Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,
Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.
I'm your host,
Benjamin Boster.
And tonight's episode is about castles.
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders.
Scholars usually consider a castle to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble.
This is distinct from a mansion,
Palace,
And villa,
Whose main purpose was exclusively for pleasance,
And are not primarily fortresses,
But may be fortified.
Use of the term has varied over time and sometimes has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th and 20th century homes built to resemble castles.
Over the Middle Ages,
When genuine castles were built,
They took on a great many forms with many different features,
Although some,
Such as curtain walls,
Arrow slits,
And portcullises,
Were commonplace.
European-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries after the fall of the Carolingian Empire,
Which resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes.
These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding them,
And they were both offensive and defensive structures.
They provided a base from which raids could be launched,
As well as offering protection from enemies.
Although their military origins are often emphasized in castle studies,
The structures also served as centers of administration and symbols of power.
Urban castles were used to control the local populace and important travel routes.
And rural castles were often situated near features that were integral to life in the community,
Such as mills,
Fertile land,
Or a water source.
Many northern European castles were originally built from earth and timber,
But had their defenses replaced later by stone.
Early castles often exploited natural defenses,
Lacking features such as towers and arrow slits,
And relying on a central keep.
In the late 12th and early 13th centuries,
A scientific approach to castle defense emerged.
This led to the proliferation of towers with an emphasis on flanking fire.
Many new castles were polygonal or relied on concentric defense,
Several stages of defense within each other that could all function at the same time to maximize the castle's firepower.
These changes in defense have been attributed to a mixture of castle technology from the Crusades,
Such as concentric fortification,
And inspiration from earlier defenses,
Such as Roman forts.
Not all the elements of castle architecture were military in nature,
So that devices such as moats evolved from their original purpose of defense into symbols of power.
Some grand castles had long winding approaches intended to impress and dominate their landscape.
Although gunpowder was introduced to Europe in the 14th century,
It did not significantly affect castle building until the 15th century,
When artillery became powerful enough to break through stone walls.
While castles continued to be built well into the 16th century,
New techniques to deal with improved cannon fire made them uncomfortable and undesirable places to live.
As a result,
True castles went into decline and were replaced by artillery star forts with no role in civil administration,
And chateaux or country houses that were indefensible.
From the 18th century onwards,
There was a renewed interest in castles with the construction of mock castles,
Part of a revival of Gothic architecture.
But they had no military purpose.
The word castle is derived from the Latin word castellum.
Which is a diminutive of the word castrum,
Meaning fortified place.
In its simplest terms,
The definition of a castle accepted amongst academics is a private fortified residence.
This contrasts with earlier fortifications,
Such as the boroughs of the Anglo-Saxons,
And the walled cities,
Such as Constantinople and Antioch in the Middle East.
Castles were not communal defenses,
But were built and owned by the local feudal lords,
Either for themselves or for their monarchs.
Feudalism was the link between a lord and his vassal,
Where,
In return for military service and the expectation of loyalty,
The lord would grant the vassal land.
In the late 20th century,
There was a trend to refine the definition of a castle by including the criterion of feudal ownership.
Thus tying castles to the medieval period.
However,
This does not necessarily reflect the terminology used in the medieval period.
Castles served a range of purposes,
The most important of which were military,
Administrative,
And domestic.
As well as defensive structures,
Castles were also offensive tools,
Which could be used as a base of operations in enemy territory.
Castles were established by Norman invaders of England for both defensive purposes and to pacify the country's inhabitants.
As William the Conqueror advanced through England,
He fortified key positions to secure the land he had taken.
Towards the end of the Middle Ages,
Castles tended to lose their military significance due to the advent of powerful cannons and permanent artillery fortifications.
As a result,
Castles became more important as residences and statements of power.
A castle could act as a stronghold and prison,
But was also a place where a knight or lord could entertain his peers.
Over time,
The aesthetics of the design became more important,
As the castle's appearance and size began to reflect the prestige and power of its occupant.
Comfortable homes were often fashioned within their fortified walls.
