning” structure were kept by the artisans in the strictest confidence.
*Knight's swords (for the most curious). From the 12th century The girdling of a sword and the blessing of this weapon became a mandatory part of the rite of knighting. Like the king, the knight was entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the world from foreign conquerors, protecting the church from pagans and enemies Christian faith. It is no coincidence that sacred inscriptions and religious symbols appeared on the blades of medieval swords, reminiscent of the high service of the Christian warrior, his duty to God and civilians, and the hilt of the sword often became an ark for relics and relics. Throughout almost the entire Middle Ages, the general shape of the sword changed little: it invariably resembled one of the main symbols of Christianity - the cross. The question of geometry, blade profile and its balancing was inherently very important: swords can be adapted for piercing or chopping fighting techniques. The cross-sectional shape of the blade also depended on the use of this sword in battle.
Donjon. Secret passages and chambers in medieval castles
Donjon. Despite the external diversity, all castles are built according to the same plan. Most often they are surrounded by a strong wall with massive square towers at each corner. Well, inside there is a tower - donjon. Initially, these towers had a quadrangular shape, but over time, polygonal or round structures began to appear in order to increase their stability. After all, one of the few ways to take an impregnable fortress was undermining followed by undermining the foundation at the corner of the building. Some towers had a dividing wall in the middle.
An additional level of protection included bars, strong doors and strong locks. The dungeons were very carefully thought out.
Such towers were erected from stone. Wooden fortresses could no longer provide adequate protection from fire, throwing and siege weapons. In addition, the stone structure was much better suited to the nobility: it became possible to make large and safe rooms that were well protected from bad weather and the enemy.
Architects always took into account the terrain during construction and chose the most advantageous places for defense for future castles. The donjons, in turn, rose high even above the level of the fortress, which not only improved visibility and gave an advantage to archers, but made them practically inaccessible to siege ladders.
There was only one entrance to the tower. It was raised above ground level and a ladder or even a ditch with a drawbridge was built so that attackers could not use a ram. The room immediately after the entrance was sometimes used to disarm visitors. The guards were also stationed here. Food was stored in the basement of the tower, and it was also one of the safest places to store the treasures of the nobility.
On the second floor there was a room for meetings and feasts.
There could have been more floors, but this always depended on the wealth of the owner of the castle and on the ability to separate one floor from another in such a way as to make the upward movement of unwanted guests long and completely unsafe. In addition, some owners of the citadel ordered the construction of entire underground passages leading far beyond the castle... And then the formidable and impregnable structures were overgrown with new creepy stories that chilled the blood...
Secret passages in medieval castles. Medieval castles had ingeniously designed fortifications, which used many ingenious and creative ways protect the castle residents from enemy attacks. Literally everything - from the outer walls to the shape and placement of the stairs - was very carefully planned to ensure maximum protection for the inhabitants of the castle.
Almost every castle had secret passages that only the owners knew about. Some of them were made so that the inhabitants of the castle could flee in case of defeat, and some so that during a siege the defenders would not be cut off from food supplies. Secret passages also led to secret chambers where people could hide or food could be stored and an additional well was dug for water.
One of the striking examples of a castle with many secret rooms and moves is Benrath Castle in Germany. There are as many as seven invisible passages hidden in the walls of the building!
Yes, a medieval castle was much more than just a big glamorous palace with massive stone walls around it. It was a structure designed down to the smallest detail to protect its inhabitants. And each castle was full of its own little secrets.
Ditch and zwinger
Moat. The first barrier guarding the castle was a deep ditch. It was often connected to a river to fill it with water. The ditch made it difficult to access the fortress walls and siege weapons. It could be transverse (separating the castle wall from the plateau) or crescent-shaped (curved forward). Could encircle the entire castle in a circle. Very rarely, ditches were dug inside the castle to make it difficult for the enemy to move through its territory. If the soil under the castle was rocky, then a ditch was not made at all. It was possible to cross the ditch only by a drawbridge hanging on iron chains.
Zwinger. Often the castle was surrounded double walls- high external and small internal. An empty space appeared between them, receiving German name zwinger. The attackers, having overcome the outer wall, could not take additional assault devices with them. And, once in the zwinger, they became an easy target for archers (there were small loopholes in the walls of the zwinger for archers). Within the walls of the zwinger, which was also the inner wall of the moat, semicircular towers or bastions were often built to facilitate observation of the moat.
Main defensive wall of the castle
... In previous blessed times, when neighbors at the same table peacefully drank wine, hunted and competed in strength and dexterity, everything was simpler: small house surrounded by a palisade. Then a larger house and a wall made of clay and lime blocks. And then, when the war of each against all came knocking on our door, the houses turned into fortresses, and the fences into walls of stone!
Both the castle and the wall were now built in such a way as to withstand a long siege, save from captivity and shame, and stop the enemy! And each element played its own important role. This also applied main wall fortresses
It should be of such a height that attackers could not climb it using ladders or using siege towers, and, of course, very wide and thick. Then you can give up trying to quickly make a hole in it - time will be spent not only in vain, but a lot without an obvious result. Powerful trebuchets can, of course, collapse the roofs of towers or break fortress battlements. Most likely, the enemy will use soldiers with pickaxes, but here the defenders of the castle will be helped by the loopholes in which the arrows are hidden, and machicolations, from which both boiling water and hot tar will pour on the enemy...
At the top of the wall is laid combat move. All possible weapons will be used here by the defenders of the fortress, hiding behind the battlements of the wall, in order to prevent the enemy from setting up assault ladders, making a tunnel, or breaking through a niche for an explosion.
