Castles

= = By Claire,Genna, Molly, Julian, Max and Cam, Ethan and Audrey


 * Castles were first built between the 9th and 10th centuries. They were mainly used for shelter and protection for the nobles and kings and for keeping important documentaries. **


 * People who lived in the castle spent a lot of time outside because they wanted to get away from the dark inside. The only way to get heating was from fireplaces and torches which were also used for lighting. Castles were not only meant to help defend the area but also to preserve the king’s land. These huge buildings served to defend the country from foreign invaders as well as in preserving the king’s and the nobles’ power over the land. **


 * In medieval times many people would come to attack the castle for all of the royal family's riches and land, so they needed the castles to help defend them. Castles were built in places that were easy to defend, like high/sheer sided hills. This was so the people defending it could see where the attackers were coming from, and stop them more easily. Also they needed strong and sturdy ground... no surprise, considering how heavy the stone walls were. **



Picture by Peter Clarke ** **


 * Without castles, the royal families would not have had anywhere for shelter and protection. They wouldn't have anything to preserve the land and they would have lost everything when invaded. This shows how important castles were in the medieval times. **


 * Castles were very important in medieval times. They protected royal families and were homes to the family’s servants and peasants. Castles had many defenses. **


 * Some castle defenses are: **


 * Moats: Moats are like big grooves going into the ground, that wrap around the perimeter of the castle. They are sometimes filled with water, and sometimes not. They protect the castle, so enemies would have to somehow get across the moats. **


 * Towers: Towers were the perfect places to spot enemies, and place archers. The towers rose sometimes 100 feet off the ground, and were almost always the last place of the castle that was destroyed. **


 * Drawbridges: Drawbridges were used for getting across moats, but when enemies attacked, the defenders inside the castle, would raise the drawbridge, This way, only people who they let come in, could get in. **


 * Greek fire: Greek fire is a kind of fire that is almost impossible to put out, because water would not work against it. The defenders of a castle would use Greek fire to burn their enemies. **


 * Murder holes: Murder holes were very hard to see holes that archers would use to shoot arrows through. Since they were so hard to see, the attackers wouldn’t know they were being shot at until it was too late. Sometimes they would drop stones or Greek fire through the murder holes. Murder holes were located in ceilings. **


 * Walkways: Soldiers and archers could stand on walkways that were placed near the top of the outer walls, so they could defend it from there. **

**The hidden secrets of Stairways- **

 *  Stairways were often very carefully designed in Medieval Castles. Stairwells that curved up to towers often curved very narrowly and in a clockwise direction. This meant that any attackers coming up the stairs had their sword hands (right hand) against the interior curve of the wall and this made it very difficult for them to swing their swords. Defenders had their sword hands on the outside wall, which meant they had more room to swing. Another ingenious design of stairs was that they were designed with very uneven steps. Some steps were tall and other steps were short. The inhabitants, being familiar with the uneven pattern of the stair heights could move quickly up and down the stairs but attackers, in a dimly lit stairwell, would easily fall and get bogged down in the stairwells. This made them vulnerable to attacks and slowed their attacks down significantly. These were only in richer and more detailed castles. **


 * Picture on the right: [[image:800px-Erdut_Castle.jpg width="480" height="360" align="right"]] **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[|Erdut Castle] **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Secret Passages- **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What Medieval Castle would be complete without secret passages? Many castles had secret passages and they served a variety of purposes. Some passages were designed to open up a distance from the castle so inhabitants could escape during an attack or get supplies in and out during a siege. Secret passages also led to secret chambers where people could hide, supplies could be kept or a well for water was dug. **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Concentric Circles of Defense- **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> This was an extremely effective method of defense for the inhabitants of a Medieval Castle. It was a series of obstacles that started on the outside of the castle and worked their way in. It was usually a progression like a cleared field, an outer wall, a moat, an inner wall, a keep and then a stronghold tower. An attacking army would have to overcome each of these obstacles one at a time. And this took a lot of time and effort to do. **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Architecture: Castles were invented in the 9th century. Concentric castles were built in the 14 century. the entrance to the castle is the weakest spot in the castle. A castle is a type of structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages. Gunpowder did not affect the architecture of the castle until the 15th century castles were still being built well through the 16th century. **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Some Castles had something called a curtain wall. A Curtain wall was like a stone wall with short tiny towers for knights to hide in for protection. They could also look out and see if there were any enemies coming. There was a ladder type of weapon used to get inside the castle. The attackers would push the tall, wide wooden ladder up against the wall and many men could climb up at one time.. The curtain wall had to be high enough so that the ladder was too short to get in. The wall would also have to be very thick so that the attackers couldn’t loosen up a few stones and wriggle in through the wall. Inside the curtain wall was where the castle was. Usually there was a courtyard of some sort on the inside of the curtain wall, surrounding the castle. **


 * [|Liechtenstein castle] **


 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Many people lived in a castle such as... **
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Lord
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; line-height: 1.5;">The Lady
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Reeve
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Clerk
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Priest
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Marshal
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Archer
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Crossbowman
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Knights
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Juggler
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Jesters
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Musicians
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Steward
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Taster
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Pantler
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Butler
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Ewerer
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Chief Cook
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Carver
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Cupbearer
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Mat Weavers
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Falconer
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Spinner
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Groom
 * <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Sweeper

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 19px; vertical-align: baseline;">The defense walls surround the castle to prevent the enemy from coming into the castle. Grapes were pressed to make wine. Mostly meat was eaten during winter. Candles were made from beeswax. Bread was made in brick ovens to eat. Flour for the castle was ground at the lords wind mill Cauldrons were on chains over the fire to cook food. Most castles have a moat or a water barrier to make sure no intruders can get in. Only people who were rich live in castles. People that lived in castles had big meals.The birds eye view is a place where you can see anything around the castle. It was the highest point in the castle. Castles had lots of crops. Castles were placed on high land. They were built with limestone and eventually built them with granite.

**Sources Cited:**

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Castle Terminology." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The Castles of Wales //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://ww <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #36b054; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">w.castlewales.com/casterms.html>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Castle Architecture." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Castles of the Middle Ages //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.medieval-castles.net/castle_architecture/list.htm>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Castles in Medieval Times." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Educational Software //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.yourchildlearns.com/castle_history.htm>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Main Page." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Wikimedia Commons //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Castles." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Castles.org "Castles of the World" //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.castles.org/castles/>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Medieval Jobs." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Medieval Life and Times //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.medieval-life-and-times.info/medieval-england/medieval-jobs.htm>.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">"Rooms in a Medieval Castle." //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Castles //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">. Web. 13 Apr. 2012. <http://www.castles.me.uk/rooms-in-a-medieval-castle.htm>.