Although castles still provided protection from low levels of violence in later periods.
Eventually,
They were succeeded by country houses as high-status residences.
Although castle has not become a generic term for a manor house,
Like château in French and Schloss in German,
Many manor houses contain castle in their name,
While having few if any of the architectural characteristics,
Usually as their owners liked to maintain a link to the past and felt the term castle was a masculine expression of their power.
Some common features of castles.
A motte was an earthen mound with a flat top.
It was often artificial,
Although sometimes it incorporated a pre-existing feature of the landscape.
The excavation of earth to make the mound left a ditch around the moat,
Called a moat,
Which could be either wet or dry.
Although the Mott is commonly associated with the Bailey to form a Mott and Bailey castle,
This was not always the case,
And there are instances where a Mott existed on its own.
Mot refers to the mound alone,
But it was often surmounted by a fortified structure,
Such as a keep.
And the flat top would be surrounded by a palisade.
It was common for the motte to be reached over a flying bridge,
A bridge over the ditch from the counterscarp of the ditch to the edge of the top of the mound.
Sometimes a motte covered an older castle or hall.
Whose rooms became underground storage areas and prisons beneath a new keep.
A bailey,
Also called a ward,
Was a fortified enclosure.
It was a common feature of castles,
And most had at least one.
The keep on top of the moat was the domicile of the Lord in charge of the castle and a bastion of last defense.
While the Bailey was the home of the rest of the Lord's household and gave them protection.
The barracks for the garrison,
Stables,
Workshops,
And storage facilities were often found in the Bailey.
Water was supplied by a well or cistern.
Over time,
The focus of high-status accommodation shifted from the keep to the bailey.
This resulted in the creation of another Bailey that separated the high-status buildings,
Such as the Lord's Chambers and the Chapel.
From the everyday structures,
Such as the workshops and barracks.
From the late 12th century,
There was a trend for knights to move out of the small houses they had previously occupied within the bailey.
To live in fortified houses in the countryside.
Although often associated with the Mott and Bailey type of castle,
Bailey's could also be found as independent defensive structures.
These simple fortifications were called ringworks.
The Ansan was the castle's main defensive enclosure,
And the terms bailey and ansan are linked.
A castle could have several baileys,
But only one ensemble.
Castles with no keep,
Which relied on their outer defenses for protection,
Are sometimes called enceinte castles.
These were the earliest form of castles before the keep was introduced in the 10th century.
A keep was a great tower or other building that served as the main living quarters of a castle,
And usually the most strongly defended point of a castle before the introduction of concentric defense.
Keep was not a term used in the medieval period.
The term was applied from the 16th century onwards.
Instead,
Dungeon,
Spelled d-o-n-j-o-n,
Was used to refer to great towers,
Or torus in Latin.
In Mott and Bailey castles,
The keep was on top of the Mott.
Although often the strongest part of a castle and a last place of refuge if the outer defenses fell.
The keep was not left empty in case of attack,
But was used as a residence by the lord who owned the castle,
Or his guests or representatives.
Curtain walls were defensive walls enclosing a bailey.
They had to be high enough to make scaling the walls with ladders difficult,
And thick enough to withstand bombardment from siege engines,
Which from the 15th century onwards included gunpowder artillery.
To protect them from undermining,
Curtain walls were sometimes given a stone skirt around their bases.
Walkways along the tops of the curtain walls allowed defenders to rain projectiles on enemies below,
And battlements gave them further protection.
Curtain walls were studded with towers to allow infilating fire along the wall.
Arrow slits in the walls did not become common in Europe until the 13th century,
For fear they might compromise the wall's strength.
The entrance was often the weakest part in a circuit of defenses.
To overcome this,
The gatehouse was developed,
Allowing those inside the castle to control the flow of traffic.
In earth and timber castles,
The gateway was usually the first feature to be rebuilt in stone.
The front of the gateway was a blind spot,
And to overcome this,
Projecting towers were added on each side of the gate in a style similar to that developed by the Romans.
