Castles

13000 x 11235 M

Some ladies, even queens, lived in castles, though I doubt many liked it. Castles were forts, for the most part, and they were usually not nice places to live.

After William the Conqueror took England, there was a period of unrest that lasted for quite a few years. Members of the nobility often lived in castles during this period for their own protection. Later, as things settled down, many moved to manor houses, which were more comfortable.

King Edward II was born in a castle that was under construction in Wales. His father had taken Wales, and was building a series of great castles to protect his interests from rebellion. The fact that Queen Eleanor was living there was entirely due to these efforts.

Some castles had fairly comfortable apartments in them for their lords, and some noble families continued to live in castles. Apart from the inconvenience, however, castles were also very expensive to maintain. Also, some castles were really just fortified manor houses, and these were easier to deal with.

Kings and nobles built castles to protect themselves. The Normans built the first castles. After winning the Battle of Hastings, the Normans needed to protect themselves and their new kingdom. They quickly started to build wooden Motte and Bailey castles. The term motte and bailey comes from Norman French words that mean mound and enclosed land.

A motte and bailey castle was built on a huge mound (motte). Mottes could range from 25 feet (8 metres) to over 80 feet (24 metres) tall. The sides were so steep that it would have been difficult to run up them. For additional protection, a deep ditch was dug around the bottom of the motte.

The bailey was situated at the bottom of the motte/mound. Baileys varied in size. They could be anything from one to three acres. The followers of the lord of the castle, lived inside the bailey. Inside the bailey were storehouses, stables, bakery, kitchens, and houses and quarters for the followers and solders. To see what a motte-and-bailey actually looked like, see the link further down this page under External Links.

The wooden motte and bailey castles were not meant to be permanent, however. They were made of timber, vulnerable to fire, and by that could be destroyed when under attack. Permanent stone Norman castles eventually replaced them. The first stone castles consisted of rectangular towers surrounded by very high stone walls. To see what an early stone castle looked like, see the link further down this page under External Links.

What is known as the 'great age of castles' began approximately 1,000 years ago and lasted for nearly 500 years. Medieval castles continued to be built from the time of the 1066 Norman Conquest to the start of the Tudor era in 1485. Although Kings and nobles originally built castles to protect themselves, over time comfortable homes evolved within those fortified walls

to do loads of things

I Dont Really think People Sleep In Castles but If people did I Think They Would Sleep In the Most Beautiful Room in There :)

It forced people to make the walls stronger and out of stone instead of wood like the motte and bailey castle. The trebuchet was very powerful so if you were making the walls stronger you would of had to really make it strong!

Prince Ruprecht III was the one who made this castle and used to live in the Heidelberg Castle.

William the I built them to protect his army, he built 500 castles made of wood, and when he had total control of England and the opposition was destroyed, he replaced these wooden castles with stronger, more stable stone castles.

William the Conqueror built castles to protect him and his men from attack by the Anglo-Saxons he had beaten in battle of Hastings. During the first few years he spent over ruling the English he ordered 500 castles to be built. These were of the Motte and Bailey variety which is a bailey (wooden stronghold) on top of a motte (man-made hill.)

Once the country was totally under his control and all of his opposition were crushed, that's when he then he replaced the "temporary" castles with more permanent stone structures. Most of these can still be visited today.

Also he needed it to show the people of England that he was in control.

hamstring

If they had a defensive wall (castle wall) they would most likely have archers. The archers would then shot the enemy if they would try to attack the castle.

Does that answer you're question?

the first castles were built in aroundAD900.

NO

The outer wall of a castle is called a curtain wall. Inside it is a ward or bailey. Sometimes a castle has a second curtain wall in the ward, providing a second line of defense in case the outer one fails. Such a castle is called a concentric castle.

There is a link to an article on concentric castles below.

Wood and Stone

Castles are mainly protected by moats. The moat surrounds the whole Castle, reducing the chances of trespasser. The walls are made of stone and are extremely strong. From the top of the turrets you can see for a long, long way. Also the turrets are exceedingly useful for shooting from. The main doors are bolted heavily so it is difficult to get in even if you have got passed the moat.
Knights,cannons,slingshots

Sure friend I research medieval history and the Castle was a very important part of the time period. A castle is where a Lord and Lady or King and Queen lived the castle was usually on a hill with large pointy wooden spikes on the hill. Some times a castle was inside a city. A castle always had strong walls stone was the favorite for being so strong. Ramparts were carved into the stone so archers crossbow men and black powder musket men could shoot down at the enemy and pour hot tar or lime stone down on them. Most castles had a drawbridge and a moat behind the drawbridge was a gate usually wooden or metal. Inside the walls were houses for soldiers and blacksmiths. Various courtyards could be found inside a castle. Inside the walls sat the palace where the Lord and Lady lived a life of luxury. In the palace were kitchens, dining hall ,bed chambers ,wine cellars ,ballrooms and so on. That's about it. I hope you found this tip helpful. Good by and God bless.

Motte and bailey castles are made out of wood which produces many advantages including: * They are reasonably strong * They are able to be built within a few weeks * They have a moat which makes invading the castle alot harder * There is a big hill that the motte is built on so the archers in the motte can shoot them with arrows whilst the attackers are scrambling up the hill * They are cheap There are also many more advantages.

Defence against attacks,

To store weapons and defensive items.

Protecting peasants and nobles,

Defence agains the dark arts..xx

"A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, especially in Germany, as a means of providing support to act against the sideways forces arising out of the roof structures that lack adequate bracing." (Wikipedia)

Castles became unimportant when they were no longer able to protect its inhabitants. In the 15 century, artillery such as cannon balls and mortar were able to break through the stone walls.

Curtain wall is a term used to describe a building faced which does not carry any dead load from the building other than its own dead load, and one which transfers the horizontal loads (wind loads) that are incident upon it.