Medieval castle inside. Knight's castles
Medieval castles were actually not just large fortresses with massive stone walls. These were ingeniously designed fortifications that used many ingenious and creative ways to protect the inhabitants of the castle from attack by enemies. Literally everything - from the outer walls to the shape and location of the stairs - was very carefully planned to provide maximum protection to the inhabitants of the castle. In this review about the little-known secrets hidden in the construction of medieval castles.
Almost every castle was surrounded by a moat filled with water. It is generally accepted that this was an obstacle to the storming troops, however, in fact, this was not the main function of the moat.
Vischering Castle in Germany. The castle consists of an outer defensive courtyard, protective locks, a drawbridge thrown over a moat, the main building and a chapel.
One of the biggest problems for residents medieval castle or fortress was that the invading army could dig tunnels under the fortifications. Not only could the enemy get inside the castle underground, but the tunnels could also lead to the collapse of the castle walls. The ditch prevented this, since the tunnel dug under the ditch inevitably flooded with water and collapsed.
Nesvizh Castle. Belarus.
This was a very effective deterrent against tunneling. Often the moat was laid not around the outer wall of the castle, but between the outer and inner walls.
Concentric circles of defense
It was an extremely effective method of defense for the inhabitants of a medieval castle, and looked like a series of obstacles surrounding the castle.
Hochosterwitz Castle. Austria.
As a rule, such obstacles were (in proportion to the distance from the castle) a scorched and dug field, an outer wall, a moat, an inner wall, a donjon tower. The attacking army had to overcome each of these obstacles in turn. And it took a lot of time and effort.
main gate
The main gate of the castle was often the most dangerous place the entire structure, since, if necessary, they could turn into a deadly trap.
Eltz Castle in Germany.
They often led to a small courtyard, at the other end of which there was also another gate, equipped with an iron descending grate. If the attackers broke through the first gate and found themselves in the yard, then the grate fell, after which the aggressors found themselves in a trap.
Svirzh castle in the village of Svirzh, Lviv region. Main gate.
At the same time, there were small holes in the walls of the courtyard through which the defenders could shoot from bows and crossbows at the enemy soldiers who were trapped.
Hidden secrets of stairs
Staircases in medieval castles were actually very elaborate. First, they were almost always helical, very narrow and built clockwise.
Spiral staircase in Mir Castle. Belarus.
This meant that it was very difficult for attacking opponents who climbed up the stairs (and one at a time, because the stairs were narrow), because they had a sword in their right hand. And since there was always a wall on the right hand, they had no opportunity to swing. The defenders, on the other hand, had the wall of the spiral staircase on their left hand, so they had more opportunities to swing.
Staircase with reverse twist and uneven steps in the Wallenstein castle in Germany.
Another original feature of the stairs was that they had uneven steps: some were very high and others were low. The defenders of the castle, being familiar with the local stairs, could quickly climb up and down them, and the attackers often stumbled and fell, exposing themselves to a blow.
secret passages
Many castles had secret passages that served various purposes. Some of them were made so that the inhabitants of the castle could flee in case of defeat, and also so that during the siege the defenders would not be cut off from food supplies.
Koretsky castle in Ukraine.
Secret passages also led to secret chambers where people could hide, food was stored and (which was quite common) an additional well was dug for water.
Predjama Castle in Slovenia.
That's why medieval castle was much more than just a large glamorous palace with massive stone walls around it. It was a structure designed down to the smallest detail to protect the inhabitants. And each castle was full of its own little secrets.
For some reason, at the mention of the word "fairy tale", medieval castles and fortresses first of all come to mind. Maybe because they were built in those ancient times, when wizards freely roamed the fields and meadows, and fire-breathing dragons flew over the mountain peaks.
Be that as it may, even now, looking at the castles and fortresses that have been preserved in some places, one involuntarily imagines princesses sleeping in them and evil fairies conjuring over magic potions. Let's look at the once luxurious housing of the powers that be.
