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INTRODUCTION
Topic selection "Medieval Castle: Fortification Secrets" was not random.
The Middle Ages is a majestic mystery, largely unsolved by medieval scholars. 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 from 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 answer the question: what allowed the defenders of 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 for scientists and tourists, but also for authors of computer games, strategies, books and films in the fantasy style, where events take place in ancient fortified palaces-fortresses. This develops our interest and curiosity, the desire to find out more than what is written in the 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 along with the heroes of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warmachine, Kings of War, Confrontation, Game of Thrones, Robin Hood, Lord of the Rings and other fantasy novels, films and wargames, but also that hallmark 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, feudal. Under these conditions, a knight's (feudal) castle became a reliable fortification, and the features of its fortification structure helped the owner and the garrison to withstand a long siege by the enemy.
As you can see, from the point of view of relevance, the study acquires a special meaning. And if before, researchers and project authors talked mainly about the castle - a masterpiece of medieval architecture, today - about the secrets of architecture for a special, military purpose, turning a dwelling, the center of civilization of a single feudal estate into a citadel.
Object of study
Medieval castle as a dwelling, refuge and palace of a feudal lord.
Subject of study
Elements of castle fortification architecture and the secrets embedded 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 tasks:
To study the literature containing information about medieval castles, the history of their construction, purpose.
Find out the features of the fortification purpose of the elements of the knight's castle.
Training (problem) question
1. What fortification secrets allowed the defenders of castles to withstand a long siege?
Research methods: collection and study of information; generalization and description of the fortification features of a medieval castle.
Research Products
1. Model of a medieval castle.
2. Book - manual "Medieval castle: the secrets of fortification."
3. Medieval castle (crossword "vice versa").
The work consists of an Introduction, three sections, a Conclusion, a list of references and an Appendix.
In the Introduction, the relevance of the study is substantiated, the goal, objectives, object and subject of the study are defined.
Section 1 "The Knight's Castle of the Middle Ages: a bit of history" considers a general idea of the time and the need for the appearance of knight's castles in Europe, the general principles of location on the ground and arrangement.
Section 2 "The most important elements of the castle and "traps" for the enemy" considers fortification details, tricks and their purpose.
Section 3 "Approbation of research materials and conclusions" presents diagrams illustrating the indicators of students' knowledge before and after acquaintance with the research materials prepared by us (Manual book "Medieval Castle: Secrets of Fortification").
The “Conclusion” summed up the general results of the work, outlined the conclusions, substantiated the practical application and significance of the work.
The "References" reflects the sources that we used in our research.
The "Appendix" contains testing materials, separately - a manual "Medieval Castle: Secrets of Fortification", diagrams reflecting the level of knowledge of students BEFORE and AFTER acquaintance with our work, as well as a "crossword puzzle in reverse" as a material for reflection.
SECTION 1. Medieval knight's castle: the secrets of fortification
Medieval castle: a bit of 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 out of primitiveness that had outgrown itself, and the distant Middle Ages - from Greco-Roman civilization, when it had exhausted its possibilities ...
But it would seem that it is either impossible or very difficult to find similarities between Roman times and the European Middle Ages in particulars, details. What if you take a closer look?
And if you look closely, the theme of our work "The medieval castle and its fortification features" in the main detail - "the purpose of the castle" - returns us to the structure of the Roman camp, the direct purpose of which is the protection of its inhabitants.
Judge for yourself, the camp 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, realizing the danger of the Norman invasion, a man of the beginning of the 12th century begins to build shelters that can protect him from external intrusion. At first, he encloses a fortress house on a hill with a palisade, digs a moat around it and brings water to it, and then, realizing that wood and limestone are unreliable materials, he begins to build a stone fortress and enclose it not just with a fence - with a wall, the height and thickness of which 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, to defeat, if not on the outskirts of the citadel, then inside it, using the tricks of fortification architecture.
Today, playing computer games, empathizing with the heroes of fantasy films, collecting puzzles, we partially delve into the meaning of building huge defensive structures, analyze the internal structure and system of fortifications, often asking ourselves: what is there, behind the stone barrier that stands in the way of the conquerors, why did the knights build not just beautiful and solid houses, but shelters, fortresses?
