Medieval barracks. Knight's castles of the Middle Ages: scheme, device and defense
There are many medieval castles scattered across Europe, which many centuries ago were intended to house and protect the families of feudal lords. Today, castles are silent witnesses of royal dramas, the fall of great houses and historical events.
Now tourists visit ancient fortresses in winter and summer to see their splendor with their own eyes. We have collected in this list incredibly beautiful castles that are worth a visit!
1 Tintagel Castle, England
Tintagel is a medieval fort on the cape of the island of the same name. The castle borders the village of Tintagel in Cornwall. It was built by Richard the Plantagenet in 1233. However, Tintagel is often associated with another famous character - King Arthur. Here he was conceived, born and taken away by the wizard Merlin in infancy.
Since the 19th century, the castle has been a tourist attraction and is under the ownership of Prince Charles. Managed by "English Heritage" - the British State Commission on Historic Buildings.
2 Corvin Castle, Romania
This Gothic-style castle with Renaissance elements is located in Transylvania, a Romanian town called Hunedoara, on a cliff near the Zlashte River. The castle was built in the middle of the 15th century by the father of the Hungarian king Matthew Corvinus and was inherited until 1508.
Since then, Korvinov has changed 22 owners, and has been opened to the public as a museum. The castle to this day is one of the wonders of Romania, by the way, according to rumors, Vlad Tepes himself, known as Count Dracula, spent seven years in prison here.
3 Alcazar de Segovia, Spain
This fortress of the Spanish kings is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The castle is located on an incredibly beautiful location - a rock at the confluence of two rivers. Due to its location, it is one of the most recognizable castles in Spain.
In 1120, the Alcazar was used as an Arab fortress. Then there was a royal residence, an artillery academy and even a prison. It currently houses a military archive and museum.
4 Eltz Castle, Germany
Eltz Castle is considered one of two medieval buildings in the Eifel that were never destroyed or captured. The castle has withstood all wars and upheavals since its construction in the 12th century.
It is surprising that the castle has been owned by the same family for 33 generations - Eltz, whose descendant to this day takes care of it, keeping it in its original form. The owner has opened it to tourists, who are especially attracted by the Eltz treasury with jewelry exhibits and other works of art from different centuries.
5 Windsor Castle, England
This castle has been closely associated with the monarchs of Great Britain for more than 900 years and is their symbol. The current ruling royal dynasty of Windsor is named after him. The castle was built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror and has been used as a royal residence since the reign of Henry I. Over the centuries, it has been repeatedly rebuilt and supplemented in accordance with the requests of the ruling monarchs.
Interestingly, during the Second World War, the castle served as a refuge for the royal family. Today, the castle is used for state receptions, visits by tourists, as well as the rest of Queen Elizabeth II in the spring of each year.
6 Himeji Castle, Japan
This castle near the city of Himeji is one of the oldest in Japan. Its construction as a fortress began in 1333, and in 1346 the fort was reconstructed into a castle. For a long time, he wandered from one samurai clan to another, and only in the 1600s found a master. Then the main part of the 83 wooden buildings of the castle was built.
Movies are often filmed on the territory of Himeji, as the castle is well preserved in its original form. In addition, the building belongs to the National Treasures of Japan and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
7 Edinburgh Castle, Scotland
This ancient castle is located on Castle Rock in the center of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. About 300-odd million years ago there was an active volcano here! The first mention of this building dates back to 1139, when church ministers also gathered in the royal castle. This continued until 1633, but since then the castle has been considered the heart of Scotland.
It is worth noting that this fortress survived 26 sieges, which made it the most attacked on Earth. Over the past 150 years, Edinburgh Castle has been frequently restored, and now it is the main tourist attraction in Edinburgh.
8 Hever Castle, England
The castle was built in the XIII century in the south-east of England in Kent, as an ordinary country house. It became famous due to the fact that the Boleyn family lived here from 1462 to 1539. In 1505, it was inherited by Thomas Boleyn, father of Anne, wife of King Henry VIII, whose marriage caused the rupture of England and Rome. True, after the king got bored with his new wife, he executed her in the Tower.
Since then, Khiver has passed from one owner to another, but has retained the unique Tudor interiors. The castle is now used as a conference venue, but is also open to the public.