The builders strongly recommended to fit protruding forwards into the wall. towers with loopholes and walkways. The towers also served to strengthen the corners - the weakest point of the wall, since it was in the corners of the fortress that the most enemy forces and the least defensive forces could be concentrated.
Barbican and wolf pits
Barbican. No matter how strong the castle gates were, they still remained a weak link. Therefore, the builders of the glorious Middle Ages figured out how to protect the entrance to the citadel. And this structure guarding the gate was the barbican - the outer fortification of the city or fortress.
What is the secret of the Barbican? The fact is that you cannot bypass it, if you are going to break open the gates of the citadel, you must go through it!
And here was the cunning of the barbican - the gate tower: this powerful stone structure had a platform at the top on which throwing weapons were placed. Moreover, the barbican had two floors. On the first there is a through passage a little wide more sizes carts. A small detachment, having got here, found itself cut off from the main one by an iron grate falling from above, with outside and strong gates, locked with a powerful bolt - from the inside!
The guards serving on the second floor, opening the hatches in the floor, could (and did!) pour hot tar or boiling water on the enemies rushing to the main gate.
In fact, the barbican was the only way into the castle and, of course, it was well guarded.
Wolf pits. Another terrible obstacle on the way to the castle were wolf pits - cunning and cruel structures that were invented by the ancient Romans. The pit was arranged in such a way that, firstly, it had inclined (inward) walls. Therefore, getting out of it was not so easy. Secondly, short pointed stakes were driven into its bottom in several rows. Having fallen into this disguised trap, a person almost always lost the opportunity to stay alive, and his soul flew off to God after severe torment of the body.
Enemy infantry was doomed if they fell into the locations of wolf pits. And they were waiting for the victim on the approaches to the castle, and at its walls, and at the gates of the barbican and the fortress itself, and even on the approaches to the donjon.
Medieval castle - main gate
The gate, the most vulnerable part of the castle, was installed in the gate towers. Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the doors were knocked together from two layers of boards. To prevent them from being set on fire from the outside, they were lined with iron. In one of the gate wings there was a small narrow door through which one could only go through by bending over. An additional strengthening of the gate was a transverse beam, which was inserted into hook-shaped slots on the walls.
Behind the gate was a lowering grate. Most often it was made of wood, with lower ends bound in iron. But there were also iron gratings made from steel tetrahedral rods.
The grate hung on ropes or chains, which in case of danger could be cut off so that it would quickly fall down, blocking the path of the invaders. From the point of view of defense and protection of the castle, the gate was of great importance. Therefore, the medieval castle was built for a long time, painstakingly, taking into account all the features of the enemy’s military operations.
Drawbridge
The drawbridge, thrown over the moat, rose in case of danger and, like a door, closed the entrance, disconnecting the castle from the outside world. The bridge was driven by mechanisms hidden in the building. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains wound around the gates went into the wall holes. The ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights, taking part of the weight of this structure on themselves. Another way to lift the bridge is with a lever. Both designs facilitated the rapid lifting of the bridge.
The craftsmen who built the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing, were especially skilled. One of them lay on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the ditch. When the inner part rose, covering the entrance to the castle, the outer part (which the attackers sometimes already managed to run into) sank down into the moat, into the “wolf pit”, invisible from the side while the bridge was lowered.
In the middle of the century, the defensive value of drawbridges was very great, but later lost its importance due to the advent of new siege weapons.
In order to understand the role played by the material on the research topic collected, processed and prepared by us in the form of an illustrated book-guide, we invited all those who participated in our survey at the end of 2017 to get acquainted with it and solve the crossword puzzle “Medieval castle” , compiled taking into account the need to know the terms and concepts on the topic. The positive results obtained are presented in diagrams (indicators are indicated in percentages) in the Appendix and give a clear idea of the role and significance of our research in the learning process.
2.2. conclusions
As a result of processing and analyzing the results obtained, we received evidence of the effectiveness of using our research materials in the educational process.
Level of knowledge and understanding educational material students of class 6B "ANO "SCHOOL "PRESIDENT" who participated in the testing of research materials increased significantly, as can be seen from a comparison of the diagrams. (See also Appendix).
CONCLUSION
The work we did turned out to be very interesting. We were able to answer all the questions that interested us and tried to examine in detail not so much the history of the emergence of knightly castles, but rather the fortification secrets laid down by the architects during their construction.
To touch the Middle Ages, a model of the castle was made. It can be used in lessons about the surrounding world and history. But the most important result of our work was, of course, the illustrated book “The Medieval Castle: Secrets of Fortification”, for the writing of which we collected and systematized material over the course of six months, using available literature and the capabilities of the Internet.
Unraveling the mystery of the fortification of Medieval castles, we reasonably assumed that the research product could be used in Medieval history lessons, MHC and in extracurricular activities. Consequently, the book written by us will contribute to the development of students’ cognitive activity, the formation of their life position, and the development of interest in History.
Thus, we believe that the goals and objectives set before us in the study have been realized, the hypothesis has been confirmed, and the answer to the educational (problematic) question has been received.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ionina N.I. “100 Great Castles”, Veche, Moscow, 2004.
Lavisse E. and Rambo A. “The Age of the Crusades”, Polygon, St. Petersburg 2003.
Razin E.A. “History of Military Art”, Polygon, St. Petersburg 1999.
Taylor Barbara “Knights”, Series “Learn and Make!”, Publisher: Moscow OLMA Media Group 2014, 64 p.