The conclusion suggests itself: they were motivated by the wars! 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 superior in strength, who would like your home, forest, river, fields, would come down?
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 observation 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 place was chosen based on these requirements: a mountain, a high rock, in extreme cases, a hillock, it would be nice not far from the water. The construction of the main dwelling - the donjon began. It's hard work, slow, carefully planned. While the builders erected walls and dug a well (a source of water, and therefore life!), the local people (from the master'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 (disguised pits, false crossings across rivers and large streams, ambushes with cleared sectors for shelling the enemy ...). A prerequisite is that the road should twist so that the horseman or foot warrior will certainly turn out to be right, unprotected, sideways to 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 managed one, but always powerful, high, with towers and loopholes, strong gates, a barbican protruding forward, a drawbridge across a moat filled with water.
It also happened vice versa: 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 power, beauty or architectural fiction. 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
The castle of the Middle Ages with its fortifications, which have a certain defensive purpose, is not today's rich "antique" house. A medieval castle is a formidable, often gloomy fortress with towers and sentries warily looking around from their eye sockets.
The towers were built hollow, inside they were divided into floors by ceilings made of wooden boards with a hole in the center or side. A rope passed through them to raise shells to the upper platform in case of defending the castle.
The stairs were hidden behind partitions in the wall. Take a look: each floor is a separate room in which the soldiers were located. For heating, a fireplace was often arranged in the thickness of the wall, in which, by the way, it was possible to cook game on a spit ...
The only openings in the tower that connected with the outside world were loopholes for archery. Long and narrow openings, they expanded into the room. Usually the height of such loopholes is 1 meter, and the width is 30 cm outside and 1 meter and 30 centimeters inside. This design prevented enemy arrows from getting inside, and the defenders were able to shoot in different directions.
For archers, loopholes were long narrow slots in the wall, and for the crossbowman, short loopholes were intended, expanding to the sides. They were often called keyholes.
There were also loopholes of a special form - spherical. They were wall-mounted, freely rotating slotted wooden balls. They provided the shooter with maximum protection.
The number of loopholes was supposed to frighten the enemy, who understood that the more loopholes, the more defenders, the stronger the defense, of course.
As contemporaries of the events of the Middle Ages, historians and even tourists write, the presence of loopholes became especially relevant during a war or siege, since it was not visible in a narrow vertical hole whether the shooter was behind it or not. The height of some loopholes was even calculated taking into account this circumstance.
What is interesting for us is the fact that loopholes in the walls were not common in Europe until the 13th century, since it was believed that they could weaken their strength. But, regardless of their purpose, loopholes have become an obligatory attribute of medieval castles since the 13th century.
Secrets of the spiral staircase. Knight's swords*.
Secrets of the spiral staircase.
The time of appearance, and then the heyday of the technique of constructing a spiral staircase is considered to be the Middle Ages. Trying in every possible way to complicate the life of their enemies, the knights adapted spiral staircases to all structures, and the screw always twisted clockwise.
When attacking to the top of the tower along such a ladder, a large number of troubles awaited: steps turning around their axis, a narrow passage, no place to swing a sword, an open space for an attack from above, repeated at every bend. Under such conditions, even a very modest garrison is able to hold their positions without loss, which would be impossible on an ordinary staircase. You can’t shoot a bow with a crossbow, you can’t break through the stairs with a spear, a sword, and the holes in the steps made it possible to assess the situation, watch the besieging enemies making their way upstairs, and finally break their legs.
However, there is a castle in Europe in which the stairs are twisted counterclockwise. This is the ancestral home of Count Wallenstein in Bohemia. The fact is that this ancient and warlike family became famous not only for resounding victories and generals, 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 artisans in the strictest confidence.
*Knight's swords (for the most inquisitive). From the 12th century girdling with a sword and blessing this weapon became an obligatory part of the knighting rite. Like a king, a knight was charged with protecting the world from foreign invaders, protecting the church from pagans and enemies of the 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 a Christian warrior, his duty to God and civilians, and the sword hilt 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. Very important in its essence was the question of the geometry, profile of the blade and its balancing: swords are adapted for stabbing or chopping combat 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 the castles were built according to the same plan. Most often they are encircled 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 to dig with the subsequent undermining of the foundation at the corner of the building. Some towers had a dividing wall in the middle.