9 Boinice Castle, Slovakia
It is considered one of the most romantic castles in Europe. Its first mention dates back to 1113 - an ordinary wooden castle in Bojnice, which was gradually strengthened. Officially, the fortress was handed over to the ruler of Slovakia, Matus Czak, by King Wenceslas III of Hungary in 1302.
Since then, each new owner has reconstructed the castle, and as a result, it turned out to be the most visited place in Slovakia. Many fantastic and fabulous films were filmed here. The castle also houses the Slovak National Museum.
10 Bran Castle, Romania
Bran Fortress is a national landmark of Romania. Initially, it was a wooden structure, which was founded in 1212 by the knights of the Teutonic Order, and later completed by local residents at their own expense. In those days, the building served as a defensive fortress.
Bran has gone through many owners but is most often referred to as "Dracula's castle". According to legend, Prince Vlad Chepes, nicknamed Count Dracula, often stopped here and hunted near the castle. In the 20th century, the castle was donated by the locals to Queen Maria of Romania, whose grandson currently owns it. Now the castle houses a museum of furniture and art from the collection of Queen Mary.
11 Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland
This beautiful castle, which is recognized as one of the most romantic in Scotland, is located on Donan Island - at the meeting point of three lakes. In the 7th century, a hermit monk lived on the island, after whom the castle was named. In the XIII century, the first fortress was built, and Eilean Donan itself was transferred by the king to the ancestor of the Scottish Mackenzie clan.
The building was destroyed in 1719, and only at the beginning of the 20th century the MacRae clan acquired the castle and began its restoration. By the way, this fortress can be seen in the TV series Outlander.
12 Bodiam Castle, England
The land on which the castle is now located was inherited by Edward Dalingridge after his marriage. In 1385, during the 100 Years' War, he fortified the estate to protect the area from the French. For several decades, the castle was passed down from generation to generation. When the family died at the end of the 15th century, the castle came into the possession of the Leuknor family.
Later, Bodiam had several owners, each of whom contributed to its restoration, for example, after a siege during the Wars of the Roses. In 1925, after the death of the then owner, the castle was donated to a national foundation, which maintains it to this day. Now this fortress near the village of Robertsbridge can be visited by anyone.
13 Hohensalzburg Castle, Austria
This building is considered one of the largest of all surviving medieval castles in Europe and is located at an altitude of 120 meters on top of Mount Festung near the Austrian city of Salzburg. The castle was built in 1077 under the leadership of the archbishop of Salzburg, but now only the foundation remains of that building.
Hohensalzburg was fortified, rebuilt and reconstructed many times. Only in the 16th century did it acquire the form it has today. The fortress was used as a warehouse, barracks, fort and even a prison during the First World War. Now this castle is a favorite tourist attraction, where you can climb the funicular or walk.
14 Arundell Castle, England
This castle was founded on Christmas Day 1067 by Roger de Montgomery (Earl of Arundel), one of the subjects of William the Conqueror. Later, it became the main residence of the Dukes of Norfolk from the Howard family, who have owned it for over 400 years.
The castle was rebuilt after damage during the English Civil War in the 17th century, and also updated with the return of fashion for medieval interiors. Although Arundel is a private property, most of the castle is open to tourists.
15 Mont Saint Michel, France
This castle is not in vain called the architectural wonder of France. It is a rocky island in northwestern France that was turned into a fortress island in the 8th century. Monks lived here for a long time, and even an abbey was built.
During the 100 Years War, the British unsuccessfully tried to conquer this island, and during the French Revolution, when there were no monks on the island, a prison was built here. It was closed in 1863, and in 1874 the island was declared a historical monument. About 3 million tourists visit here every year, while there are only a few dozen local residents!
These amazing historical monuments have come down to posterity almost in their original form. They keep the centuries-old history of different peoples, which is not always possible to read on the pages of textbooks.
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The position of the defenders of the besieged castle was far from hopeless. There were many ways in which they could push back the attackers. Most castles were located in hard-to-reach places and were designed to withstand a long siege. They were built on top of a steep hill or surrounded by a moat or trench. The castle always had an impressive supply of weapons, water and food, and the guards knew how to defend themselves. However, in order to survive the siege, a born leader was needed, versed in the art of war, defensive tactics and military cunning.
