Battlements. Battlements were walls on the roof of a castle. They had higher walls, called merlons, with lower gaps between, called crenels. Defenders would use crossbows to shoot arrows through the crenels,and then hide behind the higher merlons.
What kind of defenses would a castle have?
The top of the castle walls were the battlements, a protective, tooth shaped parapet often with a wall walk behind it for the soldiers to stand on. The defenders could fire missiles through gaps (crenels). The raised sections between, called merlons, helped to shelter the defenders during an enemy attack.
What surrounds a castle for protection?
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence.
How were castles built to protect and defend from enemies?
One of the most important features in a castle was its walls. Whether made of wood, stone or brick, they provided a barrier to enemy attackers. They typically included wall walks, which were used by the defenders to resist attempts to scale the walls or to shoot missiles at the besiegers.
What makes a good defensive castle?
Build thick walls and battlements
As attackers fought their way around towards the gatehouse, those defending Prudhoe would man the tops of these walls and fire arrows and missiles down at them. The castle also has high ‘curtain walls’ which protect the castle’s inner and outer ‘wards’ or ‘baileys’.
What is the strongest part of a castle?
The castle gatehouse was one of the most defensive parts of any medieval fortress. It was a strong, fortified building positioned to defend the entrance to a castle. Gatehouses usually contained multiple traps and obstacles to foil any intruder.
What is the most defensive castle?
1. Murud-Janjira – Murud, Maharashtra, India. The Murud-Janjira is a massive island fortress located off the coast of India. The fort is completely surrounded by 40′ high walls and 19 rounded bastions.
What weapons were used to defend castles?
Medieval Castle Defense and Assault: How Did It Work?
- Fire.
- Battering Rams.
- Ladders.
- Catapults.
- Mining.
- Siege.
What is the defensive wall of a castle called?
curtain wall
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two fortified towers or bastions of a castle, fortress, or town.
How were castles guarded?
Most castles had a ditch or water-filled moat around the walls to make it harder for attackers to get across. Sometimes attackers would dig tunnels under the moat and the walls so that part of the walls would collapse into the water. – a tall wooden tower on wheels which could be moved close to the walls.
What holds a castle together?
The masons on the wall fit the stones together and use the mortar to hold the blocks together. Workers use traditional tools to measure and lay out castle pieces.
How would castles be attacked?
Fire – Early castles were made of wood, so they were easy to attack by setting fire to them. Battering ram – A large log that was hit against the castle walls to weaken them. Catapult – Catapults, or trebuchets, threw large stones and burning objects at the castle.
What was the safest part of the castle defensive feature?
The tower keep or donjon was a multi-storied tower building with especially thick walls and a well-defended entrance, which made it the safest place in the castle when under attack. They began to appear in most castles from the early 12th century CE.
Why is the keep the safest place in a castle?
The hall keep was a low building while the tower keep or donjon could have three or more floors and be topped by turrets and battlements. With its extra thick walls and protected entrance, the keep was generally the safest place in a castle during the siege warfare of the 11th and 12th century CE.
What are weaknesses of a castle?
The weaknesses of motte and bailey castles included being made from wood, as the castles could not be large sizes and the wood would rot from being rained on. Wood becomes weaker as it ages, can burn easily and the motte could collapse with the castle’s weight if it was not large enough to hold bigger troop sizes.
How did Knights protect the castle?
They wore armour and rode on horseback. Knights were important people in medieval England. They had to be rich to afford the expensive armour and strong horses needed for battle.
What are three defensive features of a castle?
How to defend a castle
- Building up high. Building a castle up high made it difficult for enemies to get to the castle.
- Tall towers. Strong towers were added to curtain walls to watch out for enemies.
- Battlements. Battlements were walls on the roof of a castle.
- Arrow slits.
- Moat.
- Drawbridge.
- Portcullis.
- Dungeons.
Why were castle walls so thick?
Defensive walls were often built thicker at the bottom. This made it more difficult for attackers in three ways.
What castle has never been taken?
Castle of Zafra, Campillo de Duenas
This partly restored castle in Spain was built in the late 12th century or early 13th century. It holds the distinction of never being conquered.
What are the 4 types of castles?
The three main types of castles are the motte and bailey castle, the stone keep castle, and the concentric castle.
What makes a castle a castle?
And now the Oxford English Dictionary defines a castle as ‘a large building, typically of the medieval period, fortified against attack with thick walls, battlements, towers, and often a moat‘. So here’s our first answer: a castle can be defined as being architecturally prepared for battle.