An additional level of protection was bars, powerful doors and strong locks. The donjons were very carefully thought out.
These towers were built of stone. Wooden fortresses could no longer provide adequate protection from fire, throwing and siege weapons. In addition, the stone structure suited the nobility much better: it became possible to make large and safe rooms that were well protected from the weather and the enemy.
Architects have always taken 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 archers an advantage, but made them practically inaccessible to siege ladders.
There was only one entrance to the tower. It was raised above ground level and arranged with a ladder or even a ditch with a drawbridge so that attackers could not use a ram. The room immediately after entering was sometimes used to disarm visitors. This is where the guards were stationed. 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 possibility of separating one floor from another in such a way as to make it long and by no means safe for unwanted guests to move up. 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 were ingeniously designed fortifications that used many ingenious and creative ways to protect the inhabitants of the castle from attack by enemies. Literally everything - from the outer walls to the shape and location of the stairs - was very carefully planned to provide maximum protection to 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 the siege the defenders would not be cut off from food supplies. Secret passages also led to secret chambers where people could hide or food was stored, and an additional well was dug for water.
One of the clearest examples of a castle with many secret rooms and passages is Benrath Castle in Germany. As many as seven invisible passages are hidden in the walls of the building!
Yes, a medieval castle was much more than just a large, glamorous palace with massive stone walls around it. It was a structure designed down to the smallest detail to protect the inhabitants. And each castle was full of its own little secrets.
Ditch and zwinger
Ditch. The first barrier guarding the castle is a deep moat. It was often connected to a river to be filled with water. The moat made it difficult to access the fortress walls and siege weapons. It could be transverse (separate the castle wall from the plateau) or sickle-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 the ditch was not made at all. The only way to cross the moat was to use a drawbridge that hung on iron chains.
Zwinger. Often the castle was surrounded by double walls - a high outer and a small inner one. An empty space appeared between them, which received the German name zwinger. The attackers, overcoming the outer wall, could not take additional assault devices with them. And, once in the zwinger, they became an easy target for shooters (there were small loopholes for archers in the walls of the zwinger). In the walls of the zwinger, which was also the inner wall of the moat, semicircular towers or bastions were often built to facilitate the observation of the moat.
The main defensive wall of the castle
... In the previous blessed times, when neighbors at the same table peacefully drank wine, hunted and competed in strength and dexterity, everything was simpler: a small house surrounded by a palisade. Then a bigger house and a wall of clay and lime blocks. And then, when the war of everyone against everyone knocked on our door, the houses turned into fortresses, and the fences into stone walls!
Both the castle and the wall were now built in such a way as to withstand a long siege, save them from captivity and shame, and stop the enemy! And each element played its important role. This also applied to the main wall of the fortress.
It should be of such height that the attackers could not climb it by ladders or with the help of siege towers, and, of course, very wide, thick. Then you can stop trying to quickly make a hole in it - the time will not be spent in vain, but a lot without an obvious result. Powerful trebuchet can, of course, bring down the roof of the towers or break the battlements. Most likely, the enemy uses soldiers with pickaxes, but then the castle defenders will be helped by loopholes, in which the arrows hid, and machicols, from which boiling water and red-hot resin will pour on the enemy ...
On top of the wall 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 dig, and breaking through a niche for an explosion.
The builders strongly recommended that protruding forwards be inserted into the wall towers with loopholes and walkways. The towers also served to strengthen the corners - the weakest point of the wall, since it is in the corners of the fortress that the most enemy forces and the least defense forces can 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 building, guarding the gate, was the barbican - the outer fortification of the city or fortress.
What is the secret of the barbican? The fact that it cannot be bypassed, if you are going to break open the gates of the citadel, you must go through it!
And here was the trick of the barbican - the gate tower: this most powerful stone structure had a platform at the top, on which throwing guns were placed. Moreover, the barbican had two floors. On the first - a through passage with a width slightly larger than the dimensions of the wagon. A small detachment, having got here, turned out to be cut off from the main one by an iron grate falling from above, from the outside, and by strong gates, locked with a powerful bolt, from the inside!