The battlemented parapet Guards continuously watched the surroundings from behind the battlements, behind which a path ran over the walls of the castle. Means of defense If the defenders knew in advance about the approach of the attackers, they prepared to defend themselves, stocking up on provisions and providing shelter to the surrounding residents. Villages and fields around were often burned so that the besiegers would not get anything. The locks were designed according to the highest technical standards of those times. Wooden castles caught fire easily, so they were built of stone. Stone walls withstood siege shells, and ditches prevented enemy attempts to dig a tunnel into the fortress. Wooden paths were made on top of the walls - from them the defenders threw stones at the attackers. Later they were replaced by stone battlements. The spread of cannons brought about radical changes in the construction of castles and in the methods of warfare. Loopholes Defenders could safely shoot at the enemy from the loopholes and because of the jagged parapet on the walls of the castle. For the convenience of archers and musketeers, the loopholes expanded inwards. It also made it possible to increase the sector of fire. But it was difficult for the enemy to get into a narrow loophole, although there were well-aimed arrows who were specially prepared for this purpose.
Loopholes There were different types of loopholes: straight, in the form of a cross and even a key. All for the sake of protection 1 The weak point of any castle was the gate. First, the enemy had to pass the drawbridge, and then the gate and portcullis. But even here, the defenders had a few surprises in store. 2 Holes in the wooden floor allowed the defenders to throw stones down on the heads of the besiegers, pour hot sand on them and pour slaked lime, boiling water or oil. 3 The defenders dug a defensive tunnel. 4 Arrows and other projectiles bounced off rounded walls better. 5 Crenellated parapet. 6 The attackers were often wounded by stones bouncing off the walls. 7 They shot at the enemy from loopholes. 8 The soldiers defending the castle repelled the ladders of the attackers with long poles. 9 The defenders tried to neutralize the battering ram by lowering mattresses on the ropes or trying to catch the end of the battering ram with a hook and pull it up. 10 Extinguishing the fire within the castle walls.
The main principle of castle defense was to maximize the vulnerability of the attacking enemy while minimizing the negative consequences for the defenders. A well-built castle could effectively defend even a small army and hold it for a very long time. A strong defense allowed the defenders of a castle to hold out against an assault or siege until reinforcements arrived, or until the attacking troops were forced to retreat due to food shortages, disease, or casualties.
Fortress
A fortress is a small castle, often part of a large castle complex. This is a heavily fortified building that often served as the residence of the owner of the castle. If the enemy took the outer walls of the castle, the defenders could retreat to the fortress and continue to defend themselves. Many castles grew from fortresses, which were the initial fortified points. Over time, the castles expanded and the old outer walls of the castles became the outer defenses of the fortress.
Walls
Stone walls protected the castle from arson, arrows and other projectiles. Enemies could not climb smooth walls without special equipment such as ladders or siege scaffolding. The defenders on the walls could shoot down or drop heavy objects on the attackers. The attackers, who were in the open and fired upwards, were at a very disadvantageous position compared to the defenders, who were protected and fired down. If possible, they tried to strengthen the defensive power of stone walls by building walls on hills and cliffs. The gates and doors in the castle walls were few and heavily fortified.
towers
In the corners and often at regular intervals along the walls stood towers. The towers extended beyond the vertical plane of the castle walls, allowing the defenders from the towers to fire at the outer surface of the castle walls. From the corner towers, the defenders could fire on two wall surfaces. Gates were often defended by towers on both sides. Some castles started out as simple towers and grew into false complexes of walls, an inner keep, and additional towers.
Loopholes
The walls and towers were adapted to provide maximum protection to the defenders. The platform behind the upper part of the wall allowed the defenders to stand and fight. Slotholes were cut into the upper part of the walls so that the defenders could shoot or fight while under partial cover. The slits may have had wooden shutters for even more protection. In the upper part of the walls, battlements were often built with thin slots, due to which the archers could shoot with little or no risk. During the assault, closed wooden platforms expanded from the tops of the walls and towers. From them, the defenders could shoot straight down at the attackers, or throw stones and boiling liquids at them, while remaining protected. These wooden buildings were upholstered with skins to prevent the wood from burning. Stone versions of these scaffolds were called hinged loopholes and were sometimes built over gates.