Philippe Simon, Marie Laure Bouet, “Knights and Castles” Series “Your First Encyclopedia”, Publisher: Moscow “Makhaon” 2013, 128 p.
Funken L. and Funken F. “Encyclopedia of weapons and military costume of the MIDDLE AGES”, Astrel, Moscow 2002.
Shpakovsky Vyacheslav Olegovich, “Knights” Series “Discover the World”, Publisher: LLC “Baltic Book” 2014, 96 p.
Internet materials
Architecture of castles. goo.gl/RQiawf
- How castles were built in the Middle Ages. goo.gl/Auno84
- Main elements of a medieval castle. goo.gl/cMLuwn
Knightly traditions. Who are the knights? goo.gl/FXvDFn
Medieval castle: structure and siege. goo.gl/5F57rS
Medieval castle. goo.gl/LSPsrU
After all, medieval architects were geniuses - they built castles, luxurious buildings that were also extremely practical. Castles, unlike modern mansions, not only demonstrated the wealth of their owners, but also served as powerful fortresses that could hold a defense for several years, and at the same time life in them did not stop.
Even the very fact that many castles, having survived wars, natural disasters and the carelessness of their owners, still stand intact, suggests that safer than home haven't figured it out yet. They are also incredibly beautiful and seem to have appeared in our world from the pages of fairy tales and legends. Their tall spiers remind of the times when the hearts of beauties were fought for, and the air was saturated with chivalry and courage.
Reichsburg Castle, Germany
The thousand-year-old castle was originally the residence of King Conrad III of Germany and then King Louis XIV of France. The fortress was burned by the French in 1689 and would have fallen into oblivion, but a German businessman acquired its remains in 1868 and spent much of his wealth restoring the castle.
Mont Saint Michel, France
Swallow's Nest, Crimea
Initially, on the rock of Cape Ai-Todor there was a small wooden house. And the “Swallow’s Nest” received its current appearance thanks to the oil industrialist Baron Steingel, who loved to vacation in Crimea. He decided to build a romantic castle that resembles medieval buildings on the banks of the Rhine River.
Castle Stalker, Scotland
Castle Stalker, which means "Falconer", was built in 1320 and belonged to the MacDougall clan. Since that time, its walls have survived a huge number of strife and wars, which affected the condition of the castle. In 1965, the owner of the castle became Colonel D. R. Stewart from Allward, who personally, together with his wife, family members and friends, restored the structure.
Bran Castle, Romania
Bran Castle is the pearl of Transylvania, a mysterious fort museum where the famous legend of Count Dracula - the vampire, murderer and commander Vlad the Impaler - was born. According to legend, he spent the night here during his campaigns, and the forest surrounding Bran Castle was Tepes’s favorite hunting ground.
Vyborg Castle, Russia
Vyborg Castle was founded by the Swedes in 1293, during one of the crusades against Karelian land. It remained Scandinavian until 1710, when the troops of I pushed the Swedes back far and wide. From that time on, the castle managed to be a warehouse, a barracks, and even a prison for the Decembrists. And today there is a museum here.
Cashel Castle, Ireland
Cashel Castle was the seat of the kings of Ireland for several hundred years before the Norman invasion. Here in the 5th century AD. e. Saint Patrick lived and preached. The castle walls witnessed the bloody suppression of the revolution by the troops of Oliver Cromwell, who burned soldiers alive here. Since then, the castle has become a symbol of the cruelty of the British, the true courage and fortitude of the Irish.
Kilhurn Castle, Scotland
The very beautiful and even slightly creepy ruins of Kilhurn Castle are located on the shores of the picturesque Lake Euw. The history of this castle, unlike most castles in Scotland, proceeded quite calmly - numerous earls lived here, who replaced each other. In 1769 the building was damaged by lightning and was soon abandoned, as it remains to this day.
Lichtenstein Castle, Germany
Built in the 12th century, this castle was destroyed several times. It was finally restored in 1884 and since then the castle has become a filming location for many films, including The Three Musketeers.
You write about a baron in a castle - at least have a rough idea of how the castle was heated, how it was ventilated, how it was lit...
From an interview with G. L. Oldie
When we hear the word “castle”, an image of a majestic fortress appears in our imagination - business card fantasy genre. There is hardly any other architectural structure that would attract so much attention from historians, military experts, tourists, writers and lovers of “fairy-tale” fiction.
We play computer, board and role-playing games where we have to explore, build or capture impenetrable castles. But do we know what these fortifications actually are? Which interesting stories related to them? What do the stone walls hide behind - witnesses of entire eras, grandiose battles, knightly nobility and vile betrayal?
Surprisingly, it is a fact - fortified dwellings of feudal lords in different parts of the world (Japan, Asia, Europe) were built according to very similar principles and had many common design features. But in this article we will talk primarily about medieval European feudal fortresses, since they served as the basis for the creation of a massive artistic image“medieval castle” as a whole.
Birth of a fortress
The Middle Ages in Europe were a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, organized small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern language, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, it had to be taken away. Lots of land and peasants? This is simply indecent, because God ordered sharing. And if knightly honor was affected, then it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.
Under such circumstances, the large aristocratic landowners had no choice but to strengthen their homes with the expectation that one fine day their neighbors might come to visit them, and if they don’t feed them bread, let them kill someone.
Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles we know in any way - except that a ditch was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was placed around the house.
The manorial courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of the castles.
However, progress did not stand still - with the development of military affairs, the feudal lords had to modernize their fortifications so that they could withstand a massive assault using stone cannonballs and rams.