The gatehouse contained a series of defenses to make a direct assault more difficult than battering down a simple gate.
Typically there were one or more portcullises,
A wooden grill reinforced with metal to block a passage,
And arrow slits to allow defenders to harry the enemy.
The passage through the gatehouse was lengthened to increase the amount of time an assailant had to spend under fire in a confined space and unable to retaliate.
A moat is a ditch surrounding a castle or dividing one part of a castle from another and could be either dry or filled with water.
It often had a defensive purpose,
Preventing siege towers from reaching walls.
Water moats were found in low-lying areas and were usually crossed by a drawbridge,
Although these were often replaced by stone bridges.
Battlements were most often found surmounting curtain walls and the tops of gatehouses,
And comprised several elements.
Crenellations,
Hoardings,
Machicolations,
And loopholes.
Crenelation is the collective name for alternating crenels and merlons.
Gaps and solid blocks on top of a wall.
Boardings were wooden constructs that projected beyond the wall,
Allowing defenders to shoot at or drop objects on attackers at the base of the wall.
Without having to lean perilously over the crenellations,
Thereby exposing themselves to retaliatory fire.
The great hall was a large decorated room where a lord received his guests.
The hall represented the prestige,
Authority,
And richness of the Lord.
Events such as feasts,
Banquets,
Social or ceremonial gatherings,
Meetings of the military council,
And judicial trials were held in the Great Hall.
Sometimes the Great Hall existed as a separate building.
In that case,
It was called a Hall House.
It is likely that the castle evolved from the practice of fortifying a lordly home.
The greatest threat to a lord's home or hall was fire,
As it was usually a wooden structure.
To protect against this and keep other threats at bay,
There were several courses of action available.
Create encircling earthworks to keep an enemy at a distance.
Building the hall in stone.
Or raise it up on an artificial mound.
Known as a mod.
To present an obstacle to attackers.
While the concept of ditches,
Ramparts,
And stone walls as defensive measures is ancient,
Raising a moat is a medieval innovation.
A bank and ditch enclosure was a simple form of defense,
And when found without an associated mod,
Is called a ringwork.
When the site was in use for a prolonged period,
It was sometimes replaced by a more complex structure or enhanced by the addition of a stone curtain wall.
Castles were not just defensive sites,
But also enhanced the Lord's control over his lands.
They allowed the garrison to control the surrounding area and formed a center of administration,
Providing the Lord with a place to hold court.
Once the site of a castle had been selected,
Whether a strategic position or one intended to dominate the landscape as a mark of power,
The building material had to be selected.
An earth and timber castle was cheaper and easier to erect than one built from stone.
The costs involved in construction are not well recorded,
And most surviving records relate to royal castles.
A castle with earthen ramparts,
A moat,
Timber defenses and buildings could have been constructed by an unskilled workforce.
The source of manpower was probably from the local lordship,
And the tenants would already have the necessary skills of felling trees,
Digging,
And working timber necessary for an earth and timber castle.
Possibly coerced into working for their lord.
The construction of an earth and timber castle would not have been a drain on a client's funds.
In terms of time,
It has been estimated that an average-sized mod,
5 meters or 16 feet high and 15 meters or 49 feet wide at the summit,
Would have taken 50 people about 40 working days.
An exceptionally expensive mod in Bailey was that of Clones in Ireland.
Built in 1211 for 20 pounds.
The highest cost relative to other castles of its type was because laborers had to be imported.
The cost of building a castle varied according to factors such as their complexity and transport costs for material.
It is certain that stone castles cost a great deal more than those built from earth and timber.
Even a very small tower,
Such as Peverell Castle,
Would have cost around £200.
In the middle were castles such as Orford which was built in the late 12th century for 1,
400 pounds.
And at the upper end were those such as Dover which cost about 7,
000 pounds between 1181 and 1191.
Spending on the scale of the vast castles such as Chateau Gaillard an estimated £15,
000 to £20,
000 between 1196 and 1198,
Was easily supported by the crown.
But for lords of smaller areas,
Castle building was a very serious and costly undertaking.