Ditches and drawbridges
To enhance the advantage of the walls, ditches were often dug at their base, completely surrounding the castle. Where possible, these ditches were filled with water. Such ditches greatly hampered the direct assault on the walls. Armored soldiers could drown if they fell into shallow water. Moats with water also made it very difficult to dig walls, as water could wash away the digging tunnel and flood the diggers. Often the attackers had to drain the water ditches in order to continue the assault. Often the ditch was also partly filled in to provide ladders or siege scaffolding. Drawbridges over ditches or water ditches allowed the inhabitants of the castle to enter and leave the castle as needed. In case of danger, the drawbridge was raised, thus disconnecting the castle from the outside world. Bridges were raised by a mechanism inside the castle, well protected from the enemy.
Retractable Grille
A lowered grate made of thick metal rods tightly blocked the gates of the castle in case of danger. The gates of the castle were usually inside a special tower, which was well fortified. The bypass gate (a secret underground passage) could also be located in this tower. This tunnel was usually blocked by several powerful bars. The mechanism that lifted the bars was on top of the tower and was heavily protected. The lowered gratings could be a combination of iron rods and thick logs. Defenders and attackers could shoot at each other and stab through the bars.
Barbican
Powerful castles had external and internal gates. Between them was an open space called the Barbican. It was surrounded by walls and became a trap for the enemy, who managed to destroy the outer gate. Once in the Barbican, the enemy became very vulnerable and could either retreat through the outer gates or storm the inner ones. The defenders at this time generously poured tar or boiling oil on the attackers, threw stones and spears at them.
Defenders
In peacetime, very few soldiers were needed to protect the castle. At night, the bridges were raised, and the lowered bars were lowered, thus blocking the castle. In the event of a threat or assault, a much larger army was involved in the defense of the castle. Well-aimed archers or crossbowmen could prevent the enemy from storming the castle or preparing for an assault by shelling. The losses of the attackers reduced their strength and morale. Large losses from shelling could force the attackers to retreat. If the attackers could still get close to hand-to-hand combat, a large army was needed to repel the attack. It also required many people to throw stones from the walls and pour hot liquids on the attackers. A considerable number of workers were required to repair the walls damaged by the storm and to extinguish fires caused by fire arrows. Aggressive defenders occasionally sally out of the castle and attack the besieging army. These lightning-fast raids allowed the defenders to burn down the besiegers' ladders and forests, lowering their morale. In case of danger, local peasants took to defending the walls. Lacking sufficient skill with a sword, spear, or bow, they could do many other important jobs.
The Middle Ages in Europe was a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, arranged small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern terms, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, they had to be taken away.
Lots of land and peasants? It's just indecent, because God ordered to share. And if knightly honor is hurt, then here it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.
Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles known to us in any way - except that a moat was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was erected around the house.
The lordly courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of castles.
However, progress did not stand still - with the development of military affairs, the feudal lords had to modernize their fortifications so that they could withstand a massive assault using stone cannonballs and rams.
The besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).
Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.
Welcome
We are on our way to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope, on the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Common people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of protection (in particular, guarding our road). This is the so-called "castle people".
Scheme of castle structures. Note - two gate towers, the largest stands separately.
The first barrier is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a rampart of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau), or sickle-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, the moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.
The shape of the bottom of the ditches could be V-shaped and U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth, which only hindered the advancement of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore, the depth of the moat was not decisive).
The crest of an earthen rampart lying directly in front of the moat (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.
A bridge over the moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the moat and bridge, the latter supports one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but its last segment (right next to the wall) is movable.
Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - lattice.
Counterweights on the gate lift.
This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it closes the gate. The bridge is powered by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains go into the wall holes. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights that took part of the weight of this structure onto themselves.
Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “overturning” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the moat. When the inner part rose, closing the entrance to the castle, the outer part (to which the attackers sometimes managed to run) fell down into the moat, where the so-called “wolf pit” was arranged (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the side, until the bridge is down.
To enter the castle with the gates closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lifting ladder was usually laid.