The guards serving on the second floor, having opened the hatches in the floor, could pour (and poured!) Hot tar or boiling water on the enemies rushing to the main gate.
In fact, the barbican was the only way to the castle and, of course, perfectly guarded.
Wolf holes. Another terrible obstacle on the way to the castle was the 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 (inwards) 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 the 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
Gates - the most vulnerable part of the castle, were installed in the gate towers. Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the wings were knocked together from two layers of boards. In order to prevent them from being set on fire from the outside, they were upholstered with iron. In one of the doors of the gate there was a small narrow door, which could only be entered by bending over. An additional reinforcement of the gate was a transverse beam, which wound into hook-shaped slots on the walls.
Behind the gate was a drop-down portcullis. Most often it was wooden, with iron-bound lower ends. But there were also iron gratings made of steel tetrahedral rods.
The grate hung on ropes or chains, which, in case of danger, could be cut off so that it quickly fell down, blocking the way for 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 hostilities of the enemy.
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 gate went into the wall openings. The ropes were sometimes supplied with heavy counterweights, which took part of the weight of this structure. Another way to raise the bridge is with a lever. Both designs facilitated the rapid lifting of the bridge.
Especially skillful were the craftsmen who built the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing. One lay on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the moat. When the inner part rose, blocking the entrance to the castle, the outer part (to which the attackers sometimes managed to run) fell 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 high, but later lost its importance due to the advent of new siege weapons.
In order to understand the role played by the material collected, processed and prepared by us in the form of an illustrated manual book on the research topic, we invited all those who participated in our survey at the end of 2017 to get acquainted with it and solve the “Medieval Castle” crossword puzzle , compiled taking into account the need for knowledge of terms and concepts on the topic. The obtained positive results are presented in diagrams (indicators are indicated as a percentage) 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 the processing and analysis of the results obtained, we obtained evidence of the effectiveness of using the materials of our study in the educational process.
The level of knowledge and understanding of the educational material by the students of grade 6B "ANO" SCHOOL "PRESIDENT" who participated in the testing of the research materials has increased significantly, as can be seen from the comparison of the diagrams. (See also Appendix).
CONCLUSION
The work we did was very interesting. We were able to answer all the questions that interested us and tried to consider in detail not so much the history of the emergence of knightly castles as 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 the lessons of the world around, history. But the most important result of our work was, of course, the illustrated book "Medieval Castle: Secrets of Fortification", for which we collected and systematized material for six months using available literature and the possibilities of the Internet.
Unraveling the mystery of the fortification of Medieval castles, we reasonably assumed that the research product can be used in the lessons of the history of the Middle Ages, the Moscow Art Theater 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 (problem) 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.
Philip Simon, Marie Laure Bue, "Knights and Castles" Series "Your First Encyclopedia", Publisher: Moscow "Makhaon" 2013, 128 p.
Funken L. and Funken F. "Encyclopedia of weapons and military costume MIDDLE AGES", Astrel, Moscow 2002.
Shpakovsky Vyacheslav Olegovich, "Knights" Series "Know the World", Publisher: LLC "Baltic Book" 2014, 96 p.
Internet materials
Castle architecture. goo.gl/RQiawf
- How castles were built in the Middle Ages. goo.gl/Auno84
- Basic elements of a medieval castle. goo.gl/cMLuwn
Knightly traditions. Who are the knights. goo.gl/FXvDFn
Medieval castle: device and siege. goo.gl/5F57rS
Medieval castle. goo.gl/LSPsrU
The Middle Ages in Europe was a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, arranged small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern terms, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, they had to be taken away.
Lots of land and peasants? It's just indecent, because God ordered to share. And if knightly honor is hurt, then here it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.
Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles known to us in any way - except that a moat was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was erected around the house.
The lordly courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of 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 besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).
Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.
Welcome
We are on our way to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope, on the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Common people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of protection (in particular, guarding our road). This is the so-called "castle people".
Scheme of castle structures. Note - two gate towers, the largest stands separately.
The first barrier is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a rampart of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau), or sickle-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, the moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.
