Castles were a principal feature of medieval warfare and society, as well as featuring in many historical legends and myths which emanated from England and Europe generally. Take a look at this section to learn the outline of how and why the idea of the castle originated and evolved.
From the latter part of the Dark Ages in the ninth century, the Nordic nations began to invade the central parts of Europe including the area now known as France. These people called Vikings were causing havoc in these areas and the inhabitants and noblemen in particular, needed a method of defending themselves. France at that time was generally not well organized as a nation to fight against these Vikings as the various regions were basically individual provinces. They devised a type of fortification which they called a castel (castle). Although inhabitants of Europe including France and Britain had used strong timber palisades to form a stockade as the method of protecting their villages for many centuries before that, the French noblemen utilized a layout whereby within the stockade was a natural or man-made hill or mound with a further building called a keep at its top. The mound known as a motte, was surrounded by a further palisade.
These were further developed during the ninth century whereby the perimeter palisade and the central tower, sometimes referred to as a keep, were constructed of stone. Further defenses included a large ditch around the mound which was often filled with water.
These castles were quite effective against the Vikings method of attack, which was previously to strike at a village or encampment using the element of surprise and then leave the area very quickly before the local inhabitants could strike back.
The Vikings at this time were also attacking and occupying other areas across Europe from Russia through to Great Britain. One of these groups successfully occupied an area in northern France and became known as Normans, with the area they lived in known as Normandy.
The Scandinavian nations of which the Vikings were apart were still worshipping heathen Gods, including Odin and Thor until well after the year 1000 and in fact Christianity was not generally accepted by the Scandinavians until the thirteenth century. The Normans, however adopted Christianity and the French language. By the end of the tenth century they had also adopted and in fact developed the castles which had originally been invented to keep them out of France.
By the middle of the eleventh century the Britons were still fighting off Viking attacks and were using the same methods as they had for centuries although in a few isolated cases the French idea of castle building was beginning to become adopted.
Although there had been some alliances between the Normans and the English against their mutual enemies the Vikings, in 1066 the Normans under William the Conqueror invaded England and the Battle of Hastings took place, where Harold II, the English King, was defeated.
The Normans established themselves quickly in England by building the timber version of castles mentioned above, as these had the benefit of being constructed very quickly. With sufficient labor, a timber castle of limited size could be constructed within a few days and a larger castle in a few weeks. The timber required for these castles was also readily available in southern England.
The building of these castles helped the Normans prevent the English counter attacks and rebellions from being successful. The type of castle used at this time was known as the motte and bailey castle.
The motte was a hill, either natural, man-made or a combination of these, on which the main fortified building or tower would stand. A motte would generally range from about forty feet high to approaching one hundred feet in height and the sloping surface was built-up with layers of rocks and earth to stabilize the soil in the steeply angled mound. There would generally be a timber staircase which would be removed if the motte was under attack. There would be a palisade and a ditch around the base of the motte as further barriers against invaders. The tower or keep would usually be the residence of the nobleman or leader of that community, although under siege all of that community would retreat to within the keep.
At a distance around the motte was the bailey which was the area where the ordinary members of the community would live and work. The area of the bailey could be several hundred feet in each direction although they were normally kept to the minimum size possible to accommodate the necessary buildings; as the larger the bailey the harder it was to defend. Around the perimeter was the stockade fence and around that fence or palisade was a further ditch. The ditches to the motte and the bailey were quite substantial, with the materials from the ditches being used to construct the motte. If the castle was constructed near a river or stream then it would be possible to fill the ditches with water, as an additional barrier against attackers. Inhabitants of the castle would be able to cross the ditches by means of a removable bridge or a drawbridge. At intervals around the inside of the palisade would probably be platforms for the inhabitants of the castle to keep a lookout and to defend.
Hundreds of castles of this style were built across England, in fact virtually everywhere where a town or village existed. They were most likely to be built in areas where the King knew that there was expected to be rebellions and so there was a particular concentration of castles along the boarder with Wales and in the North of England.
At first castles were built under the direct control and instruction of William the Conqueror with the direct purpose of controlling possible English rebellions. However as time went by William began to give permission to build castles to those who he felt were loyal to him and trustworthy with the result that many more were built. In fact during the approximately twenty years that William occupied England more than five hundred castles were built.
These timber castles had the considerable disadvantage of being vulnerable to fire. Once William had become established in England, the Normans were able to re-build many of the timber castles with stone. This was subject to the availability of stone and there being suitable ground at the site to take the weight of a stone castle. If the old motte had been built on firm natural ground or rock rather than a manmade mound, then there was a possibility of rebuilding in a similar style. However in most cases the new stone castles were built on comparatively level ground, although the strength of the stone walls more than compensated for the reduced height advantage of the tower.
Twenty years after the Norman Invasion William was killed in a riding accident, but the castle building continued in England. The styles varied slightly according to terrain and stability of the ground, but toward the end of the eleventh century the square stone tower had been developed, of which Colchester Castle is a fine example.
Castle building progressed through the twelfth century with the construction becoming stronger and more substantial. Additionally, other features evolved such as the introduction of towers projecting from the outside of the perimeter wall. These gave the defenders a better view and field of attack. The towers and walls were constructed curved or circular on plan to give better strength and view to a head on assault; plus it removed the corners which were the most vulnerable to attack.
This gradual development continued steadily until the early part of the fourteenth century. At this time Edward I, who reigned from 1272-1307, used a French castle designer to refine and in fact virtually perfect the defenses of his castles to their limits.
Siege engines, weapons and methods of attacking castles had developed to the extent where the simple castles of the previous centuries could be conquered in a short amount of time. The new castles which Edwards was having built were firstly in locations which were difficult to attack, such as adjacent to cliffs or near vertical rock faces. These castles were also generally concentric castles meaning that where possible several rings of walls were built; an inner wall would surround the main tower and buildings then a further wall would surround that wall, then a further wall would surround that wall and so on.
Between these walls would be a series of alleys or traps where attackers would find themselves surrounded on all sides by defenders if they breached the wall. Sometimes a gate would close behind them to trap them inside while missiles and boiling fluids rained down on them through slots in the masonry known as murder holes.
These Edwardian type castles continued to exist and indeed to be built with slight refinements through the early part of the fourteenth century. They were very large and, provided that they were in a suitable location, were generally quite secure against the latest anti-castle technology and techniques.
Although I have reserved any detailed mention of attack weapons and techniques for another section, one such weapon must be referred to here; namely Gunpowder! This introduced a totally new concept towards castles and fortified buildings generally.
A castle afforded only very temporary resistance to an attacker armed with cannon. As a fortified house for a nobleman and a base for his garrison they were still effective. But as a place to retreat to in total security, against a strong and determined enemy, well they no longer worked.
No further castles were built although the existing ones continued to be used as houses for centuries after that; but less and less as time went by. From the sixteenth century the nobility much preferred the comfort and luxury offered by palaces and country houses.