Motte and Bailey Castles

The Castle was both a military fortress of war as well as household for the noble and his family. Therefore the castle served two different functions requiring both a military and a domestic staff.

Of primary importance are the noble and his family. This could be anyone from the King himself down to a knight or baron depending on the country of origin. Often the noble would own several castles, particularly if he were the king, and therefore would need to travel from castle to castle. When not "in residence" the Castellan would run the castle's day-to-day functions in the absense of the noble.

After the royal or noble family, the castle could technically be divided into a "Domestic" and "Official/Military" funtion. On the Domestic side, the chief authority was the Steward. A Steward was the head domestic servant and looked after all the household affairs. He also was responsible for the smooth running of the servant's activities. The steward was also generally the person who ordered the supplies needed to run an efficient household.

Under the Steward would be the MANY domestic servants which could include the servants of the kitchen and the non kitchen staff. During Medieval times, the Hall was the center of all life within the castle. It was where the lord, his lady, their guests and visitors would meet, eat and be entertained. In smaller castles, they might even SLEEP in the hall. In the hall you would find the various servants running to and fro serving food and drink to the nobles and their guests. In charge of much of this would be the Butler. Based on the word "bottle," the butler was the servant in charge of looking after the lord's wine storage. The hall might also be were you would find Footmenand Pages. The footmen were responsible for personally attending the various nobles. They might escort them to private chambers, serve them during meal times, etc. The pages were mostly used as messengers and errand boys but would also assist the footmen and butler during busy ceremonies.

In charge of the kitchen was the Cook. Cooks could be specialists in particular foods and therefore be further diversified into soup cooks, pastry cooks, etc often depending on the size of the household. Assisting the cooks would be the Scullery Maids who worked as kitchen maids. They helped with lighting the fires, preparing/cleaning the food, gathering ingredients and washing up the kitchen crockery and utensils.

On the Official Side, the Chamberlain was the chief servant in charge of all ceremonial functions within the noble's "chamber" or "hall." This was often filled by someone with military experience who was now retired and hired on by the noble as a reward for past war service.

Assisting the Chamberlain would be the Marshal and the Chancellor. A marshal served several functions but originally was the military officer in charge of the logistics of moving the garrison of the castle from one place to another. It was only in later ages that the Marshal became more associated with the stables and therefore would be responsible for looking after the noble's horses. Assisting the Marshal would be Grooms who often lived in or above the stable and took care of everything from brushing/cleaning the horses, cleaning the stable floor, laying fresh straw and setting up the saddles and carriages.

The Chancellor was in charge of the chancellory or treasury. This was obviously a very important person since they looked after the noble's financial accounts and would have to be able to read, write and do math. Few people during the Middle Ages could do this other than the clergy so therefore, the Chancellor was often the noble's chief religious and legal advisor. In addition to keeping tract of the treasury, the Chancellor also maintained a staff of scribes to record official messages and financial transactions.

On the military side, the Captain of the garrison of soldiers stationed at the castle was in charge of the daily supervision of the military. He would answer directly to Marshal or the noble. Assisting him would be a number of Lieutenants. This military rank assisted the captain in his daily duties while also taking charge of smaller groops of soldiers. The number and type of soldier stationed in a castle would be dependant on a number of factors including the strategic location of the castle, its role in the defense of the kingdom and the overall wealth and prestige of the noble/royal. Typically the soldiers would include both footmen/infantry and horsemen/cavalry. Each served very different functions.

In addition to all of these servants, soldiers and officials, the castle could also include many other people depending on the whims of the owner as well as the need. This is certainly not an exclusive list and many more could be added but this should help as a base to start.

Many castles were built by the Normans around the border and coast of Wales and it is possible that the earliest of the motte and bailey type has disappeared from history. Some of the earliest known ones are:

Chepstow castle (Cas-Gwent), originally built as a small stone castle by William fitzOsbern in 1067 to control the crossings over the river Wye. It was later extended and changed many times throughout the medieval period. The Normans called the place Striguil, from the local Welsh term ystraigl (a bend in the river).

Cardiff castle, where in 1091 the Normans used the foundations of a derelict Roman fort.

LLansteffan castle, built early in the 1100s on the site of an Iron Age hill fort, which would have already possessed earth banks and ditches.

Carmarthen castle, begun in 1094.

Aberystwyth castle was first constructed in the early 1100s as a ringwork, without a motte and tower.

Bailey: This is a courtyard or open space surrounded by walls.The walls that make up the Bailey are also considered to be part of the Bailey. A castle could have several. Sometimes they were called the upper bailey and lower bailey or the west bailey and east bailey.

:) Jessi x