In the world there are few things more interesting than the knights’s castles of the Middle Ages: these majestic fortresses breathe evidence of distant eras with grandiose battles, they saw the most perfect nobility, and the most vile betrayal. And not only historians and military experts are trying to unravel the secrets of ancient fortifications. Knight's castle is interesting to everyone - the writer and the layman, an avid tourist and a simple housewife. This, so to say, is a mass artistic image.
How the idea was born
A very turbulent time - the Middle Ages: in addition to the great wars, the feudal lords constantly engaged in a showdown with each other. In a neighborly way, so as not to be bored. Aristocrats strengthened their homes from invasion: at first, only a moat will be dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade will be set up. As they gained siege experience, fortifications became more and more powerful - so that the ram was kept and stone cores were not afraid. In antiquity, the Romans so surrounded the army with a picket fence on vacation. Norman began to build stone structures, and only in the 12th century did the classic European knightly castles of the Middle Ages appear.
Transformation into a fortress
Gradually, the castle turned into a fortress, it was surrounded by a stone wall into which tall towers were built. The main goal is to make the knight's castle inaccessible to attackers. At the same time, be able to monitor the entire district. The castle must necessarily have its own source of drinking water - suddenly a long siege lies ahead.
The towers were built in such a way as to hold any number of enemies as long as possible, even alone. For example, spiral staircases are narrow and so steep that a warrior walking the second cannot help the first with anything - neither with a sword, nor with a spear. And it was necessary to climb them counterclockwise, so as not to hide behind a shield.
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Imagine a hillside on which a knight's castle was erected. Photo attached. Such structures were always built at a height, and if there was no natural suitable landscape, they made a bulk hill.
The knight's castle in the Middle Ages is not only knights and feudal lords. Near and around the castle there were always small settlements where all kinds of artisans and, of course, warriors guarding the perimeter settled.
Those walking along the road are always turned with their right side to the fortress, one that cannot be covered by a shield. There is no vegetation high - do not hide. The first obstacle is the moat. It can be around the castle or across between the castle wall and the plateau, even crescent, if the terrain allows.
Dividing ditches are even within the castle: if suddenly the enemy managed to break through, movement will be very difficult. If the rocks of the soil are rocky - a ditch is not needed, undermining under the wall is impossible. The earthen rampart right in front of the moat was often with a picket fence.
The bridge to the outer wall is made so that the defense of a knight's castle in the Middle Ages could last for years. He is lifting. Either the whole or its extreme segment. In the raised position - vertically - this is an additional protection for the gate. If part of the bridge ascended, another automatically descended into the moat, where a wolf pit was set up - a surprise for the most hasty attackers. The Knight's Castle in the Middle Ages was not hospitable for everyone.
Gate and gate tower
Knights castles of the Middle Ages were most vulnerable just in the gate area. Latecomers could enter the castle at the side gate along the elevating ladder if the bridge was already raised. The gates themselves most often were not built into the wall, but were arranged in the gate towers. Usually, bivalves, from several layers of boards, were sheathed with iron to protect themselves from arson.
Locks, bolts, cross beams, sliding across the opposite wall - all this helped to survive in the siege for a long time. Beyond the gates, an iron or wooden powerful grille was also usually lowered. That's how medieval knights castles were equipped!
The gate tower was designed so that the guards guarding it could find out the purpose of the visit from the guests and, if necessary, treat them with an arrow from a vertical loophole. For a real siege, holes for boiling resin were also built there.
Defense of the Knight's Castle in the Middle Ages
The outer wall is an essential defensive element. It should be tall, thick and better if the base is tilted. The foundation under it is as deep as possible - in case of undermining.
Sometimes there is a double wall. Next to the first high - the inside is small, but impregnable without fixtures (stairs and poles that remained outside). The space between the walls - the so-called zwinger - is shot through.
The outer wall above is equipped for the defenders of the fortress, sometimes even with a canopy from the weather. The teeth on it existed not only for beauty - it was convenient to hide behind them to their full height in order to reload, for example, a crossbow.
The loopholes in the wall were adapted for both archers and crossbowmen: narrow and long for a bow, with an extension for a crossbow. Ball loopholes - a fixed but rotating ball with a slot for shooting. The balconies were built mostly decorative, but if the wall is narrow, then they were used, retreating and letting the rest go through.
Medieval knight towers were almost always built with convex towers in the corners. They came out to shoot along the walls in both directions. The inside was open so that the enemy, penetrating the walls, did not gain a foothold inside the tower.
What is inside?
In addition to the zwingers, other surprises could be expected outside the gates of uninvited guests. For example, a small enclosed courtyard with loopholes in the walls. Sometimes locks were built from several autonomous sections with powerful internal walls.
There was necessarily a courtyard with a farm inside the castle - a well, a bakery, a bathhouse, a kitchen and a donjon - the central tower. Much depended on the location of the well: not only health, but also the life of the besieged. It happened that the arrangement of the well (remember that the castle, if not just on a hill, then on the rocks) was more expensive than all the other buildings of the castle. The Thuringian Kuffhuiser castle, for example, has a well over one hundred and forty meters deep. In the rock!
Central tower
Donjon is the tallest castle construction. From there, observation of the surroundings was carried out. And it is the central tower - the last refuge of the besieged. The most reliable! The walls are very thick. The entrance is extremely narrow and located at high altitude. The staircase leading to the door could be pulled in or destroyed. Then the knight’s castle can hold a siege for quite some time.
At the bottom of the dungeon was a basement, kitchen, pantry. Next came the floors with stone or wooden floors. The stairs were wooden, with stone ceilings they could be burned to stop the enemy on the way.
The main hall was located on the whole floor. Heated by the fireplace. Above usually located the family room of the owner of the castle. There were small stoves decorated with tiles.
At the very top of the tower, most often open, a catapult platform and, most importantly, a banner! Medieval knightly castles differed not only in chivalry. There were times when the knight and his family did not use the donjon for housing, having built a stone palace (palace) near it. Then the dungeon served as a warehouse, even a prison.
And, of course, every knight’s castle must have had a temple. The obligatory inhabitant of the castle is the chaplain. Often he is both a clerk and a teacher, in addition to his main job. In rich castles, temples were two-story, so that gentlemen did not pray next to the mob. Within the temple, the ancestral tomb of the owner was also arranged.