The European castle has its roots in antiquity. The earliest structures of this kind copied Roman military camps (tents surrounded by a palisade). It is generally accepted that the tradition of building gigantic (by the standards of that time) stone structures began with the Normans, and classic castles appeared in the 12th century.
The besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).
The castle had very simple requirements - it must be inaccessible to the enemy, provide surveillance of the area (including the nearest villages belonging to the owner of the castle), have its own source of water (in case of a siege) and perform representative functions - that is, show the power and wealth of the feudal lord.
Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.
Welcome
We are heading to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope, at the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Simple people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of defense (in particular, guarding our road). These are the so-called “castle people”.
Scheme of castle structures. Note that there are two gate towers, the largest one standing separately.
The road is laid in such a way that the newcomers always face the castle with their right side, not covered by a shield. Directly in front of the fortress wall there is a bare plateau, lying at a significant slope (the castle itself stands on an elevation - natural or embankment). The vegetation here is low so that there is no cover for attackers.
The first obstacle is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a shaft of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau) or crescent-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, a moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.
Sometimes dividing ditches were dug inside the castle, making it difficult for the enemy to move through its territory.
The bottom shape of ditches could be V-shaped or U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth, preventing only the advance of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore the depth of the ditch was not of decisive importance).
The crest of the earthen rampart lying directly in front of the ditch (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence made of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.
A bridge spanning a moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the ditch and bridge, the latter is supported by one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but the last section (right next to the wall) is movable.
Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - grate.
Counterweights on the gate lift.
Castle gate.
This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it covers the gate. The bridge is powered by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains go into the wall openings. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights, taking part of the weight of this structure on themselves.
Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “tipping” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the ditch. When the inner part rose, covering the entrance to the castle, the outer part (which the attackers sometimes already managed to run into) sank down into the ditch, where the so-called “wolf pit” was built (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the outside until the bridge is down.
To enter the castle when the gates were closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lift ladder was usually laid.
The gate is the most vulnerable part of the castle; it was usually not made directly into its wall, but was located in the so-called “gate towers”. Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the doors were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were lined with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the doors there was a small narrow door that could only be passed through by bending over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate was closed by a transverse beam lying in the wall channel and sliding into the opposite wall. Cross beam could also be inserted into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the goal from being attacked by attackers.
Behind the gate there was usually a lowering grate. Most often it was made of wood, with lower ends bound in iron. But there were also iron gratings made from steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the arch of the gate portal, or be located behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along grooves in the walls.
The grate hung on ropes or chains, which in case of danger could be cut off so that it would quickly fall down, blocking the path of the invaders.
Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, learned from the guests the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, could shoot with a bow all those who passed under them. For this purpose, in the arch of the gate portal there were vertical loopholes, as well as “resin noses” - holes for pouring hot resin onto the attackers.
Tar noses.
All on the wall!
The most important defensive element of the castle was the outer wall - high, thick, sometimes on an inclined base. Processed stones or bricks made up its outer surface. Inside it consisted of rubble stone and slaked lime. The walls were placed on a deep foundation, under which it was very difficult to dig.
Often double walls were built in castles - a high external one and a small internal one. An empty space appeared between them, which received the German name “zwinger”. The attackers, when overcoming the outer wall, could not take with them additional assault devices (bulky ladders, poles and other things that cannot be moved inside the fortress). Once in the zwinger in front of another wall, they became an easy target (there were small loopholes in the walls of the zwinger for archers).
Zwinger at Lanek Castle.
At the top of the wall there was a gallery for defense soldiers. On the outside of the castle they were protected by a strong parapet of half human height, on which stone battlements were regularly located. You could stand behind them full height and, for example, loading a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely varied - rectangular, round, swallowtail-shaped, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the soldiers from the weather.
In addition to the battlements, behind which it was convenient to hide, the castle walls were equipped with loopholes. The attackers fired through them. Due to the peculiarities of using throwing weapons (freedom of movement and a certain shooting position), the loopholes for archers were long and narrow, and for crossbowmen they were short, widening on the sides.
A special type of loophole is a ball loophole. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed to the wall with a slot for firing.
Pedestrian gallery on the wall.
Balconies (the so-called “machiculi”) were installed in the walls very rarely - for example, in the case when the wall was too narrow for the free passage of several soldiers, and, as a rule, performed only decorative functions.
At the corners of the castle, small towers were built on the walls, most often flanking (that is, protruding outward), which allowed the defenders to fire along the walls in two directions. In the late Middle Ages, they began to be adapted for storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the castle courtyard) were usually left open so that an enemy who broke into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.
Flanking corner tower.
Castle from the inside
The internal structure of the locks was varied. In addition to the mentioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of “trap” for attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several “sections” separated internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, rooms for servants) and a central tower, also known as the “donjon”.
Donjon at Vincennes Castle.
The life of all the inhabitants of the castle directly depended on the presence and location of the well. Problems often arose with it - after all, as mentioned above, castles were built on hills. The solid rocky soil also did not make the task of supplying water to the fortress any easier. There are known cases of castle wells being laid to a depth of more than 100 meters (for example, Kuffhäuser Castle in Thuringia or the Königstein fortress in Saxony had wells more than 140 meters deep). Digging a well took from one to five years. In some cases, this consumed as much money as the entire interior of the castle cost.
Due to the fact that water had to be obtained with difficulty from deep wells, issues of personal hygiene and sanitation faded into the background. Instead of washing themselves, people preferred to care for animals - especially expensive horses. It is not surprising that townspeople and villagers wrinkled their noses in the presence of castle inhabitants.