Gates - the most vulnerable part of the castle, were usually made not directly in its wall, but were arranged in the so-called "gate towers". Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the wings were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were upholstered with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the wings there was a small narrow door, which could be entered only by bending over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate was closed by a transverse beam lying in the wall channel and sliding into the opposite wall. The transverse beam could also be wound into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the gate from their landing attackers.
Behind the gate was usually a drop-down portcullis. Most often it was wooden, with iron-bound lower ends. But there were also iron gratings made of steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the vault of the gate portal, or be behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along the grooves in the walls.
The grate hung on ropes or chains, which, in case of danger, could be cut off so that it quickly fell down, blocking the way for the invaders.
Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, asked the guests for the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, could hit all those who passed under them with a bow. For this purpose, there were vertical loopholes in the vault of the gate portal, as well as “tar noses” - holes for pouring hot resin on the attackers.
All on the wall!
Zwinger at Laneck Castle.
On top of the wall was a gallery for defense soldiers. From the outside of the castle, they were protected by a solid parapet, half the height of a man, on which stone battlements were regularly arranged. Behind them it was possible to stand at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely diverse - rectangular, rounded, in the form of a dovetail, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the warriors from bad weather.
A special type of loophole - ball. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed in the wall with a slot for firing.
Pedestrian gallery on the wall.
Balconies (the so-called “mashikuli”) were arranged in the walls very rarely - for example, in the case when the wall was too narrow for the free passage of several soldiers, and, as a rule, performed only decorative functions.
At the corners of the castle, small towers were built on the walls, most often flanking (that is, protruding outward), which allowed the defenders to fire along the walls in two directions. In the late Middle Ages, they began to adapt to storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the courtyard of the castle) were usually left open so that the enemy who broke into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.
Flanking corner tower.
The castle from the inside
The internal structure of the castles was diverse. In addition to the mentioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of “trap” for the attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several "sections" separated by internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, premises for servants) and a central tower, also known as a donjon.
Donjon at the Château de Vincennes.
The location of the water source depended primarily on natural causes. But if there was a choice, then the well was dug not in the square, but in a fortified room in order to provide it with water in case of shelter during the siege. If, due to the peculiarities of the occurrence of groundwater, a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a stone tower was built above it (if possible, with wooden passages to the castle).
When there was no way to dig a well, a cistern was built in the castle to collect rainwater from the roofs. Such water needed to be purified - it was filtered through gravel.
The combat garrison of castles in peacetime was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the Reichelsberg castle in the Lower Franconian Aub entered into an agreement that each of them exposes one armed servant, and two gatekeepers and two guards are paid jointly.
Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.
Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served as either a prison or a warehouse. The entrance to it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (in German - a frightening hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions there.
If there were no prison facilities in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to their full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.
Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, for a ransom or for using a prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIP-persons were provided according to the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is how Friedrich the Handsome spent his time in the Trausnitz castle on Pfaimd and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.
Chamber in Marksburg Castle.
Abenberg castle tower (12th century) in section.
At the base of the tower there was a cellar, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. The main hall (dining room, common room) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it spread heat only a few meters, so that iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.
Sometimes the donjon did not serve as living quarters. It could well be used only for military and economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, provisions storage). In such cases, the feudal lord's family lived in the "palace" - the living quarters of the castle, standing apart from the tower. The palaces were built of stone and had several floors in height.
It should be noted that the living conditions in the castles were far from the most pleasant. Only the largest carpets had a large knight's hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the donjons and carpets. Fireplace heating helped out, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to keep warm.
The windows let in very little sunlight (the fortification character of the castle architecture affected), not all of them were glazed. Toilets were arranged in the form of a bay window in the wall. They were unheated, so visiting the outhouse in winter left people with simply unique sensations.
Large temples had two floors. The common people prayed below, and the gentlemen gathered in the warm (sometimes glazed) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such premises was rather modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple played the role of a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less commonly, it was used as a shelter (along with a donjon).
War on earth and underground
To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all the ways of supplying food. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for the war of mediocre feudal lords).
The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - for about a month (in this case, one should take into account his low combat capability during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of the castle, preparing for the siege, often went to extreme measures - they drove out of it all commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed the whole army under the siege.