The shape of the bottom of the ditches could be V-shaped and 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, which only hindered the advancement of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore, the depth of the moat was not decisive).
The crest of an earthen rampart lying directly in front of the moat (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.
A bridge over the moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the moat and bridge, the latter supports one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but its last segment (right next to the wall) is movable.
Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - lattice.
Counterweights on the gate lift.
This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it closes 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 holes. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights that took part of the weight of this structure onto themselves.
Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “overturning” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the moat. When the inner part rose, closing the entrance to the castle, the outer part (to which the attackers sometimes managed to run) fell down into the moat, where the so-called “wolf pit” was arranged (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the side, until the bridge is down.
To enter the castle with the gates closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lifting ladder was usually laid.
Gates - the most vulnerable part of the castle, were usually made not directly in its wall, but were arranged in the so-called "gate towers". Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the wings were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were upholstered with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the wings there was a small narrow door, which could be entered only 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. The transverse beam could also be wound into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the gate from their landing attackers.
Behind the gate was usually a drop-down portcullis. Most often it was wooden, with iron-bound lower ends. But there were also iron gratings made of steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the vault of the gate portal, or be behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along the grooves in the walls.
The grate hung on ropes or chains, which, in case of danger, could be cut off so that it quickly fell down, blocking the way for the invaders.
Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, asked the guests the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, they could hit all those who passed under them with a bow. For this purpose, there were vertical loopholes in the vault of the gate portal, as well as “tar noses” - holes for pouring hot resin on the attackers.
All on the wall!
Zwinger at Laneck Castle.
On top of the wall was a gallery for defense soldiers. From the outside of the castle, they were protected by a solid parapet, half the height of a man, on which stone battlements were regularly arranged. Behind them it was possible to stand at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely diverse - rectangular, rounded, in the form of a dovetail, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the warriors from bad weather.
A special type of loophole - ball. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed in the wall with a slot for firing.
Pedestrian gallery on the wall.
Balconies (the so-called “mashikuli”) were arranged 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 adapt to storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the courtyard of the castle) were usually left open so that the enemy who burst onto the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.
Flanking corner tower.
The castle from the inside
The internal structure of the castles was diverse. 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 the attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several "sections" separated by internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, premises for servants) and a central tower, also known as a donjon.
Donjon at the Château de Vincennes.
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 the siege. If, due to the peculiarities of the occurrence of groundwater, a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a stone tower was built above it (if possible, with wooden passages to 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 to be purified - it was filtered through gravel.
The combat garrison of castles in peacetime was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the Reichelsberg castle in the Lower Franconian Aub entered into an agreement that each of them exposes one armed servant, and two gatekeepers and two guards are paid jointly.
Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.
Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served as either a prison or a warehouse. The entrance to it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (in German - a frightening hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions there.
If there were no prison facilities in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to their full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.
Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, for a ransom or for using a prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIP-persons were provided according to the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is how Friedrich the Handsome spent his time in the Trausnitz castle on Pfaimd and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.
Chamber in Marksburg Castle.
Abenberg castle tower (12th century) in section.
At the base of the tower there was a cellar, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. The main hall (dining room, common room) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it spread heat only a few meters, so that iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.
Sometimes the donjon did not serve as living quarters. It could well be used only for military and economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, provisions 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 carpets had a large knight's hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the donjons and carpets. Fireplace heating helped out, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to keep warm.
The windows let in very little sunlight (the fortification character of the castle architecture affected), 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 simply unique sensations.
Large temples had two floors. The common people prayed below, and the gentlemen gathered in the warm (sometimes glazed) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such premises was rather modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple played the role of a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less commonly, it was used as a shelter (along with a donjon).
War on earth and underground
To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all the ways of supplying food. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for the war of mediocre feudal lords).
The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - for about a month (in this case, one should take into account his low combat capability during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of the castle, preparing for the siege, often went to extreme measures - they drove out of it all commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed the whole army under the siege.
The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes dragged on for years (for example, the German Turant defended itself from 1245 to 1248), so the question of supplying the rear of an army of several hundred people was particularly acute.
In the case of the siege of Turant, the chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fouders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This is about 2.8 million liters. Either the scribe made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was over 1,000.
