What was the most desired quality of a good castle?

Answer 1

It depends on the function of the castle. Mainly, castles were used for defence, but there are other forms of castles too.

The parts of the castle that were usually the most desirable are the gate and the towers. These were usually the most beautifully decorated parts, used to show off the wealth of the landowner or monarch and the skill of the workmen of the land.

Murder holes are a quality in defensive castles. They were holes above the entrances of the castle. They were used for pouring boiling water or boiling oil onto the enemy as they approached the gate.

Another good quality of a castle, mainly a defensive one, is solid thick walls. These walls are required to withstand attacks by seige weapons such as battering rams and trebuchets.

A good quality of a castle is also the Keep. This is a tower-like building that stood in the centre of the castle and was usually the highest part of the structure, allowing commanders and generals to see all around the castle and organise defensive/offensive tactics.

Another defensive quality is arrow loops. The slits or crosses in the walls that allow archers to fire at approaching attackers.

A good castle quality is also round towers. Most older castles had square towers which were usually very weak against siege weapons. It was also possible to make the tower collapse by digging underneath it and weakening one of the corners. However, rounded towers are harder to hit with siege - if they were hit, there was an 80% chance that the object flung at it would deflect and bounce back at the attackers. Rounded towers also don't have corners to dig under.

As warfare technology improved, castles needed to improve too. For example, moats prevented people scaling the walls and stopped rams getting too close. The moat also served as a beauty spot around the castle and a source of fish during peacetime.

When cannons were invented, as well as a moat around the castle, they also needed a raised earthen mound or a tree-line around the castle, to deflect the cannon-fire.

Castles that were more for community and living in than defences usually had huge grand halls inside them for hosting events. These halls were immaculately decorated with the finest goods.

Stone was the desired resource for castles.