(German: Schloß Neuschwanstein, literally “New Swan Stone”) is located in Germany, near the town of Füssen (German: Fussen). The castle was founded in 1869 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The construction was completed in 1891, 5 years after the unexpected death of the king. The castle is magnificent and attracts curious tourists from all over the world with its beauty of architectural forms.
This is the "dream palace" of the young king, who was never able to see her incarnation in her full glory. Ludwig II of Bavaria, founder of the castle, ascended the throne too young. And being a dreamy nature, imagining himself as the fairy-tale character Lohengrin, he decided to build his own castle in order to hide in it from the harsh reality of the defeat of Bavaria in alliance with Austria in 1866 in the war with Prussia.
Away from state concerns, the young king demanded too much from the army of architects, artists and artisans. Sometimes he set completely unrealistic deadlines, the observance of which required round-the-clock work of masons and carpenters. During the construction, Ludwig II went deeper and deeper into his fictional world, for which he was later recognized as crazy. The architectural design of the castle was constantly changing. So the rooms for guests were excluded and a small grotto was added. The small audience hall was transformed into the majestic Throne Room.
A century and a half ago, Ludwig II of Bavaria tried to hide from people behind the walls of a medieval castle - today they come by the millions to admire his fabulous refuge.
(German: Burg Hohenzollern) - an old castle-fortress in Baden-Württemberg, 50 km south of Stuttgart. The castle was built at an altitude of 855 m above sea level on the top of Mount Hohenzollern. Only the third castle has survived to this day. The medieval castle fortress was first built in the 11th century and completely destroyed after the capture, at the end of a grueling siege by the troops of the cities of Swabia in 1423.
A new fortress was built on its ruins in 1454-1461, which served as a refuge for the House of Hohenzollern throughout the Thirty Years' War. Due to the complete loss of the fortress of strategic importance, by the end of the 18th century, the castle was noticeably dilapidated, and some parts of the building were finally dismantled.
The modern version of the castle was erected in 1850-1867 on the personal instructions of King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who decided to completely restore the family castle of the Prussian royal house. The construction of the castle was led by the famous Berlin architect Friedrich August Stüler. He managed to combine new, large-scale castle buildings in the neo-Gothic style and the few surviving buildings of the former ruined castles.
(Karlštejn), built by decree of the Czech king and emperor Charles IV (named after him) on a high limestone cliff above the Berounka River, as a summer residence and a place of storage of sacred relics of the royal family. The first stone in the foundation of Karlštejn Castle was laid by Archbishop Arnošt, close to the Emperor, in 1348, and in 1357 the construction of the castle was completed. Two years before the end of construction, Charles IV settled in the castle.
The stepped architecture of Karlštejn Castle, which ends with a tower with the Grand Cross Chapel, is quite common in the Czech Republic. The ensemble includes the castle itself, the Church of the Virgin Mary, the Catherine Chapel, the Big Tower, the Mariana and Well Towers.
The majestic Student Tower and the imperial palace, which housed the king's quarters, take tourists back to the Middle Ages, when a powerful monarch ruled the Czech Republic.
Royal palace and fortress in the Spanish city of Segovia, in the province of Castile and Leon. The fortress is built on a high rock, above the confluence of the Eresma and Clamores rivers. Such a good location made it almost impregnable. Now it is one of the most recognizable and beautiful palaces in Spain. Originally built as a fortress, the Alcazar was once a royal palace, a prison, and an artillery academy.
The Alcazar, which was a small wooden fortress in the 12th century, was later rebuilt into a stone castle and became the most impregnable defensive structure. This palace became famous for great historically significant events: the coronation of Isabella the Catholic, her first marriage to King Ferdinand of Aragon, the wedding of Anna of Austria with Philip II.
(Castelul Peleş) was built by King Carol I of Romania near the city of Sinai in the Romanian Carpathians. The king was so fascinated by the local beauty that he bought up the surrounding land and built a castle for hunting and summer holidays. The name of the castle was given by a small mountain river flowing nearby.