View of the castle Eltz from the counter-castle Trutz-Eltz.
The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification was a serious obstacle for conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well have been successful, which, however, came at the cost of heavy casualties.
That is why a whole range of military measures was necessary for the successful capture of the castle (it was already mentioned above about the siege and starvation). Undermining was one of the most time-consuming, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the protection of the castle.
Undermining was done with two goals - to provide troops with direct access to the courtyard of the castle, or to destroy a section of its wall.
So, during the siege of the castle of Altwindstein in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) People took advantage of the distracting maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and for 10 weeks made a long passage in the hard rock to the southeastern part fortresses.
If the wall of the castle was not too large and had an unreliable one, then a tunnel broke through under its base, the walls of which were reinforced with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel collapsed, the base of the foundation sagged, and the wall above this place crumbled into pieces.
Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If the ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a mine was being dug nearby.
But the main argument in the attack on the castle were siege machines - catapults and battering rams.
Storming of the castle (miniature of the 14th century).
A type of catapult is a trebuchet.
Sometimes barrels filled with combustible materials were loaded into the catapults. To deliver a couple of pleasant minutes to the defenders of the castle, catapults threw the severed heads of captives to them (especially powerful machines could throw even whole corpses over the wall).
Assault the castle with 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 were a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, forcing the log to hit the wall.
In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were fixed. With this rope, they caught a ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes a gaping soldier could get caught on such hooks.
Having overcome the shaft, breaking the palisades and filling up the moat, the attackers either stormed the castle with the help of ladders, or used high wooden towers, the upper platform of which was on the same level with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent arson by the defenders and rolled up to the castle along the flooring of the boards. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and with a fight invaded the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.
Silent glanders
Sapa (from the French sape, literally - a hoe, saper - to dig) - a method of extracting a moat, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16-19 centuries. Flip-flop (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. The work of the crossover glanders was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without the workers coming to the surface, and the flying glanders were carried out from the surface of the earth under the cover of a pre-prepared protective mound of barrels and bags of earth. In the second 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: sneak, slowly, imperceptibly go, penetrate somewhere.
Fights on the stairs of the castle
It was possible to get from one floor of the tower to another only through a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. At the same time, the warrior who went first could only rely on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or a long sword from behind the leader. Therefore, the battles on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. It was the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since a special extended area was located behind their backs.
samurai castles
We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.
Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable attribute of a Japanese castle is wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it from all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, a lake, a 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 the honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several rectangular tiers gradually decreasing upwards with protruding tiled roofs and gables.
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 the total length of its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.
The charm of antiquity
Saumur French castle (14th century miniature).
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The position of the defenders of the besieged castle was far from hopeless. There were many ways in which they could push back the attackers. Most castles were located in hard-to-reach places and were designed to withstand a long siege. They were built on top of a steep hill or surrounded by a moat or trench. The castle always had an impressive supply of weapons, water and food, and the guards knew how to defend themselves. However, in order to survive the siege, a born leader was needed, versed in the art of war, defensive tactics and military cunning.
The battlemented parapet Guards continuously watched the surroundings from behind the battlements, behind which a path ran over the walls of the castle. Means of defense If the defenders knew in advance about the approach of the attackers, they prepared to defend themselves, stocking up on provisions and providing shelter to the surrounding residents. Villages and fields around were often burned so that the besiegers would not get anything. The locks were designed according to the highest technical standards of those times. Wooden castles caught fire easily, so they were built of stone. Stone walls withstood siege shells, and ditches prevented enemy attempts to dig a tunnel into the fortress. Wooden paths were made on top of the walls - from them the defenders threw stones at the attackers. Later they were replaced by stone battlements. The spread of cannons brought about radical changes in the construction of castles and in the methods of warfare. Loopholes Defenders could safely shoot at the enemy from the loopholes and because of the jagged parapet on the walls of the castle. For the convenience of archers and musketeers, the loopholes expanded inwards. It also made it possible to increase the sector of fire. But it was difficult for the enemy to get into a narrow loophole, although there were well-aimed arrows who were specially trained for this purpose.