The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes dragged on for years (for example, the German Turant defended itself from 1245 to 1248), so the question of supplying the rear of an army of several hundred people was particularly acute.
In the case of the siege of Turant, the chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fouders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This is about 2.8 million liters. Either the scribe made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was over 1,000.
View of the castle Eltz from the counter-castle Trutz-Eltz.
The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification was a serious obstacle for conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well have been successful, which, however, came at the cost of heavy casualties.
That is why a whole range of military measures was necessary for the successful capture of the castle (it was already mentioned above about the siege and starvation). Undermining was one of the most time-consuming, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the protection of the castle.
Undermining was done with two goals - to provide troops with direct access to the courtyard of the castle, or to destroy a section of its wall.
So, during the siege of the castle of Altwindstein in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) People took advantage of the distracting maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and for 10 weeks made a long passage in the hard rock to the southeastern part fortresses.
If the wall of the castle was not too large and had an unreliable, then a tunnel broke through under its base, the walls of which were reinforced with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel collapsed, the base of the foundation sagged, and the wall above this place crumbled into pieces.
Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If the ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a mine was being dug nearby.
But the main argument in the attack on the castle were siege machines - catapults and battering rams.
Storming of the castle (miniature of the 14th century).
A type of catapult is a trebuchet.
Sometimes barrels filled with combustible materials were loaded into catapults. To deliver a couple of pleasant minutes to the defenders of the castle, catapults threw the severed heads of captives to them (especially powerful machines could throw even whole corpses over the wall).
Assault the castle with a mobile tower.
In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were mounted on high mobile frames with a canopy and were a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, forcing the log to hit the wall.
In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were fixed. With this rope, they caught a ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes a gaping soldier could get caught on such hooks.
Having overcome the shaft, breaking the palisades and filling up the moat, the attackers either stormed the castle with the help of ladders, or used high wooden towers, the upper platform of which was on the same level with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent arson by the defenders and rolled up to the castle along the flooring of the boards. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and with a fight invaded the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.
Silent glanders
Sapa (from the French sape, literally - a hoe, saper - to dig) - a method of extracting a moat, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16-19 centuries. Flip-flop (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. The work of the throwing glanders was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without the workers coming to the surface, and the flying glanders were carried out from the surface of the earth under the cover of a pre-prepared protective mound of barrels and bags of earth. In the second half of the 17th century, specialists - sappers - appeared in the armies of a number of countries to perform such work.
The expression to act "on the sly" means: sneak, slowly, imperceptibly go, penetrate somewhere.
Fights on the stairs of the castle
It was possible to get from one floor of the tower to another only through a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. At the same time, the warrior who went first could only rely on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or a long sword from behind the leader. Therefore, the fights on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. It was the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since a special extended area was located behind their backs.
samurai castles
We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.
Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable attribute of a Japanese castle is wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it from all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, a lake, a swamp.
Inside, the castle was a complex system of defensive structures, consisting of several rows of walls with courtyards and gates, underground corridors and labyrinths. All these structures were located around the central square of the honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several rectangular tiers gradually decreasing upwards with protruding tiled roofs and gables.
Japanese castles, as a rule, were small - about 200 meters long and 500 wide. But among them there were also real giants. Thus, Odawara Castle occupied an area of 170 hectares, and the total length of its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.
The charm of antiquity
Saumur French castle (14th century miniature).
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When large landowners appeared in Europe, they began to build fortified estates for themselves. The house, outbuildings, barns and stables were surrounded by high wooden walls. In front of them, they usually dug a wide ditch, into which water was diverted from the nearest reservoir. This is how the first castles appeared. But they were fragile, as the tree began to rot over time. Therefore, the walls and buildings had to be constantly updated. In addition, such buildings could easily be set on fire.
The first real knightly castles made of stone, which are well known in our time, began to be built at the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th centuries. In total, 15 thousand such structures were built in Europe. Especially fond of similar buildings in England. On these lands, a building boom began during the time of William the Conqueror in the second half of the 11th century. Stone structures towered at a distance of 30 km from each other. This proximity was very handy in the event of an attack. Horse detachments from other castles could quickly arrive at the defenders.