In 1873, the construction of a grandiose building began, under the leadership of the architect Johann Schulz. Along with the castle, other buildings necessary for a comfortable life were built: royal stables, guard houses, a hunting house and a power station.
Thanks to the power plant, Peles became the first electrified castle in the world. The castle officially opened in 1883. At the same time, central heating and an elevator were installed in it. The construction was completed in 1914.
It is a symbol of the small city-state of San Marino on the territory of modern Italy. The beginning of the construction of the fortress is considered to be the 10th century AD. Guaita is the first of three San Marino fortresses built on the peaks of Mount Titano.
The construction consists of two rings of fortifications, the inner one has retained all the signs of the forts of the feudal era. The main entrance gate was located at a height of several meters, and it was possible to pass through it only by a drawbridge, now destroyed. The fortress was restored many times in the 15th-17th centuries.
Well, so we looked at some medieval castles and fortresses in Europe, of course, not all of them. Next time we will admire the fortresses on the tops of impregnable rocks. There are so many exciting discoveries ahead!
At the mention of castles of the Middle Ages, picturesque walls entwined with ivy come to mind, beautiful ladies in high towers and noble knights in shining armor. But it was not these lofty images that motivated the feudal lords to build impregnable walls with loopholes, but harsh reality.
Who owned castles in the Middle Ages?
During the Middle Ages, Europe experienced many changes. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the processes of migration of peoples began, new kingdoms and states appeared. All this was accompanied by constant conflicts and strife.
feudal nobleman, who had a knighthood, to protect himself from enemies, and even the closest neighbors could become them, was forced to strengthen his home as much as possible and build a castle.
Wikipedia offers to distinguish between a castle and a fortress. Fortress - walled area land with houses and other buildings. The castle is smaller. This is a single structure, which includes walls, towers, bridges and other structures.
The castle was the private fortress of a noble lord and his family. In addition to the direct function of protection, it was an indicator of power and wealth. But not all knights could afford it. The owner could also be a whole knightly order - a community of warriors.
How and from what materials were medieval castles built?
Construction of a real castle was a laborious and costly process. All work was carried out by hand and sometimes lasted for decades.
Before construction began, a suitable site had to be selected. The most impregnable castles were erected on the cliffs of steep cliffs. However, more often they chose a hill with an open view and a river nearby. The water artery was necessary to fill the ditches, and was also used as a way to transport goods.
A deep ditch was dug on the ground and a mound was formed. Then, with the help of scaffolding, walls were erected.
The challenge was building a well.. I had to dig deep down or gouge the rock.
The choice of material for construction depended on many factors. Of decisive importance were:
- terrain;
- human resources;
- budget.
If there was a quarry nearby, the structure was built of stone, otherwise wood, sand, limestone or brick were used. For the outside, we used facing materials, for example, processed stone. The elements of the walls were connected with lime mortar.
Although glass was known in those days, it was not used in castles. Narrow windows were covered with mica, leather or parchment. Inside the living quarters of the owners of the castle, the walls were often covered with frescoes and hung with tapestries. In the rest of the rooms, they limited themselves to a layer of lime or left untouched masonry.
What elements did castles consist of?
Precise lock configuration depended on local traditions, landscape, wealth of the owner. Over time, new engineering solutions appeared. Previously built structures were often completed and rebuilt. Among all Medieval fortifications, several traditional elements can be distinguished.
Moat, bridge and gate
The castle was surrounded by a moat. If there was a river nearby, it was flooded. Wolf pits were arranged at the bottom - recesses with stakes or sharp rods.
It was possible to get inside through the moat only with the help of a bridge. Huge logs served as supports. Part of the bridge rose and closed the passage inside. The mechanism of the drawbridge was designed in such a way that 2 guards could handle it. In some castles, the bridge had a swing mechanism.