The location of the water source depended primarily on natural causes. But if there was a choice, then the well was dug not in the square, but in a fortified room, in order to provide it with water in case of shelter during a siege. If, due to the nature of the occurrence groundwater If a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a stone tower was built above it (if possible, with wooden passages into the castle).
When there was no way to dig a well, a cistern was built in the castle to collect rainwater from the roofs Such water needed purification - it was filtered through gravel.
The military garrison of castles in peacetime was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the castle of Reichelsberg in the Lower Franconian Aube entered into an agreement that each of them would provide one armed servant, and pay two gatekeepers and two guards together.
The castle also had a number of buildings that ensured the autonomous life of its inhabitants in conditions of complete isolation (blockade): a bakery, a steam bath, a kitchen, etc.
Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.
The tower was the tallest structure in the entire castle. It provided the ability to observe the surrounding area and served as a last refuge. When the enemies broke through all the defense lines, the population of the castle took refuge in the donjon and withstood a long siege.
The exceptional thickness of the walls of this tower made its destruction almost impossible (in any case, it would have taken a huge amount of time). The entrance to the tower was very narrow. It was located in the courtyard at a significant (6-12 meters) height. Wooden staircase, leading inside, could easily be destroyed and thereby block the path of the attackers.
Entrance to the donjon.
Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served either as a prison or a warehouse. Entry into it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (German - terrifying hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions into it.
If there were no prison premises in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.
Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, to obtain a ransom or to use the prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIPs were provided with the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is exactly how Frederick the Handsome “spent his time” at the castle of Trausnitz on Pfeimde and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.
Chamber at Marksburg Castle.
Abenberg Castle tower (12th century) in section.
At the base of the tower there was a basement, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. Main hall (dining room, common area) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it distributed heat only a few meters, so iron baskets with coals were placed further down the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.
At the very top of the tower there was an open (less often covered, but if necessary, the roof could be dropped) platform where a catapult or other throwing weapon could be installed to fire at the enemy. The standard (banner) of the owner of the castle was also erected there.
Sometimes the donjon did not serve as a living space. It could well have been used only for military-economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, food storage). In such cases, the feudal lord’s family lived in the “palace” - the living quarters of the castle, standing apart from the tower. The palaces were built of stone and had several floors in height.
It should be noted that the living conditions in the castles were far from the most pleasant. Only the largest palaces had a large knightly hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the dungeons and palaces. Fireplace heating helped, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to preserve heat.
The windows let in very little sunlight (this was due to the fortification nature of the castle architecture); not all of them were glazed. Toilets were arranged in the form of a bay window in the wall. They were unheated, so visiting the outhouse in winter left people with a unique feeling.
Castle toilet.
Concluding our “tour” of the castle, we cannot fail to mention that it necessarily had a room for worship (temple, chapel). The indispensable inhabitants of the castle included a chaplain or priest, who, in addition to his main duties, played the role of a clerk and teacher. In the most modest fortresses, the role of a temple was played by a wall niche where a small altar stood.
Large temples had two floors. Commoners prayed below, and gentlemen gathered in a warm (sometimes glassed-in) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such rooms was quite modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple served as a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less often it was used as a refuge (along with the donjon).
There are many tales told about underground passages in castles. Of course, there were moves. But very few of them led from the castle somewhere into the neighboring forest and could be used as an escape route. As a rule, there were no long moves at all. Most often there were short tunnels between separate buildings, or from the keep to the complex of caves under the castle (additional shelter, warehouse or treasury).
War on earth and underground
Contrary to popular misconception, the average size of the military garrison of an ordinary castle during active hostilities rarely exceeded 30 people. This was quite enough for defense, since the inhabitants of the fortress were in relative safety behind its walls and did not suffer such losses as the attackers.
To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all food supply routes. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for a war of mediocre feudal lords).
The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - about a month (one should take into account his low combat effectiveness during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of a castle preparing for a siege often took extreme measures - they drove out all the commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed an entire army under siege conditions.
The inhabitants of the castle rarely launched counterattacks. This simply did not make sense - there were fewer of them than the attackers, and they felt much calmer behind the walls. A special case are forays for food. The latter were carried out, as a rule, at night, in small groups that walked along poorly guarded paths to the nearest villages.
The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes lasted for years (for example, the German Turant defended from 1245 to 1248), so the question of logistics for an army of several hundred people arose especially acutely.
In the case of the siege of Turant, chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fuders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This amounts to about 2.8 million liters. Either the census taker made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was more than 1000 people.
The most preferred season for starving a castle was summer - there is less rain than in spring or autumn (in winter, the inhabitants of the castle could get water by melting snow), the crops were not yet ripe, and old supplies had already run out.
The attackers tried to deprive the castle of a source of water (for example, they built dams on the river). In the most extreme cases, “biological weapons” were used - corpses were thrown into the water, which could provoke outbreaks of epidemics throughout the area. Those inhabitants of the castle who were captured were mutilated by the attackers and released. They returned back and became unwitting parasites. They might not have been accepted at the castle, but if they were the wives or children of the besieged, then the voice of the heart outweighed considerations of tactical expediency.
The residents of the surrounding villages who tried to deliver supplies to the castle were treated no less cruelly. In 1161, during the siege of Milan, Frederick Barbarossa ordered the hands of 25 townspeople of Piacenza who were trying to supply food to their enemies to be cut off.