In the X-XI centuries, protective stone structures consisted of a high multi-tiered tower. She was called donjon and was home to the knight and his family. Food was also stored in it, servants lived, armed guards. A prison was set up in which prisoners were kept. A deep well was dug in the basement. It was filled with groundwater. Therefore, the inhabitants of the donjon were not afraid to be left without water in the event of a long siege.
From the second half of the 11th century, donjons began to be surrounded by stone walls.. Since that time, the defensive capabilities of the castle have increased significantly. Enemies first had to overcome high solid walls, and then also take possession of a multi-tiered tower. And from it it was very convenient to pour hot tar on the heads of the invaders, shoot arrows and throw large stones.
The most active construction of reliable stone structures unfolded in 1150-1250.. It was during these 100 years that the largest number of castles were built. Kings and rich nobles built majestic buildings. Small nobles erected small but reliable stone fortresses.
At the beginning of the XIII century, the towers began to be made not square, but round.. This design was more resistant to throwing machines and rams. In the 90s of the XIII century, one central tower was abandoned. Instead, they began to make many towers, and surrounded them with 2 and even 3 rows of walls. Much more attention was paid to the strengthening of the gate.
Previously, knightly castles were protected only by heavy doors and a rising bridge over the moat. Now a powerful metal grate has been placed outside the gate. She could go down and up, and was called gers. Its tactical advantage was that it was possible to shoot arrows through it at the attackers. This innovation was added barbican. It was a round tower located in front of the gate.
Therefore, the enemies first had to take possession of it, then overcome the drawbridge, break the metal grate of the hers, and only after that, overcoming the fierce resistance of the defenders, penetrate the inner territory of the castle. And on top of the walls, the builders made stone galleries with special openings to the outside. Through them, the besieged fired their bows and poured hot pitch on the enemies.
Medieval knight's castle and its defensive elements
In these almost impregnable stone fortresses, everything was subject to maximum security. But they cared much less about internal comfort. There were few windows, and they were all narrow. Instead of glasses, they used mica or intestines of cows, bulls, buffaloes. Therefore, the rooms were twilight even on a bright sunny day. There were a great many different stairs, corridors and passages. They created drafts. And this affected the health of the residents not in the best way.
There were fireplaces in the rooms, and the smoke escaped through the chimneys. But it was very difficult to heat the premises made of stone. Therefore, people have always suffered from a lack of heat. The floors were also stone. They were covered with hay and straw on top. Furniture included wooden beds, benches, cabinets, tables and chests. Hunting trophies in the form of stuffed animals and weapons hung on the walls. And in such decoration lived the families of the nobles with their servants and guards.
Attitudes towards comfort and convenience began to change at the beginning of the 14th century.. Knights' castles began to be built of brick. Accordingly, they became much warmer. Builders stopped making narrow window openings. They expanded significantly, and multi-colored glass replaced the mica. The walls and floors were covered with carpets. Carved wooden furniture and porcelain utensils, brought from the east, appeared. That is, the fortresses turned into quite tolerable places to live.
At the same time, locks retained such important functions as storage for products. They had cellars and cellars. Grain, smoked meats, dried fruits and vegetables were stored in them. There were stocks of wine, fish lay in wooden barrels. Honey was stored in earthenware jars filled with wax. Salo was salted in stone containers.
Halls and corridors were lit with oil lamps or torches. In living quarters candles made of wax or tallow were used. A separate tower was intended for hay. It was kept for horses, which at that time were very numerous. Each fortress had its own bakery. Bread was baked daily for the masters and their servants.
Common people settled around these majestic buildings. In the event of an attack by enemies, people hid behind strong walls. They also sheltered their livestock and property. Therefore, gradually around the knight's castles, first settlements began to appear, and then small towns. Markets and fairs were held right under the walls. The owner of the fortress did not object to this at all, since such events promised him a good profit.
By the 16th century, many knightly castles were completely surrounded by residential buildings. As a result, they lost their military defensive value. At this time, powerful artillery began to appear. She nullified the importance of strong and high walls. And gradually, once impregnable fortresses turned into only places of residence for rich people. They were also used for prisons and warehouses. Today, the former majestic buildings have become history and are of interest only to tourists and historians..