The gate was double-leaf and closed transverse beam that slides into the wall. Although they were knocked together from several layers of durable boards and upholstered with iron, the gate remained the most vulnerable part of the structure. They were protected by a gate tower with a guard room. The entrance to the castle turned into a long narrow passage with holes in the ceiling and walls. If the enemy was inside, a stream of boiling water or resin poured on him.
In addition to wooden gates, there was often a lattice, which was closed with a winch and ropes. In an emergency, the ropes were cut off, the barrier fell sharply.
An additional element of the protection of the gate was the barbican - the walls coming from the gate. Opponents had to squeeze in into the passage between them under a hail of arrows.
Walls and towers
The height of the walls of the medieval fortification reached 25 meters. They had a powerful base and withstood the blows of battering rams. The deep foundation was designed to protect against undermining. The thickness of the walls to the top decreased, they became sloping. At the top, behind the battlements, was a platform. Being on it, the defenders fired at the enemies through slot-like holes, threw down stones or poured resin.
Double walls were often built . Overcoming the first hurdle, opponents fell into a narrow space in front of the second wall, where they became easy prey for archers.
At the corners of the perimeter there were watchtowers that protruded forward in relation to the wall. Inside, they were divided into floors, each of which was a separate room. In large castles, the towers had a vertical partition for strengthening.
All the stairs in the towers were spiral and very steep. If the enemy penetrated the inner territory, the defender had an advantage and could throw the aggressor down. Initially, the towers had a rectangular shape. But this interfered with the review during the defense. Replaced by round buildings.
Behind the main gate was a narrow courtyard, which was well shot through.
The rest of the interior space the castle was occupied by buildings. Among them:
In large knightly castles, there was a garden inside, and sometimes a whole garden.
The central and most fortified structure of any castle is the donjon tower. In the lower part there was a storehouse with food supplies and an arsenal with weapons and equipment. Above was the guard room, the kitchen. The upper part was occupied by the dwelling of the owner and his family. A throwing weapon or catapult was installed on the roof. The outer walls of the donjon had small ledges. There were restrooms. Holes opened outward, waste fell down. From the donjon, underground passages could lead to a shelter or neighboring buildings.
Mandatory elements of a castle in the Middle Ages was a church or chapel. It could be located in the central tower or be a separate building.
The castle could not do without a well. In the absence of a source of water, the inhabitants would not have held out for several days during the siege. The well was protected by a separate building.
Living conditions in the castle
The castle provided the need for security. However, other benefits of its inhabitants often had to be neglected.
Little light penetrated inside the premises, since the windows were replaced by narrow loopholes, which were covered with dense materials. Living rooms were heated with fireplaces, but this did not save them from dank dampness and cold. In the harsh winter, the walls froze through through. Using the latrines during the cold season was especially uncomfortable.
Residents often had to neglect hygiene. Most of the water from the well went to maintain life functions and care for animals.
Over time, the structure of castles became more complex, new elements appeared. However, the development of gunpowder guns deprived the castles of the main advantage - impregnability. They were replaced by fortresses with more complex engineering solutions.
Gradually, the castles of the Middle Ages, many of which have survived to this day, turned into architectural monuments and remind of the era of chivalry.
Functions
The main functions of the feudal castle with suburbs were:
- military (center of military operations, means of military control over the district),
- administrative-political ( administrative center district, the place where the political life of the country was concentrated),
- cultural and economic (handicraft and trade center of the district, a place of the highest elite and folk culture).
Defining characteristics
There is a widespread notion that castles only existed in Europe, where they originated, and in the Middle East, where they were moved by the Crusaders. Contrary to this view, similar structures appear in 16th and 17th century Japan, where they develop without direct contact and influence from Europe and have a completely different history of development, are built differently from European castles and are designed to withstand attacks of a completely different nature.
Elements
Hill
A mound of earth, often mixed with gravel, peat, limestone, or brushwood. The height of the embankment in most cases did not exceed 5 meters, although sometimes it reached 10 meters or more. The surface was often covered with clay or wooden decking. The hill was round or nearly square at the base, and the diameter of the hill was at least twice its height.
