What are the strengths and weaknesses of a motte and bailey castle?

Answer 1

Strengths:

• Only take a few days to build
• Really light which makes it easier to build
• Quite strong
• Built on a hill so you can see the enemy approaching
• Made of wood- so quick and easy to build
• Has a moat and a fence so it is more difficult to attack.

Weaknesses:

• Catches fire easily
• Wood can rot with the rain; it generally weakens with age.
• Wood is a weak building material so therefore these castles could not be big
• The motte can collapse with the weight of the castle on it
• They were not big enough to house large groups of troops

Answer 2

A motte-and-bailey castle could be very simple. Its key features included:

• A motte, which was a small hill with steep sides, and could be natural or man made.
• A keep, which was a fortified building, built of wood or stone, on top of the motte.
• A bailey, which was an enclosed flat space at the foot of the motte, and which could have buildings or grazing or farming areas within it.
• A palisade, which was made of wood or stone and surrounded the castle.
• A ditch or moat, which was dug around the whole, and which was filled with water, if that was possible and thought desirable.

There is a link below to an article on the motte-and-bailey castle.

Answer 3

Answer:

The keep was defensive because it was high enough to spot attackers in advance.

But it was made out of wood and had a thatched roof which made it easy to burn down with fire arrows

The wooden fence, called a palisade, was a defensive feature of motte and bailey castles.

The motte, a hill with steep slopes, was a defensive feature of motte and bailey castles.

The drawbridge between the motte and the bailey which could be cut down, was a defensive feature of motte and bailey castles.

The roofs of the buildings were thatched with straw which could easily be set alight.

This is not a defensive feature of motte and bailey castles

Answer 4

Motte and bailey castles were really a range of different styles of earth and timber castles, some with a single motte (mound) and a single bailey, others with two baileys and others with two mottes.

The advantage of this type of fortification is that it was extremely quick and cheap to build using the local peasantry as forced labour, with local timber used in the construction. Such castles were only as strong as their outer defences - if the ditch was deep and wide and the bank high and steep, with a strong palisade along the top, a small force could defend itself for some time.

The most vulnerable part of any castle is the gate or gates; some motte and bailey castles had a wooden bridge approaching the gateway that could be destroyed before an enemy arrived, or a simple drawbridge outside the wooden doors.

Wooden fences around wooden buildings can always be destroyed by fire and fire arrows were often used against this type of defensive structure. The defenders could respond by hanging wet hides over the palisade and buildings and having plenty of water available to fight fires.

Eventually, the attackers would fill in the ditch outside the gate and could then bring up a battering ram under a protective penthouse on wheels. As soon as the gateway was breached the defenders could only retreat to the tower (donjon) on top of the motte; this was usually the strongest feature and impossible to attack, but here they were effectively trapped and would eventually have to surrender or starve.

Answer 5

Siege: you surround it and wait for the defenders to run out of food. They usually used pigs to surround the area to attract Normans.

Direct attack: Either by ramming the doorway or breaking a wall by artillery or undermining. They could use a battery ram to attack the Palisade.

Assault: A siege tower or scaling ladders over the wall. However they could be knocked down by Normans.

Answer 6

The motte was an earthwork or mound, which was often surrounded by a moat. On top of it was the bailey, which had walls made of wood or stone surrounding a courtyard. This was an early form of castle.

Answer 7

A motte and baily castle generally consisted of a wooden fort on top of a man-made mound (motte) that were designed so steep that a horse could not climb it, with an enclosed surrounding area (bailey) defended by a tall wooden fence (palisade) the bailey was used for the horses, workers, supplies, crops and more.

Answer 8

they made them on the hightest bit of land