Motte and Bailey Castles

A Square Keep castle usually sits on a hill. It only has 1 wall of defence, whereas a concentric castle usually has about 3 thick walls. Concentric's also have a keep in the middle that has a wall 2.5 metres thick!

• Motte and Bailey castles were made into 'Shell Keeps'. Usually, they would have a stone crust put on their wooden wall.

When gunpowder and cannons were invented, castles where more used for homes and less for defence.

Motte and Bailey Castles are created on a raised mound which is either natural in formation or built. At the top perimeter of the mound a wooden post fence is built and within this enclosure there is usually a watch tower built. The design probably dates back as far as the neolithic period when hill forts were constructed to protect towns.

These type of castles are temporary in nature unlike the stone keep castle which as its name implies is made of more permanent materials and is surrounded by a stone wall. Later versions of stone walled castles employed such structures as gatehouses, moats keeps and watchtowers, including the grander ones having both inner and outer courtyards.

stone walls around a castle are called curtain walls. they are built for defence.

The Motte was a defensive feature to a Motte and Bailey castle because By The Time The attackers got to the top Of The Motte (a big hill where the main castle was) They would Be KNACKERED!! (I Learnt this in my history lesson!)

In the year of 1066 during the invasions of Britain Scotland and Wales castles were built in every realm to defend the city or town there these realms are now called counties of england scotland and wales such as essex wessex sussex etc

Motte and Bailey Castles, Concentric Castles and Stone Castles protect you when you are under attack. These type of castles where used by the Normans after they had taken control of England. They built castles all around the Country. The castles got most the English men under control. The few that they hadn't got under control led rebellians to try and destroy one of the Normans' castle. The castles were too powerful and always overpowered the rebellers.

To find good diagrams and paintings. Click on the link below named"google image search: Motte and bailey castles" If you want me to describe it then it's a raised, flat, fortified area with a large mound on it. The large mound has a keep on it.

A MOTTE AND BAILEY CASTLE IS:

Motte: A motte is french for a clod of earth. The castle is built on this. Bailey: A bailey is attached to the clod of earth, via some steps and is where the soldiers of the castle sleep, like a small cottage. The castle is made out of wood and has a keep. A keep is like the lookout of a ship, but a lookout for attackers on the horizon. It is usually the safest place in the castle.

The motte was the mound or hill upon which the main keep was typically sited, and was typically surrounded by a ditch (which was usually a side-effect from digging up enough earth to create the motte in the first place). It served as a defensive feature - not only did it give defenders high ground, but placing it on a hill, surrounded by a ditch, slowed the advance of any attackers. As well as this, it also gave a high vantage point from which to sight anybody trying to approach.

over the years castles have changed from being made of wood , for its light weight , to stone for its sturdiness. castles have changed because of both advances in technology and the fact of the enemy's getting smarter and able to defeat the new castles after their advances. the shapes of the castles have also changed to . for example on the motte and bailey castles the shape of the keep changed from being a square shape to being a round shape . this changed because the corners on the square allowed less viewing , making it a circle allowed the people inside to view from all angles, being able to watch out for the enemy's. although the shape was good on the motte and bailey castles, the material was not very good as wood could be burnt and broken easily. they needed to find a new material that could overcome the enemy's effort's.

this is when stone castles came into use. the stone was good as it could not be burnt or broken easily, but they would have to change the shape of the castle as the workers would not be able to haul the large stones up the mound of earth on the motte and bailey castles.

castle development went in this order:

motte and bailey castles

stone keep castles

concentric castles

quadrangular castles

It was built on a hill, and then houses were built around it, the castle was built there to protect the village around it.

There are 3 ways to attack any castle: Siege: you surround it and wait for the defenders to run out of food. Direct attack: Either by ramming the doorway or breaking a wall by artillery or undermining. Assault: A siege tower or scaling ladders over the wall. Or of course a combination of the above. But what a castle is, by and large, is a defensive fortification, its very design & location is there to make any attack as difficult as possible and keep its inhabitants safe from enemy attack. you can also defend a motte and bailey castle by staying on the high ground and rationing your food. people got very scared and frightened of these attacks and when that happened they killed themselves.And that's it.

Motte and Bailey castles could have been improved by making them bigger and stronger. In fact, they did improve Motte and Bailey castles to make them bigger and stronger. To make them stronger, they made them out of stone. These castles were called Stone Keep castles (Stone castles). Also, they were much bigger. Stone Keep castles still stand today because stone doesn't rot within a few years but will last for centuries. None of the Motte and Bailey castles still stand today because they were made out of wood and would have rotted within a few years.

they would rot because wood is crap

Medieval lords built castles for themselves, families, staff and to provide a secure haven in a time of need such as a seige\attack by an enemy.

They eventually became large enough to hold an entire small community in a war.

motte and bailry castles are made from wood so it woulkd not last very long because wood rots quickly so they would colapse quiker.they would not have that much space bacause the empty spaces would get filled in with a tower.motte and bailey castles would have no chance if the were ataked becauser they arre made from wood so enemys would just burn it down

Motte and Bailey castles help the Normans keep an eye on their people. They built hundreds around the Country. They were able to do this as it was made out of wood. Wood was cheap and easy to get hold of. It only took them a few days to set up a Motte and Bailey castle. Although Motte and Bailey castles were cheap and easy to get hold of, there were some weaknesses: * Wood Sets on fire easily * Wood isn't very strong and can be knocked down easily * Wood rots Despite the weaknesses Motte and Bailey castles decreased the number of rebellions and the Normans managed to keep control of the English better. Motte and Bailey Castles helped William gain control as they were strong. William's best tactic to control a country was the use of terror. Because Motte and Bailey castles were made of wood they would have only taken a few days to put up. All these castles being built around the country to keep an eye on the people was very scary. This forced everyone to do whatever the King wanted because they knew that he would order the knights to kill them if they didn't. William chose a baron for each castle who would control all the knights in that area.

The first Motte and Bailey Castle was built at Mont Glonme on the River Loire in France in 990 - so the Normans were used to using the castle to dominate their tenants under the feudal system. The Normans also brought feudalism to England. Prior to the Norman invasion in 1066 led by William the Conqueror there were hardly any castles in England and the ones that did exist were built by Norman lords who were friends of King Edward the Confessor.

in the middle ages castles defended themselves with curtain walls and a moat. the curtain walls were basically layered walls which made it allot harder for he attacker to infiltrate the castle. the moat was a thick river surrounding the castle. attackers found this hard to cross.

The Neunschwanstein Castle is 131 Years old, And Constructed September 5th, 1869

Answer posted September 19th, 2011

Goodrich was built in the Welsh Marshes in a strategic point and for defense. The location of Welsh castles seem to be strategic in function and also filling a political and symbolic role. The castle showed that they were the true masters of all that they ruled.

Because the castle kept decaying and crumbling away and they had to make it stronger so it could store money and important documents.

The first castles were in France, in the motte-and-bailey style and entirely of earth and timber. They were built by the French to ward off Viking incursions. The earliest ones date to shortly before 1000.

The earliest castles in England were built by Norman military advisers to King Edward the Confessor in 1051 and 1052, some 14 years before the Norman conquest. The Normans, who were Viking settlers in France, learned castle-building from the French.