At the top, a wooden, and later a stone, defensive tower was erected, surrounded by a palisade. Around the hill there was a moat filled with water or dry, from the earth of which a mound was formed. Access to the tower was through a swinging wooden bridge and a staircase built on the hillside.
Courtyard
A large courtyard with an area (with rare exceptions) of no more than 2 hectares, surrounding or adjacent to the hill, as well as various residential and outbuildings - the dwellings of the owner of the castle and his soldiers, stables, a forge, warehouses, a kitchen, etc. - inside it. From the outside, the court was protected by a wooden palisade, then by a moat, which was filled from the nearest body of water, and by an earthen rampart. The space inside the courtyard itself could be divided into several parts, or several adjoining courtyards were built near the hill.
donjon
The castles themselves appeared in the Middle Ages and were the dwellings of the noble feudal lords. Due to feudal fragmentation and, as a result, frequent internecine wars, the dwelling of the feudal lord had to perform a defensive task. Castles were usually built on high ground, islands, rock ledges, and other hard-to-reach places.
With the end of the Middle Ages, castles began to lose their original - defensive - task, which has now given way to a residential one. With the development of artillery, the defensive task of castles disappeared completely; features of castle architecture were preserved only as decorative elements (French castle Pierrefonds, late XIV century).
A regular layout with a pronounced symmetry prevailed, the main building acquired a palace character (Madrid Castle in Paris, XV-XVI centuries) or Nesvizh Castle in Belarus (XVI century). In the XVI century, castle architecture in Western Europe was finally replaced by palace architecture. The defensive task was preserved for the longest time by the castles of Georgia, which were actively built until the 18th century.
There were castles that belonged not to one feudal lord, but to a knightly order. Such castles were larger, as an example, the Königsberg Castle.
Castles in Rus'
The main part of the medieval castle was the central tower - donjon, which served as a citadel. In addition to its defensive functions, the donjon was the direct dwelling of the feudal lord. Also in the main tower there were often living rooms of other inhabitants of the castle, a well, utility rooms (food warehouses, etc.). Often in the donjon there was a large front hall for receptions. Donjon elements can be found in the castle architecture of Western and Central Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, etc.
Wasserschloss in Schwerin
Usually the castle had a small courtyard, which was surrounded by massive battlements with towers and well-fortified gates. This was followed by the outer courtyard, which included outbuildings, as well as the castle garden and vegetable garden. The whole castle was surrounded by a second row of walls and a moat, across which a drawbridge was thrown. If the terrain allowed, then the moat was filled with water and the castle turned into a castle on the water.
The centers of defense of the walls of the castle were the towers protruding beyond the plane of the walls, which made it possible to organize flanking shelling of those going to attack. In Russian fortification, sections of the walls between the towers were called paraslas. In this regard, the castles were in terms of a polygon, the walls of which followed the terrain. Numerous examples of such structures have survived to this day in Great Britain, Germany, France, Ukraine and Belarus (for example, Mir Castle in Belarus or Lutsk Castle in Ukraine).
Over time, the structure of castles became more complex; the territory of the castles already included barracks, a court, a church, a prison and other structures (Cousy Castle in France, XIII century; Wartburg Castle in Germany, XI century; Harleck Castle in Great Britain, XIII century).
Rosenberg Castle in Kronach. moat and ventilation towers of the auditory gallery
With the beginning of the mass use of gunpowder, the decline of the era of castle building begins. So, the besiegers began to carry out, if the soil allowed it, sapper work - quietly dig saps, which made it possible to bring large explosive charges under the walls (storming the Kazan Kremlin in the 16th century). As a measure of struggle, the besieged dug an underground gallery at a considerable distance from the walls in advance, from which they listened in order to detect tunnels and destroy them in a timely manner.
