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Why did they stop building castles?

Castles were great defenses against the enemy. However, when gunpowder was invented the castles stopped being an effective form of defence. By the end of the 1300s gunpowder was widely in use. The medieval castle with its high vertical walls was no longer the invincible fortification it had been.

Why was gunpowder so effective?

The use of gunpowder made both castles and city walls much more vulnerable because a cannon could knock down the stone walls. The only way to knock down walls before the invention of gunpowder was to dig under the walls to make them unstable. This was a highly dangerous way to do it especially as you might get boiling hot tar poured over you from above!

And in some cases the enemy could throw fire balls which could lead to fire and total destruction. They were also very expensive and were not practical as you couldn't go anywhere if you were surrounded by enemy troops.

Certain types of fortresses, such as those developed by French King Louis XIV's General and Engineer Vauban, were much more practical against gunpowder weapons, and they came to replace the castle.

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13y ago

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