The besiegers set up a permanent camp near the castle. It also had some simple fortifications (palisades, earthen ramparts) in case of a sudden attack by the fortress’s defenders. For protracted sieges, a so-called “counter-castle” was built next to the castle. Usually it was located higher than the besieged one, which made it possible to conduct effective observation of the besieged from its walls and, if the distance allowed, to fire at them from throwing weapons.
View of Eltz Castle from Trutz-Eltz Counter-Castle.
The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification presented a serious obstacle to conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well be crowned with success, which, however, came at the cost of great casualties.
That is why, in order to successfully capture the castle, a whole complex of military measures was necessary (the siege and starvation have already been mentioned above). One of the most labor-intensive, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the castle’s defenses was undermining.
Undermining was done for two purposes - to provide troops with direct access to the castle's courtyard or to destroy a section of its wall.
Thus, during the siege of the Altwindstein castle in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) people took advantage of the diversionary maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and over the course of 10 weeks made a long passage through solid rock into the south-eastern part of the fortress .
If the castle wall was not too large and had an unreliable foundation, then a tunnel was dug under its base, the walls of which were strengthened with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel was collapsing, the base of the foundation was sagging, and the wall above this place was falling apart.
Storming of the castle (14th century miniature).
Later, with the advent of gunpowder weapons, bombs were planted in tunnels under castle walls. To neutralize the undermining, the besieged sometimes dug counter-undermining. Enemy sappers were doused with boiling water, bees were released into the tunnel, feces were poured into it (and in ancient times, the Carthaginians released live crocodiles into Roman tunnels).
Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If a ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a tunnel was being mined nearby.
But the main argument in attacking the castle were siege engines - catapults and rams. The first were not much different from those catapults that were used by the Romans. These devices were equipped with a counterweight, which imparted the greatest force to the throwing arm. With proper dexterity of the “gun crew,” catapults were quite accurate weapons. They threw large, smoothly hewn stones, and the combat range (on average, several hundred meters) was regulated by the weight of the projectiles.
A type of catapult is a trebuchet.
Sometimes the catapults were loaded with barrels filled with flammable materials. To give the castle defenders a couple of pleasant minutes, catapults threw the severed heads of prisoners to them (especially powerful machines could even throw whole corpses over the wall).
Storming a castle using a mobile tower.
In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were mounted on high mobile frames with a canopy and looked like a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, causing the log to hit the wall.
In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were attached. With this rope they caught the ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes an unwary soldier could get caught on such hooks.
Having overcome the rampart, broken the palisades and filled in the ditch, the attackers either stormed the castle using ladders or used tall wooden towers, the upper platform of which was flush with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent the defenders from setting them on fire and were rolled up to the castle along a plank flooring. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and fought into the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.
Silent Sapa
Sapa (from the French sape, literally - hoe, saper - to dig) is a method of digging a ditch, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16th-19th centuries. The switchback (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. Work with a shift gland was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without workers going to the surface, and with a flying gland - from the surface of the earth under the cover of a previously prepared protective embankment of barrels and bags of earth. In the 2nd half of the 17th century, specialists - sappers - appeared in the armies of a number of countries to perform such work.
The expression to act “on the sly” means: to sneak, slowly, unnoticed, to penetrate somewhere.
Fights on the castle stairs
From one floor of the tower it was possible to get to another only along a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. In this case, the warrior who went first could only count on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or long sword from behind the leader’s back. Therefore, the battles on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. Namely the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since there was a special extended area behind them.
In all castles, the stairs twist clockwise. There is only one castle with a reverse twist - the fortress of the Counts Wallenstein. When studying the history of this family, it was discovered that most of the men in it were left-handed. Thanks to this, historians realized that such a design of stairs greatly facilitates the work of the defenders. Most swipe with a sword you can apply it towards your left shoulder, and a shield in your left hand best covers your body from this direction. Only the defender has all these advantages. The attacker can only strike to the right side, but his striking hand will be pressed against the wall. If he puts his shield forward, he will almost lose the ability to use weapons.
Samurai castles
Himeji Castle.
We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.
Initially, samurai and their overlords lived on their estates, where, apart from the “yagura” watchtower and a small moat around the dwelling, there were no other defensive structures. In case of a protracted war, fortifications were erected in hard-to-reach areas of the mountains, where it was possible to defend against superior enemy forces.
Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable feature of a Japanese castle are wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it on all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, lake, swamp.
Inside, the castle was a complex system of defensive structures, consisting of several rows of walls with courtyards and gates, underground corridors and labyrinths. All these structures were located around the central square of Honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several gradually decreasing rectangular tiers with protruding tiled roofs and pediments.
Japanese castles, as a rule, were small - about 200 meters long and 500 wide. But among them there were also real giants. Thus, Odawara Castle occupied an area of 170 hectares, and total length its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.
Ancient charm
Castles are still being built today. Those that were state property are often returned to the descendants of ancient families. Castles are a symbol of the influence of their owners. They are an example of the ideal compositional solution, which combines unity (defense considerations did not allow the picturesque distribution of buildings throughout the territory), multi-level buildings (main and secondary) and the utmost functionality of all components. Elements of castle architecture have already become archetypes - for example, a castle tower with battlements: its image sits in the subconscious of any more or less educated person.
French castle of Saumur (14th century miniature).
And finally, we love castles because they are simply romantic. Knightly tournaments, ceremonial receptions, vile conspiracies, secret passages, ghosts, treasures - when applied to castles, all this ceases to be a legend and turns into history. The expression “the walls remember” fits perfectly here: it seems that every stone of the castle breathes and hides a secret. I would like to believe that medieval castles will continue to maintain an aura of mystery - because without it, sooner or later they will turn into an old pile of stones.