However, the development of artillery and the increase in its destructive effect eventually forced the abandonment of the use of castles as the basis of defensive strategy and tactics. The time has come for fortresses - complex engineering structures with a developed system of bastions, ravelins, etc.; the art of building fortresses - fortification - developed. The recognized fortification authority of this era was the chief engineer of Louis XIV, Marshal of France Sebastien de Vauban (1633-1707).
Such fortresses, sometimes developed over time from castles, were also used during World War II to pin down enemy forces and delay his advance (see: Brest Fortress).
Construction
The construction of the castle began with the choice of location and building materials. A wooden castle was cheaper and easier to build than a stone castle. The cost of building most castles has not survived to this day; most surviving documents on the topic are from royal palaces. A castle made of wood with a motte and a bailey could have been built by unskilled labor - peasants dependent on the feudal lord who already had the skills necessary to build a wooden castle (they knew how to cut wood, dig and work with wood). Forced to work for the feudal lord, the workers most likely were not paid anything, so building a castle out of wood was cheap. According to experts, it took 50 workers and 40 days to build a medium-sized hill - 5 meters high and 15 meters wide. The famous architect en: James of Saint George, responsible for the construction of the Beaumaris castle, described the costs associated with the construction of the castle:
| If you think where so much money can be spent in a week, we report that we needed and will need in the future 400 masons, as well as 2000 less experienced women, 100 carts, 60 wagons and 30 boats for the supply of stone; 200 workers at the quarry; 30 blacksmiths and carpenters to lay cross beams and floors, as well as to perform other necessary work. That's not including the garrison... and the purchase of materials. Which require a large number ... Payments to the workers are still delayed, and we are having great difficulty retaining the workers, because they simply have nowhere to live. |
A study was conducted examining the costs associated with the construction of the castle of Lange, built in 992 in France. The stone tower is 16 meters high, 17.5 meters wide and 10 meters long with walls averaging 1.5 meters. The walls contain 1200 square meters of stone and have a surface of 1600 square meters. It was estimated that the tower took 83,000 man-days to build, most of which required unskilled labor.
Stone castles were expensive not only to build but also to keep in good condition because they contained a large amount of timber, which was often unseasoned and in need of constant care.
Medieval machines and inventions proved indispensable during construction; antique timber frame construction methods have been improved. The search for stone for construction was one of the main problems; often the solution was a quarry near the castle.
Due to the scarcity of stone, alternative materials were used, such as brick, which was also used for aesthetic reasons, as it was in vogue. Therefore, even despite the sufficient amount of stone, some builders chose brick as the main material for building the castle.
The material for construction depended on the area: in Denmark there are few quarries, so most of its castles are made of wood or brick, in Spain most castles are made of stone, while in Eastern Europe castles were usually built using wood.
Castles today
Nowadays, castles perform a decorative function. Some of them are turned into restaurants, others become museums. Some are being restored and sold or rented.
The Middle Ages in Europe was a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, arranged small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, in modern terms, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, they had to be taken away.
Lots of land and peasants? It's just indecent, because God ordered to share. And if knightly honor is hurt, then here it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.
Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles known to us in any way - except that a moat was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was erected around the house.
The lordly courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of castles.
However, progress did not stand still - with the development of military affairs, the feudal lords had to modernize their fortifications so that they could withstand a massive assault using stone cannonballs and rams.
The besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).
Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.
Welcome
We are on our way to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope, on the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Common people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of protection (in particular, guarding our road). This is the so-called "castle people".
Scheme of castle structures. Note - two gate towers, the largest stands separately.
The first barrier is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a rampart of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau), or sickle-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, the moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.
The shape of the bottom of the ditches could be V-shaped and U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth, which only hindered the advancement of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore, the depth of the moat was not decisive).
The crest of an earthen rampart lying directly in front of the moat (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.
A bridge over the moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the moat and bridge, the latter supports one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but its last segment (right next to the wall) is movable.
Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - lattice.
Counterweights on the gate lift.
This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it closes the gate. The bridge is powered by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains go into the wall holes. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights that took part of the weight of this structure onto themselves.
Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “overturning” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the moat. When the inner part rose, closing the entrance to the castle, the outer part (to which the attackers sometimes managed to run) fell down into the moat, where the so-called “wolf pit” was arranged (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the side, until the bridge is down.
To enter the castle with the gates closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lifting ladder was usually laid.
Gates - the most vulnerable part of the castle, were usually made not directly in its wall, but were arranged in the so-called "gate towers". Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the wings were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were upholstered with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the wings there was a small narrow door, which could be entered only by bending over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate was closed by a transverse beam lying in the wall channel and sliding into the opposite wall. The transverse beam could also be wound into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the gate from their landing attackers.
Behind the gate was usually a drop-down portcullis. Most often it was wooden, with iron-bound lower ends. But there were also iron gratings made of steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the vault of the gate portal, or be behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along the grooves in the walls.
The grate hung on ropes or chains, which, in case of danger, could be cut off so that it quickly fell down, blocking the way for the invaders.
Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, asked the guests for the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, could hit all those who passed under them with a bow. For this purpose, there were vertical loopholes in the vault of the gate portal, as well as “tar noses” - holes for pouring hot resin on the attackers.
All on the wall!
Zwinger at Laneck Castle.
On top of the wall was a gallery for defense soldiers. From the outside of the castle, they were protected by a solid parapet, half the height of a man, on which stone battlements were regularly arranged. Behind them it was possible to stand at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely diverse - rectangular, rounded, in the form of a dovetail, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the warriors from bad weather.
A special type of loophole - ball. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed in the wall with a slot for firing.
Pedestrian gallery on the wall.
Balconies (the so-called “mashikuli”) were arranged in the walls very rarely - for example, in the case when the wall was too narrow for the free passage of several soldiers, and, as a rule, performed only decorative functions.
At the corners of the castle, small towers were built on the walls, most often flanking (that is, protruding outward), which allowed the defenders to fire along the walls in two directions. In the late Middle Ages, they began to adapt to storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the courtyard of the castle) were usually left open so that the enemy who broke into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.
Flanking corner tower.
The castle from the inside
The internal structure of the castles was diverse. In addition to the mentioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of “trap” for the attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several "sections" separated by internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, premises for servants) and a central tower, also known as a donjon.
Donjon at the Château de Vincennes.
The location of the water source depended primarily on natural causes. But if there was a choice, then the well was dug not in the square, but in a fortified room in order to provide it with water in case of shelter during the siege. If, due to the peculiarities of the occurrence of groundwater, a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a stone tower was built above it (if possible, with wooden passages to the castle).
When there was no way to dig a well, a cistern was built in the castle to collect rainwater from the roofs. Such water needed to be purified - it was filtered through gravel.
The combat garrison of castles in peacetime was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the Reichelsberg castle in the Lower Franconian Aub entered into an agreement that each of them exposes one armed servant, and two gatekeepers and two guards are paid jointly.
Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.
Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served as either a prison or a warehouse. The entrance to it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (in German - a frightening hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions there.
If there were no prison facilities in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to their full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.
Of course, they were taken prisoner, first of all, for a ransom or for using a prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIP-persons were provided according to the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is how Friedrich the Handsome spent his time in the Trausnitz castle on Pfaimd and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.
Chamber in Marksburg Castle.
Abenberg castle tower (12th century) in section.
At the base of the tower there was a cellar, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. The main hall (dining room, common room) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it spread heat only a few meters, so that iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.
Sometimes the donjon did not serve as living quarters. It could well be used only for military and economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, provisions storage). In such cases, the feudal lord's family lived in the "palace" - the living quarters of the castle, standing apart from the tower. The palaces were built of stone and had several floors in height.
It should be noted that the living conditions in the castles were far from the most pleasant. Only the largest carpets had a large knight's hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the donjons and carpets. Fireplace heating helped out, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to keep warm.
The windows let in very little sunlight (the fortification character of the castle architecture affected), not all of them were glazed. Toilets were arranged in the form of a bay window in the wall. They were unheated, so visiting the outhouse in winter left people with simply unique sensations.