It was usual for a stone castle to take the best part of a decade to finish.
The cost of a large castle built over this time,
Anywhere from a thousand pounds to ten thousand pounds,
Would take the income from several manners.
Costs in the late 13th century were of a similar order,
With castles such as Bumarus and Rudlen costing £14,
500 and £9,
000 respectively.
Edward I's campaign of castle building in Wales cost £80,
000 between 1277 and 1304,
And £95,
000 between 1277 and 1329.
Renowned designer,
Master James of St.
George,
Responsible for the construction of Bumares,
Explained the cost.
In case you should wonder where so much money could go in a week.
We would have you know that we have needed and still continue to need 400 masons,
Both cutters and layers,
Together with 2,
000 less skilled workmen,
100 carts,
60 wagons,
And 30 boats bringing stone and sea coal.
200 quarrymen,
30 smiths,
And carpenters for putting in the joists and floorboards and other necessary jobs.
All this takes no account of the garrison,
Nor of purchases of material.
Of which there will have to be a great quantity.
The men's pay has been and still is very much in arrears.
And we are having the greatest difficulty in keeping them.
Because there was simply nothing to live on.
Not only were stone castles expensive to build in the first place,
But their maintenance was a constant drain.
It contained a lot of timber which was often unseasoned and as a result needed careful upkeep.
Medieval machines and inventions,
Such as the treadwheel crane,
Became indispensable during construction,
And techniques of building wooden scaffolding were improved upon from antiquity.
When building in stone,
A prominent concern of medieval builders was to have quarries close at hand.
Many countries had both timber and stone castles.
However,
Denmark had few quarries,
And as a result most of its castles are earth and timber affairs,
Or later on built from brick.
Brick-built structures were not necessarily weaker than their stone-built counterparts.
Brick castles are less common in England than stone or earth and timber constructions.
And often it was chosen for its aesthetic appeal or because it was fashionable,
Encouraged by the brick architecture of the Low Countries.
Due to the Lord's presence in a castle,
It was a center of administration from where he controlled his lands.
He relied on the support of those below him,
As without the support of his more powerful tenants,
A lord could expect his power to be undermined.
Successful lords regularly held court with those immediately below them on the social scale.
But absentees could expect to find their influence weakened.
Larger lordships could be vast,
And it would be impractical for a lord to visit all his properties regularly.
So deputies were appointed.
This especially applied to royalty,
Who sometimes owned land in different countries.
To allow the Lord to concentrate on his duties regarding administration,
He had a household of servants to take care of chores,
Such as providing food.
The household was run by a chamberlain,
While a treasurer took care of the estate's written records.
Royal households took essentially the same form as baronial households.
Although on a much larger scale.
And the positions were more prestigious.
An important role of the household servants was the preparation of food.
The castle kitchens would have been a busy place when the castle was occupied,
Called on to provide large meals.
Without the presence of a lord's household,
Usually because he was staying elsewhere,
The castle would have been a quiet place with few residents focused on maintaining the castle.
As social centers,
Castles were important places for display.
Builders took the opportunity to draw on symbolism through the use of motifs to evoke a sense of chivalry that was aspired to in the Middle Ages amongst the elite.
Later structures of the Romantic Revival would draw on elements of castle architecture,
Such as battlements,
For the same purpose.
Castles have been compared with cathedrals as objects of architectural pride,
And some castles incorporated gardens as ornamental features.
The right to crenelate,
When granted by a monarch,
Though was not always necessary.
Was important not just as it allowed a lord to defend his property,
But because crenellations and other accoutrements associated with castles were prestigious through their use by the elite.
Licenses to crenellate were also proof of a relationship with or favor from the monarch,
Who was the one responsible for granting permission.
Because of the range of functions they had to fulfill.
Castles were built in a variety of locations.
Multiple factors were considered when choosing a side,
Balancing between the need for a defendable position with other considerations,
Such as proximity to resources.
A prominent site that overlooked the surrounding area and offered some natural defenses may also have been chosen because its visibility made it a symbol of power.