Loopholes There were different types of loopholes: straight, in the form of a cross and even a key. All for the sake of protection 1 The weak point of any castle was the gate. First, the enemy had to pass the drawbridge, and then the gate and portcullis. But even here, the defenders had a few surprises in store. 2 Holes in the wooden floor allowed the defenders to throw stones down on the heads of the besiegers, pour hot sand on them and pour slaked lime, boiling water or oil. 3 The defenders dug a defensive tunnel. 4 Arrows and other projectiles bounced off rounded walls better. 5 Crenellated parapet. 6 The attackers were often wounded by stones bouncing off the walls. 7 They shot at the enemy from loopholes. 8 The soldiers defending the castle repelled the ladders of the attackers with long poles. 9 The defenders tried to neutralize the battering ram by lowering mattresses on the ropes or trying to catch the end of the battering ram with a hook and pull it up. 10 Extinguishing the fire within the castle walls.
Nestled among the green hills of Baden-Württemberg and crowning the old medieval city of Heidelberg, Heidelberg medieval castle is one of the most wonderful romantic sights in Germany. The first mention of the castle dates back to 1225. The ruins of the castle are one of the most important structures of the Renaissance tonorth of the Alps. Long years Heidelberg Castle wasthe seat of the countsPalatine, who were accountable only to the emperor.
2. Castle Hohensalzburg (Austria)
One of the largest medieval castles in Europe, located on Mount Festung, at an altitude of 120 meters, next to Salzburg. During its existence, Hohensalzburg Castle was repeatedly rebuilt and strengthened, gradually turning into a powerful, impregnable fortress. In the 19th century, the castle was used as a warehouse, military barracks and prison. The first mention of the castle dates back to the 10th century.
3. Bran Castle (Romania)
Located almost in the center of Romania, this medieval castle gained its worldwide fame thanks to Hollywood, it is believed that Count Dracula lived in this castle. Lock is a national monument and main attractionRomania. The first mention of the castle dates back to the 13th century.
4. Segovia Castle (Spain)
This majestic stone fortress is located near the city of Segovia in Spain and is one of the most famous castles in the Iberian Peninsula. It was its special shape that inspired Walt Disney to recreate Cinderella's castle in his cartoon. Alcazar (castle) was originally built as a fortress, but served in as a royal palace, prison, royal artillery school and military academy. Currently used as museum and places of storage of military archives of Spain. The first mention of the castle dates back to 1120, it was built during the reign of the Berber dynasty.
5. Dunstanborough Castle (England)
The castle was built by the countThomas Lancasterbetween 1313 and 1322 at a time when relations between King Edward II and his vassal, Baron Thomas of Lancaster, became openly hostile. In 1362 Dunstanborough took over John of Ghent , fourth son of the king Edward III who significantly rebuilt the castle. During Wars of the Scarlet and White Roses the stronghold of Lancaster came under fire, as a result of which the castle was destroyed.
6. Cardiff Castle (Wales)
Situated in the heart of Cardiff city, this medieval castle is one of the most defining monuments of the Welsh capital. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century on the site of a former 3rd century Roman fort.
This medieval castle dominates the skylineEdinburgh, capital of Scotland. The historical origins of the formidable Edinburgh Castle on the Rock are shrouded in mystery as it is mentioned in 6th century epics, appearing in chronicles before finally coming to the fore in Scottish history when Edinburgh established itself as the seat of monarchical power in the 12th century.
One of the most visited sites in southern Ireland, it is also one of the most intact examples of medieval fortifications in the world. Blarney Castle is the third fortress built on this site. The first building was wooden and dates back to the 10th century. Around 1210, a stone fortress was built instead. Subsequently, it was destroyed and in 1446 Dermot McCarthy, the ruler of Munster, built a third castle on this site, which has survived to this day.
The medieval castle of Castel Nuovo was built the first king of Naples, Charles I of Anjou, Castel Nuovois one of the most famous sights of the city.With its thick walls, majestic towers and impressive triumphal arch make it the quintessential medieval castle.
10. Conwy Castle (England)
The castle is a magnificent example of 13th century architecture and was built by order of King Edward I of England. Surrounded by a stone wall with eight round towers. Until our time, only the walls of the castle have survived, but they also look very impressive. Many huge fireplaces were used to heat the castle.