- Translation
The Norman Conquest of England led to a boom in castle building, but the process of creating a fortress from scratch is far from simple.
Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, founded in 1385
1) Choose your building site carefully
It is extremely important to build your castle on high ground and at a strategic point.Castles were usually built on natural elevations, and were usually equipped with a link connecting them with the external environment, such as a ford, bridge or passage.
Historians have rarely been able to find evidence from contemporaries regarding the choice of location for the construction of the castle, but they still exist. On September 30, 1223, 15-year-old King Henry III arrived in Montgomery with his army. The king, having successfully carried out a military campaign against the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, was planning to build a new castle in the area to ensure security on the border of his dominions. The English carpenters had been given the task of preparing the wood a month earlier, but the king's advisers had only now determined the site for the construction of the castle. 
Montgomery Castle, when it began to be built in 1223, was located on a hill
After a careful survey of the area, they chose a point on the very edge of a ledge overlooking the Severn valley. According to the chronicler Roger of Wendover, this position "looked unassailable to anyone." He also noted that the castle was created “for the security of the region from frequent attacks by the Welsh.”
Advice: Identify places where topography rises above transport routes: these are natural places for locks. Keep in mind that the design of the castle is determined by where it is built. For example, a castle will have a dry moat on a ledge of outcroppings.
2) Come up with a workable plan
You will need a master mason who can draw plans. An engineer knowledgeable in weapons will also come in handy.Experienced soldiers may have their own ideas about the design of the castle, in terms of the shape of its buildings and their location. But it is unlikely that they will have the knowledge of specialists in design and construction.
To implement the idea, a master mason was required - an experienced builder, whose distinguishing feature was the ability to draw a plan. Understanding practical geometry, he used such simple tools, like a ruler, square and compass, to create architectural plans. Master masons submitted a drawing with a building plan for approval, and during construction they supervised its construction.
When Edward II ordered the construction of the tower at Knaresborough, he personally approved the plans and demanded reports on the construction
When Edward II began building a huge residential tower at Knaresborough Castle in Yorkshire in 1307 for his favorite Piers Gaveston, he not only personally approved the plans created by the London master mason Hugh of Titchmarsh - probably made as a drawing - but also demanded regular reports on the construction . From the mid-16th century, a new group of professionals called engineers increasingly began to take on a role in drawing up plans and constructing fortifications. They had technical knowledge of the use and power of cannons, both for defense and attack on castles.
Advice: Plan loopholes to provide a wide angle of attack. Shape them according to the weapon you're using: longbow archers need larger slopes, crossbowmen need smaller ones.
3) Hire a large group of experienced workers
You will need thousands of people. And not all of them will necessarily come of their own free will.The construction of the castle required enormous efforts. We have no documentary evidence of the construction of the first castles in England from 1066, but from the scale of many castles of that period it is clear why some chronicles claim that the English were under pressure to build castles for their Norman conquerors. But from the later Middle Ages, some estimates with detailed information have reached us.
During the invasion of Wales in 1277, King Edward I began building a castle at Flint, north-east Wales. It was erected quickly, thanks to the rich resources of the crown. A month after the start of work, in August, 2,300 people were involved in the construction, including 1,270 diggers, 320 woodcutters, 330 carpenters, 200 masons, 12 blacksmiths and 10 charcoal burners. All of them were driven from the surrounding lands under an armed escort, who made sure that they did not desert from the construction site.
From time to time, foreign specialists could be involved in construction. For example, millions of bricks for the reconstruction of Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire in the 1440s were supplied by a certain Baldwin “Docheman”, or Dutchman, that is, “Dutchman” - obviously a foreigner.
Advice: depending on size work force and the distance she had to travel, it may be necessary to provide them with accommodation at the construction site.
4) Ensure the safety of the construction site
An unfinished castle on enemy territory is very vulnerable to attack.To build a castle on enemy territory, you need to protect the construction site from attacks. For example, you can surround the construction site with wooden fortifications or a low stone wall. Such medieval defense systems sometimes remained after the construction of the building as an additional wall - as, for example, at Beaumaris Castle, the construction of which began in 1295.
Beaumaris (English: Beaumaris, Welsh: Biwmares) is a town on the island of Anglesey, Wales.
Safe communication with the outside world for the delivery of building materials and provisions is also important. In 1277 Edward I dug a canal to the River Clwyd straight from the sea to the site of his new castle at Rydlan. External wall, built to protect the construction site, reached the piers on the banks of the river.
Rydland Castle
Security problems can also arise when radically renovating an existing castle. When Henry II rebuilt Dover Castle in the 1180s, the work was carefully planned so that the fortifications would provide protection for the duration of the renovation. According to the surviving decrees, work on the inner wall of the castle began only when the tower was already sufficiently repaired so that guards could be on duty in it.
Advice: building materials for building a castle are large and voluminous. If possible, it is better to transport them by water, even if this means building a dock or canal.
5) Prepare the landscape
When building a castle, you may have to move a significant amount of earth, which is not cheap.It is often forgotten that the castle’s fortifications were built not only through architectural techniques, but also through landscape design. Huge resources were devoted to moving land. The scale of the Norman land work can be considered outstanding. For example, according to some estimates, the mound built in 1100 around Pleshy Castle in Essex required 24,000 man-days.
Some aspects of landscaping required considerable skill, especially the creation of water ditches. When Edward I rebuilt the Tower of London in the 1270s, he hired a foreign specialist, Walter of Flanders, to create a huge tidal ditch. Digging the ditches under his direction cost £4,000, a staggering sum, almost a quarter of the cost of the entire project.
