Castles In The Middle Ages Essay

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Medieval Europe
What were castles used for in the medieval period?
Castles were first built from about the 1100’s to the 1500’s and were mostly used for protecting the village from foreign invader attacks which were usually large armies attempting to expand their land, riches and power by taking over other castles. Castles in the middle ages were also used as a basic tool in preserving the king’s and the noble’s power over the land and were a way of displaying the ranking and wealth of the owner.

Where were castles located?
Castles were located where they could use some natural features of the land to help with their defence, some strategies were to build the castle on a hill or high ground so they can spot their enemies from far away. When …show more content…

The solution to this was the making of the gatehouse. The gatehouse was an extremely strong, fortified entrance building that made it really unattractive to attack this part of the castle.
The gatehouse was filled with obstacles such as multiple metal portcullis gateways, arrow-slits to fire at intruders, many different gates, doors and drawbridges, and even murder holes (holes in the ceiling which boiling water could be poured through). The invention of the gatehouse transformed the entrance from being one of the weakest parts of the castle into one of the toughest spots of all.
The drawbridge
There were many different designs for the drawbridge, the most common design most people these days know of is the a large wooden plank, attached to the side of the castle and lowered down on chains but this design was actually a late medieval invention. Other designs were used for a long time before this. Like an unsecured piece of long wood, which was removed when attackers were nearby or a see saw type arrangement, with a complex counterweight on either side to draw one side up whilst the other went down.
Attacking a castle
Attacking a castle took a lot of resources and time to prepare because attacks could last days, weeks, months and sometimes

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