Medieval Castle Research Paper

Who doesn’t love castles? Castles are beautiful creations that serve as a temporary home for families of royalty. Many castles are brilliant buildings with complex architecture and features. A few of these features are the mighty walls, the base, and the towers. Some of the architecture commonly used to build castles dates back many years. Castles are loaded with powerful defenses and clever traps. Castles are also needed to be filled with obstructions and defenses in order to protect the royal family from the harsh and cruel world. Additionally, the interior of castles is dazzling with many important rooms. In the middle ages, castles were elaborate structures, and many are still standing today. As stunning as the castle is on the outside,

The demand for castles in western Europe was to fortify newly established cities. “To protect themselves from sudden raids by the Vikings, the nobles needed strongholds to which they could retreat until they gathered their vassals for battle” (“The Medieval Castle”). Castles were used alongside Feudalism. When Feudalism was a popular idea, castles were used. When a family of royalty or nobility felt threatened, they would hide in the castle. Castles were not a permanent home to anyone. A castle could be closely compared to a storm shelter. When a family felt in danger, they would go to a storm shelter. If the royal family did not feel safe on their estates, they would be protected by knights and defenses in the castle. “Dover Castle, mainly the creation of Henry II in the 12th century, is one of the greatest of all English castles. It was kept in repair as a working fortress, and garrisoned, until the mid-20th century” (Johnson 37). Around the fourteenth century was the time when castles were becoming abandoned due to gunpowder and cannons (“The Medieval Castle”). Also, the end of the Hundred Years’ War caused the decline of castles (“Castles”, Gale). The enemies were creating far more advanced siege weapons that were able to obliterate the walls of castles. After this point, castles were forgotten about and turned into historical monuments. People can actually go and

If an enemy were to get close to the wall, there needed to be weapons to take down the attackers. For the odd chance that an enemy gets inside the castle, traps were set up all around. The major source of weaponry in castles were the archers. The arrow loops were what allowed the archers to take down large amounts of enemies. Castle defenders rained arrows down on the opponents leaving the enemies unable to shoot back. Archers were mainly the only defense outside of the castle. There were many more surprises for an enemy who entered the castle. Barbicans were clever inventions. A barbican was a defense used to confuse enemies (“Castle Learning Center”). Enemies would enter the barbican and would end up acting like a maze to them (“Castle Learning Center”). Barbicans were used as a distraction. While the enemy was being confused, defenders would attack the enemies. Barbicans left the attackers in a difficult position. The defenders knew the layout of the entire barbican, so they were able to shoot arrows onto the attackers. Sometimes the attackers would even charge them in a sword battle. Another clever defense was the murder hole. Murder holes were openings in the ceiling where defenders could drop deadly projectiles upon their enemies (“Castle Learning Center”). The attackers would enter a hallway that is fairly straight. A defender would be on a floor on top of them. The defender would then drop