An 18th-century engraving of the 1597 plan of the Tower of London shows how much earth had to be moved to build the moats and ramparts.
With the increasing role of cannons in siege art, the earth began to play an even more important role as an absorber of cannon shots. Interestingly, experience in moving large volumes of earth allowed some fortification engineers to find work as garden designers.
Advice: Reduce time and cost by excavating the stonework for your castle walls from the moats around it.
6) Lay the foundation
Carefully implement the mason's plan.Using ropes required length and pegs were possible to mark the foundation of a building on the ground in full size. After the ditches for the foundation were dug, work began on the masonry. To save money, responsibility for construction was assigned to the senior mason instead of the master mason. Masonry in the Middle Ages was usually measured in rods, one English rod = 5.03 m. At Warkworth in Northumberland, one of the complex towers stands on a grid of rods, perhaps for the purpose of calculating construction costs.
Warkworth Castle
Often the construction of medieval castles was accompanied by detailed documentation. In 1441-42 the tower of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire was destroyed and plans were drawn up for its successor on the ground. But for some reason the Prince of Stafford was dissatisfied. The king's master mason, Robert of Westerley, was sent to Tutbury where he held a meeting with two senior masons to design a new tower on a new site. Westerly then left, and over the next eight years a small group of workers, including four junior masons, built a new tower.
Senior masons could be called upon to certify the quality of the work, as was the case at Cooling Castle in Kent when the royal mason Heinrich Yewel assessed the work carried out from 1381 to 1384. He criticized deviations from the original plan and rounded down the estimate.
Advice: Don't let the master mason fool you. Make him make a plan so that it is easy to make an estimate.
7) Strengthen your castle
Complete the construction with complex fortifications and specialized wooden structures.Until the 12th century, the fortifications of most castles consisted of earth and logs. And although later preference was given to stone buildings, wood remained very important material in medieval wars and fortifications.
Stone castles were prepared for attacks by adding special battle galleries along the walls, as well as shutters that could be used to cover the gaps between the battlements to protect the castle defenders. All this was made of wood. Heavy weapons used to defend the castle, catapults and heavy crossbows, springalds, were also built from wood. Artillery was usually designed by a highly paid professional carpenter, sometimes with the title of engineer, from the Latin "ingeniator".
Storming of the castle, drawing from the 15th century
Such experts were not cheap, but could end up being worth their weight in gold. This, for example, happened in 1266, when the castle of Kenilworth in Warwickshire resisted Henry III for almost six months with the help of catapults and water defense.
There are records of marching castles made entirely of wood - they could be carried with you and erected as needed. One of these was built for the French invasion of England in 1386, but the garrison of Calais captured it along with the ship. It was described as consisting of a wall of logs 20 feet high and 3,000 steps long. There was a 30-foot tower every 12 paces, capable of housing up to 10 soldiers, and the castle also had unspecified defenses for archers.
Advice: Oak wood becomes stronger over the years, and it is easiest to work with when it is green. The upper branches of trees are easy to transport and shape.
8) Provide water and sewerage
Don't forget about the "conveniences". You will appreciate them in the event of a siege.The most important aspect for the castle was efficient access to water. These could be wells that supplied water to certain buildings, for example, a kitchen or stable. Without detailed acquaintance with medieval well shafts it's hard to do them justice. For example, at Beeston Castle in Cheshire there is a well 100 m deep, the top 60 m of which is lined with cut stone.
There is some evidence of complex aqueducts that brought water to the apartments. The tower of Dover Castle has a system of lead pipes that delivers water to the rooms. It was fed from a well using a winch, and possibly from a rainwater collection system.
Effective disposal of human waste was another challenge for lock designers. Latrines were collected in one place in the buildings so that their shafts were emptied in one place. They were located in short corridors that delayed unpleasant odors, and were often equipped with wooden seats and removable lids.
Reflection room at Chipchase Castle
Today, it is widely believed that restrooms used to be called “wardrobes.” In fact, the vocabulary for toilets was extensive and colorful. They were called gongs or gangs (from the Anglo-Saxon word for "place to go"), nooks and jakes (the French version of "john").
Advice: Ask a master mason to design comfortable and private latrines outside the bedroom, following the example of Henry II and Dover Castle.
9) Decorate as needed
The castle not only had to be well guarded - its inhabitants, having a high status, demanded a certain chic.During war, the castle must be defended - but it also serves as a luxurious home. Noble gentlemen of the Middle Ages expected their homes to be both comfortable and richly furnished. In the Middle Ages, these citizens traveled together with servants, things and furniture from one residence to another. But home interiors often had immobile decorative features, for example, stained glass windows.
Henry III's tastes in furnishings are recorded very carefully, with interesting and attractive detail. In 1235-36, for example, he ordered his hall at Winchester Castle to be decorated with images of the world map and the wheel of fortune. Since then, these decorations have not survived, but the well-known round table of King Arthur, created perhaps between 1250 and 1280, remains in the interior.
Winchester Castle with King Arthur's round table hanging on the wall
The large area of the castles played an important role in luxurious life. Parks were created for hunting, a jealously guarded privilege of aristocrats; gardens were also in demand. The extant description of the construction of Kirby Muxloe Castle in Leicestershire says that its owner, Lord Hastings, began laying out gardens at the very beginning of the construction of the castle in 1480.
The Middle Ages also loved rooms with beautiful views. One of the groups of 13th-century rooms in the castles of Leeds in Kent, Corfe in Dorset and Chepstow in Monmothshire has been named