How did they defend castles in the middle ages?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

They were usually on top of a hill (sometimes artificial) which meant the attacker had to struggle upwards to reach the castle walls. They were surrounded by a water filled moat which the attackers then had to cross. The main entrance could only be reached across a drawbridge which would be raised during an attack. The entrance was blocked by a heavy metal grill called the portcullis which could be lowered into position. The entrance into the inner courtyard involved passing under holes through which boiling oil could be poured. The alternative means of entry over the wall meant scaling 30 or 40 foot walls on a scaling ladder whilst under fire. Archers would be positioned in towers firing arrows through slits in the stonework at the attackers. Inside the walls was an inner fortress called the Donjon which required a second attack whilst being a target for the archers on all sides (in towers and on walls). The commonest method of attack was the seige where the attackers surrounded the castle and hoped the defenders would run out of food or water. For this reason some castles were sited by the sea so that supplies could come in by boat at high tide.

Answer 3

They defended themselves by archers on the tops of the castles.

Answer:

Castles were defended by several active and passive systems,

The active systems included the presence of trained archers on the ramparts and various systems for dropping heavy stones or boilling/burning oil on the attackers.

The passive systems included their construction of heavy stone walls, moats, drawbridges, and landscaping which allowed attackers no place to hide. Most castles also featured a redoubt (a secondary walled building inside the main castle exterior) to which th lord could retreat.

The architecture of the crenelated castle walls was also an assistance as the defending archers could have wide field of view to shoot towards while remaining hidden from the attackers.

Answer 4

Medieval castles had many design features to help it's defense. Many castles were built on places where it would be hard to attack, such as on a hill or mountain, surrounded by swampland or rivers. Other man made features include moats, heavy walls with controlled entryways, often with heavy gates. They also had parapets, which allowed defenders to shoot arrows or poor burning oil on attacking foes with some protection. Other built in features might include murder holes, which were holes in the ceiling where defenders might shoot down own attackers who have gained access to the interior of the castle.

Answer 5

well in many ways like They had a army of soldiers in and out of the castle ready to give there life up for the king and queen and if there under a siege they poured boiling oil over the side of the castle but they do that anyway but after they poured boiling oil down they threw a torch down and it scorched everything that got hit by the oil and they also had a swing that had a rock and it span and it would knock the enemies heads off if they were trying to get over the castle walls but for foot soldiers they had archers and they just shot then but if they had Heavy Duty Shields then they would use flamming arrows making the shield (if it is wood or hide) useless but even the metal or steel Shields the steel or iron or bronze Shields were quite thin it was enough to stop a sword blow but arrows would often penetrate it and theres wood under the steel and it would catch on fire making it useless they sometimes even have a catapult inside the castle and they would launch flamming fire bombs but often they put mines in front of the castle if they knew the enemy was coming the mines were flat cases filled with gunpowder in a chamber they it had a notch at the top and when a soldier stepped on it it would strike a piece of flint setting the wick on fire which would set the bombs off but sometimes they had trip wires

Answer 6

Three ways to protect a medieval castle are starvation treachery and mining.

Answer 7

by the keep and curtain walls