Large temples had two floors. The common people prayed below, and the gentlemen gathered in the warm (sometimes glazed) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such premises was rather modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple played the role of a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less commonly, it was used as a shelter (along with a donjon).
War on earth and underground
To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all the ways of supplying food. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for the war of mediocre feudal lords).
The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - for about a month (in this case, one should take into account his low combat capability during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of the castle, preparing for the siege, often went to extreme measures - they drove out of it all commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed the whole army under the siege.
The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes dragged on for years (for example, the German Turant defended itself from 1245 to 1248), so the question of supplying the rear of an army of several hundred people was particularly acute.
In the case of the siege of Turant, the chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fouders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This is about 2.8 million liters. Either the scribe made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was over 1,000.
View of the castle Eltz from the counter-castle Trutz-Eltz.
The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification was a serious obstacle for conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well have been successful, which, however, came at the cost of heavy casualties.
That is why a whole range of military measures was necessary for the successful capture of the castle (it was already mentioned above about the siege and starvation). Undermining was one of the most time-consuming, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the protection of the castle.
Undermining was done with two goals - to provide troops with direct access to the courtyard of the castle, or to destroy a section of its wall.
So, during the siege of the castle of Altwindstein in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) People took advantage of the distracting maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and for 10 weeks made a long passage in the hard rock to the southeastern part fortresses.
If the wall of the castle was not too large and had an unreliable one, then a tunnel broke through under its base, the walls of which were reinforced with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel collapsed, the base of the foundation sagged, and the wall above this place crumbled into pieces.
Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If the ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a mine was being dug nearby.
But the main argument in the attack on the castle were siege machines - catapults and battering rams.
Storming of the castle (miniature of the 14th century).
A type of catapult is a trebuchet.
Sometimes barrels filled with combustible materials were loaded into catapults. To deliver a couple of pleasant minutes to the defenders of the castle, catapults threw the severed heads of captives to them (especially powerful machines could throw even whole corpses over the wall).
Assault the castle with a mobile tower.
In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were mounted on high mobile frames with a canopy and were a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, forcing the log to hit the wall.
In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were fixed. With this rope, they caught a ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes a gaping soldier could get caught on such hooks.
Having overcome the shaft, breaking the palisades and filling up the moat, the attackers either stormed the castle with the help of ladders, or used high wooden towers, the upper platform of which was on the same level with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent arson by the defenders and rolled up to the castle along the flooring of the boards. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and with a fight invaded the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.
Silent glanders
Sapa (from the French sape, literally - a hoe, saper - to dig) - a method of extracting a moat, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16-19 centuries. Flip-flop (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. The work of the crossover glanders was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without the workers coming to the surface, and the flying glanders were carried out from the surface of the earth under the cover of a pre-prepared protective mound of barrels and bags of earth. In the second half of the 17th century, specialists - sappers - appeared in the armies of a number of countries to perform such work.
The expression to act "on the sly" means: sneak, slowly, imperceptibly go, penetrate somewhere.
Fights on the stairs of the castle
It was possible to get from one floor of the tower to another only through a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. At the same time, the warrior who went first could only rely on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or a long sword from behind the leader. Therefore, the fights on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. It was the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since a special extended area was located behind their backs.
samurai castles
We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.
Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable attribute of a Japanese castle is wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it from all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, a lake, a swamp.
Inside, the castle was a complex system of defensive structures, consisting of several rows of walls with courtyards and gates, underground corridors and labyrinths. All these structures were located around the central square of the honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several rectangular tiers gradually decreasing upwards with protruding tiled roofs and gables.
Japanese castles, as a rule, were small - about 200 meters long and 500 wide. But among them there were also real giants. Thus, Odawara Castle occupied an area of 170 hectares, and the total length of its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.
The charm of antiquity
Saumur French castle (14th century miniature).
If you find a typo, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter .