How castles were built in the Middle Ages. How to build a medieval castle (9 photos)

Europe

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 rock 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 imperial palace, in which the king's chambers were located, take tourists to the Middle Ages, when a powerful monarch ruled the Czech Republic.

Royal Palace and Fortress Spanish city Segovia, in the province of Castile and León. 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. Built originally as a fortress, the Alcazar was at one time and royal palace, and a prison, and the royal 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 holiday. 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!

Hello dear reader!

Still, medieval architects in Europe were geniuses - they built castles, luxurious buildings that were also extremely practical. Castles, unlike modern mansions, not only demonstrated the wealth of their owners, but also served as powerful fortresses that could hold the defense for several years, and at the same time life did not stop in them.

medieval castles

Even the fact that many castles, having survived wars, natural disasters and the carelessness of the owners, are still intact, suggests that they have not yet come up with a more reliable home. And they are insanely beautiful and seem to have appeared in our world from the pages of fairy tales and legends. Their high spiers are reminiscent of the times when beauties fought for the hearts, and the air was saturated with chivalry and courage.

In order for you to be imbued with a romantic mood, I have collected in this material 20 of the most famous castles that still remain on Earth. They will certainly want to visit and, possibly, stay to live.

Reichsburg Castle, Germany

The thousand-year-old castle was originally the residence of the King of Germany, Conrad III, and then of the King of France, Louis XIV. The fortress was burned down by the French in 1689 and would have sunk into oblivion, but a German businessman purchased the remains in 1868 and spent most of his wealth rebuilding the castle.

Mont Saint Michel, France

The impregnable castle of Mont Saint-Michel, surrounded on all sides by the sea, is one of the most popular attractions in France after Paris. Built in 709, it still looks stunning.

Hochosterwitz Castle, Austria

The medieval castle Hochosterwitz was built in the distant 9th century. Its towers are still vigilantly watching the surrounding area, proudly towering above it at a height of 160 m. And in sunny weather, they can be admired even at a distance of 30 km

Bled Castle, Slovenia

The castle is located on a hundred-meter cliff, menacingly hanging over Lake Bled. In addition to the magnificent view from the windows of the castle, this place has a rich history - the residence of the Serbian queen of the dynasty, and later Marshal Josip Broz Tito, was located here.

Hohenzollern Castle, Germany

This castle is located on the top of the Hohenzollern mountain, 2800 meters above sea level. During its heyday, the castle in this fortress was considered the residence of the Prussian emperors.

Barciense Castle, Spain

Barciense Castle in the Spanish province of Toledo was built in the 15th century by a local count. For 100 years, the castle served as a powerful artillery fortress, and today these empty walls attract only photographers and tourists.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

The romantic castle of the Bavarian king Ludwig II was built in the middle of the 19th century, and at that time its architecture was considered very extravagant. Be that as it may, it was its walls that inspired the creators of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.

Methoni Castle, Greece

Since the 14th century, the Venetian castle-fortress of Methoni has been the center of battles and the last outpost of Europeans in these parts in battles against the Turks, who dreamed of capturing the Peloponnese. Today, only ruins remain of the fortress.

Hohenschwangau Castle, Germany

This castle-fortress was built by the knights of Schwangau in the 12th century and was the residence of many rulers, including the famous King Ludwig II, who hosted the composer Richard Wagner within these walls

Chillon Castle, Switzerland

This medieval bastille resembles a warship from a bird's eye view. Rich story and the characteristic appearance of the castle served as inspiration for many famous writers. In the 16th century, the castle was used as a state prison, as George Byron described in his poem The Prisoner of Chillon.

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

The castle, located on a rocky island in the Loch Duich fjord, is one of the most romantic castles in Scotland, famous for its heather honey and legends. Many films were filmed here, but the most important thing is that the castle is open to visitors and everyone can touch the stones of its history.

Bodiam Castle, England

Since its founding in the 14th century, Bodiam Castle has gone through many owners, each of whom liked to fight. Therefore, when Lord Curzon acquired it in 1917, only ruins remained of the castle. Fortunately, its walls were quickly restored, and now the castle stands as good as new.

Guaita Castle, San Marino

The castle from the 11th century is located on the top impregnable mountain Monte Titano and, together with two other towers, protects the oldest state in the world, San Marino.

Swallow's Nest, Crimea

Initially, on the rock of Cape Ai-Todor there was a small wooden house. And the Swallow's Nest got its current look thanks to the oil industrialist Baron Steingel, who loved to relax in the Crimea. He decided to build a romantic castle that resembles medieval buildings on the banks of the Rhine River.

Castle Stalker, Scotland

Castle Stalker, which means "Falconer", was built in 1320 and belonged to the MacDougal clan. Since that time, its walls have experienced a huge number of strife and wars, which affected the condition of the castle. In 1965, Colonel D. R. Stewart of Allward became the owner of the castle, who personally restored the structure with his wife, family members and friends.

Bran Castle, Romania

Bran Castle is the pearl of Transylvania, a mysterious museum-fort, where the famous legend of Count Dracula, a vampire, murderer and governor Vlad the Impaler, was born. According to legend, he spent the night here during the periods of his campaigns, and the forest surrounding Bran Castle was Tepes's favorite hunting ground.

Vyborg Castle, Russia

Vyborg Castle was founded by the Swedes in 1293, during one of crusades to Karelian land. It remained Scandinavian until 1710, when the troops of Peter I pushed the Swedes back far and for a long time. Since that time, the castle managed to visit both a warehouse, and a barracks, and even a prison for the Decembrists. And today there is a museum here.

Cashel Castle, Ireland

Cashel Castle was the seat of the kings of Ireland for several hundred years before the Norman invasion. Here in the 5th century A.D. e. Saint Patrick lived and preached. The walls of the castle witnessed the bloody suppression of the revolution by the troops of Oliver Cromwell, who burned soldiers alive here. Since then, the castle has become a symbol of the cruelty of the British, the real courage and fortitude of the Irish.

Kilchurn Castle, Scotland

The very beautiful and even slightly creepy ruins of Kilchurn Castle are located on the shores of the picturesque Lake Eyve. The history of this castle, unlike most castles in Scotland, proceeded quite calmly - numerous earls lived here, who succeeded each other. In 1769, the building was struck by lightning and was soon abandoned, as it remains to this day.

Lichtenstein Castle, Germany

Built in the 12th century, this castle has been destroyed several times. It was finally restored in 1884 and since then the castle has become a filming location for many films, including the film The Three Musketeers.

Translation

The Norman Conquest of England led to a boom in castle building, but the process of building a fortress from scratch is far from easy.

Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, founded 1385

1) Carefully choose a place to build

It is extremely important to build your castle on a hill and in a strategically important point.

Castles were usually built on natural elevations, and were usually equipped with a link to the external environment, such as a ford, bridge or passage.

Historians have rarely been able to find evidence of contemporaries regarding the choice of a site for the construction of the castle, but they still exist. On September 30, 1223, 15-year-old King Henry III arrived in Montgomery with his army. The king, who had successfully led a military campaign against the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, was going to build a new castle in this area to ensure security on the border of his possessions. The English carpenters had been given the task of preparing the timber a month earlier, but the king's advisers had only just now determined the site for the construction of the castle.

Montgomery Castle, when it began to be built in 1223, was located on a hill

After a careful survey of the area, they chose a point on the very edge of the ledge above the valley of the River Severn. According to the chronicler Roger of Wendover, this position "looked unassailable to anyone". He also noted that the castle was created "for the security of the region from the frequent attacks of the Welsh."

Advice: identify places where the topography rises above traffic routes: these are natural places for castles. Keep in mind that the design of the castle is determined by the place of construction. For example, a castle on a ledge of exposed rocks will have a dry moat.

2) Develop a workable plan

You will need a master mason who can draw plans. An engineer knowledgeable in weapons will also come in handy.

Experienced soldiers may have their own ideas about the design of the castle, in terms of the shape of its buildings and their location. But it is unlikely that they will have the knowledge of the level of specialists in design and construction.

To implement the idea, a master bricklayer was required - an experienced builder, whose hallmark was the ability to draw a plan. With a grasp of practical geometry, he used simple tools such as straightedge, square, and compasses to create architectural plans. Master masons submitted a drawing with a building plan for approval, and during construction supervised its construction.

When Edward II ordered the construction of a tower at Knarsborough, he personally approved the plans and demanded construction reports.

When Edward II in 1307 began building a huge residential tower at Naresborough Castle in Yorkshire for his favorite Pierce Gaveston, he not only personally approved the plans created by the London master mason Hugh of Teachmarsh - probably made in the form of a drawing - but also demanded regular reports on the construction . From the middle of the 16th century, a new group of professionals called engineers increasingly began to take on a role in planning and building fortifications. They had technical knowledge of the use and power of cannons, both for defense and for attacking castles.

Advice: Plan slits to provide a wide angle of attack. Shape them according to the weapon you are using: longbow archers need large slopes, crossbowmen need smaller ones.

3) Hire a large group of experienced workers

You will need thousands of people. And not all of them will come of their own free will.

It took a lot of effort to build the castle. We do not have documentary evidence of the construction of the first castles in England since 1066, but from the scale of many castles of that period it becomes clear why some chronicles claim that the English were under the yoke of building castles for their Norman conquerors. But from the later time of the Middle Ages, some estimates with detailed information have come down to us.

During the invasion of Wales in 1277, King Edward I began building a castle in Flint, northeast Wales. It was erected quickly, thanks to the rich resources of the crown. A month after the start of work, in August, 2300 people were involved in the construction, including 1270 diggers, 320 lumberjacks, 330 carpenters, 200 masons, 12 blacksmiths and 10 charcoal burners. All of them were driven from the surrounding lands under an armed escort who watched so that they did not desert from the construction.

From time to time, foreign specialists could be involved in the construction. For example, millions of bricks for the rebuilding of Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire in the 1440s were supplied by a certain Baldwin "Docheman", or Dutchman, that is, "Dutchman" - obviously a foreigner.

Advice: Depending on the size of the workforce and the distance they had to travel, it may be necessary to provide accommodation for them at the construction site.

4) Ensure the safety of the construction site

An unfinished castle in enemy territory is very vulnerable to attacks.

To build a castle in enemy territory, you need to protect the construction site from attacks. For example, you can enclose the construction site with wooden fortifications or a low stone wall. Such medieval defense systems sometimes remained after the construction of the building as an additional wall - as, for example, in the castle of Beaumaris, the construction of which was started in 1295.

Beaumaris (Wall. Biwmares) is a city on the island of Anglesey, Wales.

Also important is secure communication with the outside world for the delivery of building materials and provisions. In 1277, Edward I dug a canal to the river Kluid directly from the sea and to the location of his new castle in Rydlane. The outer wall, built to protect the construction site, extended to the piers on the banks of the river.

Rudlan Castle

Security problems can also arise with a radical restructuring existing castle. When Henry II rebuilt Dover Castle in the 1180s, all work was carefully planned so that the fortifications provided protection for the duration of the renovation. According to surviving decrees, work on the inner wall of the castle began only when the tower was already sufficiently repaired so that guards could be on duty in it.

Advice: building materials for the construction of the castle are large and voluminous. If possible, it's best to transport them by water, even if that means building a dock or canal.

5) Prepare the landscape

When building a castle, you may have to move an impressive amount of land, which is not cheap.

It is often forgotten that the fortifications of the castle were built not only through architectural techniques, but also through landscape design. Enormous resources were allocated for the movement of land. The scale of land works of the Normans can be recognized as outstanding. For example, according to some estimates, the embankment erected in 1100 around Pleshy Castle in Essex required 24,000 man-days.

Some aspects of landscaping required serious skills, especially the creation of water ditches. When Edward I rebuilt Tower of London in the 1270s, he hired a foreign specialist, Walter of Flanders, to create a huge tidal moat. Digging the ditch under his direction cost £4,000, a staggering amount, almost a quarter of the cost of the entire project.

An 18th-century engraving of a 1597 plan for the Tower of London shows how much land had to be moved to build moats and ramparts.

With the rise of cannons in the art of siege, the earth began to play an even more important role as an absorber of cannon shots. Interestingly, experience in moving large amounts of land has led some of the fortification engineers to find work as garden designers.

Advice: Reduce time and cost by digging out masonry for castle walls from the moats around it.

6) Lay the Foundation

Carry out the mason's plan carefully.

Using ropes of the required length and pegs, it was possible to mark the foundation of the building on the ground in full size. After the foundation ditches were dug, work began on the masonry. To save money, the responsibility for construction was assigned to the senior mason instead of the master mason. Masonry in the Middle Ages was usually measured in rods, one English rod = 5.03 m. At Warkworth in Northumberland, one of the complex towers stands on a lattice of rods, possibly for the purpose of calculating construction costs.

Warkworth Castle

Often construction medieval castles accompanied by detailed documentation. In 1441-42 the tower of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire was demolished and a plan for its successor was drawn up on the ground. But the Prince of Stafford, for some reason, was not pleased. The king's master stonemason, Robert of Westerley, was sent to Tutbury, where he held a conference with two senior masons to design a new tower at the new site. Westerley then left, and over the next eight years a small group of workers, including four junior masons, built the new tower.

Senior masons could be called in to confirm the quality of work, as was the case at Cooling Castle in Kent, when the king's stonemason Henry Javel assessed work carried out from 1381 to 1384. He criticized the deviations from the original plan and rounded the estimate down.

Advice: Don't let the master mason fool you. Make him make a plan so that it is easy to make an estimate for it.

7) Fortify your castle

Finish building with elaborate fortifications and specialized timber structures.

Until the 12th century, the fortifications of most castles consisted of earth and logs. And although stone buildings were subsequently given preference, wood remained a very important material in medieval wars and fortifications.

Stone castles prepared for attacks by adding special battle galleries along the walls, as well as shutters that could be used to close the gaps between battlements to protect the defenders of the castle. All this was made of wood. Heavy weapons used to defend the castle, catapults and heavy crossbows, springalds, were also built of wood. Artillery was usually designed by a highly paid professional carpenter, sometimes with the title of engineer, from the Latin "ingeniator".

Storming of the castle, drawing of the 15th century

Such experts were not cheap, but could eventually be worth their weight in gold. This, for example, happened in 1266, when Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire resisted Henry III for almost six months with catapults and water defenses.

There are records of camp castles made entirely of wood - they could be transported with you and erected as needed. One such was built for the French invasion of England in 1386, but the Calais garrison captured it along with the ship. It was described as consisting of a wall of logs 20 feet high and 3,000 paces long. There was a 30-foot tower every 12 paces, capable of housing up to 10 soldiers, and the castle also had an unspecified defense for archers.

Advice: Oak wood becomes stronger over the years, and it is easiest to work with it when it is green. The top branches of trees are easy to transport and shape.

8) Provide water and sanitation

Don't forget the amenities. You will appreciate them in case of a siege.

The most important aspect for the castle was efficient access to water. These could be wells that supply water to certain buildings, such as a kitchen or a stable. Without a detailed acquaintance with the medieval well shafts, it is difficult to do justice to them. For example, in Beeston Castle in Cheshire there is a well 100 m deep, the upper 60 m of which are lined with hewn stone.

There is some evidence of elaborate plumbing that brought water to the apartments. The tower of Dover Castle has a system of lead pipes that delivers water throughout the rooms. She was fed from a well with a winch, and possibly from a rainwater harvesting system.

Efficient disposal of human waste was another challenge for lock designers. The latrines were assembled in one place in the buildings so that their shafts were emptied in one place. They were located in short corridors that trap unpleasant odors, and were often equipped with wooden seats and removable covers.

Thought Room at Chipchase Castle

Today it is widely believed that latrines used to be called "cloakrooms". In fact, the lexicon for toilets was extensive and colorful. They were called gongs or gangs (from the Anglo-Saxon word for "a place to go"), nooks and jakes (the French version of "john").

Advice: Ask a master mason to plan comfortable and private latrines outside the bedroom, following the example of Henry II and Dover Castle.

9) Decorate as needed

The castle not only had to be well guarded - its inhabitants, having a high status, demanded a certain glamor.

During the war, the castle must be defended - but it also serves as a luxurious home. The noble gentlemen of the Middle Ages expected their dwellings to be both comfortable and richly furnished. In the Middle Ages, these citizens traveled with servants, things and furniture from one residence to another. But home interiors often had fixed decorative features, like stained-glass windows.

The tastes of Henry III in the setting are recorded very carefully, with interesting and attractive details. In 1235-36, for example, he ordered that his hall at Winchester Castle be decorated with images of a map of the world and a wheel of fortune. Since then, these decorations have not survived, but the well-known round table of King Arthur, possibly created between 1250 and 1280, remains in the interior.

Winchester Castle with King Arthur's Round Table hanging on the wall

The large area of the castles played an important role in the luxurious life. Parks were created for hunting, a jealously guarded privilege of aristocrats; gardens were also in demand. The description of the construction of the castle of Kirby Maxlow in Leicestershire that has come down to us says that its owner, Lord Hastings, began laying out gardens at the very beginning of the construction of the castle in 1480.

In the Middle Ages, rooms with beautiful views were also loved. One of the thirteenth-century groups of rooms at the castles of Leeds in Kent, Corfe in Dorset and Chepstow in Monmouthshire has been named

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook and In contact with

Still, medieval architects were geniuses - they built castles, luxurious buildings that were also extremely practical. Castles, unlike modern mansions, not only demonstrated the wealth of their owners, but also served as powerful fortresses that could hold the defense for several years, and at the same time life did not stop in them.

So that you are imbued with a romantic mood, website collected in this material 20 of the most famous castles that are still left on Earth. They will certainly want to visit and, perhaps, stay to live.

Reichsburg Castle, Germany

Mont Saint Michel, France

The impregnable castle of Mont Saint-Michel, surrounded on all sides by the sea, is one of the most popular attractions in France after Paris. Built in 709, it still looks stunning.

Hochosterwitz Castle, Austria

The medieval castle Hochosterwitz was built in the distant 9th century. Its towers are still vigilantly watching the surrounding area, proudly rising above it at a height of 160 m. And in sunny weather, they can be admired even at a distance of 30 km.

Bled Castle, Slovenia

Hohenzollern Castle, Germany

Barciense Castle, Spain

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

The romantic castle of the Bavarian king Ludwig II was built in the middle of the 19th century and at that time its architecture was considered very extravagant. Be that as it may, it was its walls that inspired the creators of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland.

Methoni Castle, Greece

Hohenschwangau Castle, Germany

Chillon Castle, Switzerland

This medieval bastille resembles a warship from a bird's eye view. The rich history and characteristic appearance of the castle served as inspiration for many famous writers. In the 16th century, the castle was used as a state prison, as George Byron described in his poem "The Prisoner of Chillon".

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Bodiam Castle, England

Guaita Castle, San Marino

The castle has been located on the top of the impregnable Monte Titano mountain since the 11th century and, together with two other towers, protects the oldest state in the world, San Marino.

Swallow's Nest, Crimea

Castle Stalker, Scotland

People at all times had to protect themselves and their property from the encroachments of their neighbors, and therefore the art of fortification, that is, the construction of fortifications, is very ancient. In Europe and Asia, one can see everywhere fortresses built in antiquity and the Middle Ages, as well as in the New and even Newest time. It may seem that the castle is just one of all the other fortifications, but in reality it is very different from the fortifications and fortresses that were built in previous and subsequent times. The large Celtic Dunes of the Iron Age and the Roman Campuses built on the hills of Ireland and Scotland were fortifications, behind whose walls the population and armies with all their property and livestock hid in case of war. The Burghs of Saxon England and the Teutonic countries of continental Europe served the same purpose. Aethelfred, daughter of King Alfred the Great, built the burgh of Worcester as "the refuge of all the people". The modern English words "borough" and "burgh" come from this ancient Saxon word "burn" (Pittsburgh, Williamsburg, Edinburgh), just as the names Rochester, Manchester, Lancaster come from the Latin word "castra" which means "fortified camp" . These fortresses should by no means be likened to a castle; the castle was a private fortress and the residence of the lord and his family. In European society during the late Middle Ages (1000-1500), in a period that can rightly be called the era of castles or the era of chivalry, the rulers of the country were lords. Naturally, the word "lord" is used only in England, and it comes from the Anglo-Saxon word hlaford. Hlaf is “bread”, and the whole word means “distributing bread”. That is, this word was called a kind father-protector, and not a martinet with iron fists. In France, such a lord was called seigneur in Spain senor, in Italy signor, and all these names are derived from the Latin word senior, which means "senior" in translation, in Germany and the Teutonic countries the lord was called Herr, Heer or Her.

The English language has always been distinguished by great originality in word formation, as we have already seen in the example of the word knight. The interpretation of a sovereign lord as a lord distributing bread was generally true for Saxon England. It must have been difficult and bitter for the Saxons to call by this name the new powerful Norman lords who began to rule England from 1066 onwards. Exactly these lords built the first large castles in England, and until the XIV century, the lords and their knightly retinue spoke exclusively Norman-French. Until the thirteenth century they considered themselves French; most of them owned lands and castles in Normandy and Brittany, and the names of the new rulers themselves came from the names of French cities and villages. For example, Baliol is from Belleux, Sachevrel is from Sote de Chevreuil, as well as the names of Beauchamp, Beaumont, Bur, Lacey, Claire, etc.

The castles we know so well today bear little resemblance to the castles that the Norman barons built for themselves, both in their own country and in England, as they were usually built of wood rather than stone. Several early stone castles exist ( big tower The Tower of London is one of the surviving and almost unchanged examples of such architecture that have survived to this day), built at the end of the 11th century, but the great era of building stone castles did not begin until about 1150. The fortifications of the early castles were earthworks, the appearance of which has changed little in the two hundred years that have passed since the construction of such fortifications on the continent began. The first castles in the world were built in the Frankish kingdom to protect against Viking raids. Castles of this type were earthen structures - an elongated or rounded ditch and an earthen rampart, surrounding a relatively small area, in the center or on the edge of which there was a high mound. From above, the earthen rampart was crowned with a wooden palisade. The same palisade was placed on the top of the hill. A wooden house was built inside the fence. Except for the bulk hill, such buildings are very reminiscent of the houses of the pioneers of the American Wild West.

At first, this type of castle dominated. The main building, erected on an artificial hill, was later surrounded by a moat and an earthen rampart with a palisade. Inside the square, bounded by a rampart, was the courtyard of the castle. The main building, or citadel, stood on top of an artificial, rather high hill on four powerful corner pillars, due to which it was raised above the ground. The following is a description of one of these castles, given in the biography of Bishop John of Terwen, written around the 1930s: “Bishop John, going around his parish, often stopped at Marcham. Near the church there was a fortification, which with good reason can be called a castle. It was built according to the custom of the country by the former lord of the area many years ago. Here, where noble people spend most of their lives in wars, they have to defend their homes. To this end, a mound of earth is made as high as possible, and surrounded by a moat, as wide and deep as possible. The top of the hill is surrounded by a very strong wall of hewn logs, with small turrets around the circumference of the hedge - as many as funds allow. Inside the hedge they put a house or a large building, from where you can observe what is happening around. You can enter the fortress only by the bridge, which starts from the counterscarp of the moat, supported by two or even three pillars. This bridge goes up to the top of the hill. The biographer goes on to relate how one day, when the bishop and his servants were climbing the bridge, it collapsed and people from a height of thirty-five feet (11 meters) fell into a deep ditch.

The height of the bulk hill usually ranged from 30 to 40 feet (9-12 meters), although there were exceptions - for example, the height of the hill on which one of the Norfolk castles near Thetford was built reached hundreds of feet (about 30 meters). The top of the hill was made flat and the upper palisade surrounded a courtyard of 50-60 square yards. The vastness of the yard varied from one and a half to 3 acres (less than 2 hectares), but was rarely very large. The shape of the territory of the castle was different - some had an oblong shape, some - square, there were courtyards in the form of a figure eight. Variations were very diverse depending on the size of the host state and the configuration of the site. After the site for construction was chosen, it was first dug in with a moat. The excavated earth was thrown onto the inner bank of the ditch, resulting in a rampart, an embankment called scarp. The opposite bank of the moat was called, respectively, the counterscarp. If it was possible, then the ditch was dug around a natural hill or other elevation. But as a rule, the hill had to be filled, which required a huge amount of earthwork.

Rice. 8. Reconstruction of the castle of the XI century with an artificial hill and a courtyard. The courtyard, which in this case is a separate closed area, is surrounded by a palisade of thick logs and surrounded on all sides by a moat. The hill, or embankment, is surrounded by its own separate moat, and on the top of the hill there is another palisade around a high wooden tower. The citadel is connected to the courtyard by a long suspension bridge, the entrance to which is protected by two small towers. The upper part of the bridge is lifting. If the attacking enemy captured the courtyard, then the defenders of the castle could retreat over the bridge behind the palisade on top of the bulk hill. The lifting part of the suspension bridge was very light, and retreaters could simply throw it down and lock themselves behind the upper palisade.

Such were the castles built everywhere in England after 1066. One of the tapestries, woven a little later than the event depicted on it, shows how the people of Duke William - or, more likely, the Saxon slaves gathered in the district - are building the castle mound at Hastings. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1067 tells how "the Normans build their castles all over the country and oppress the poor people." There is a record in the Domesday Book of houses that had to be demolished to build castles - for example, 116 houses were demolished in Lincoln and 113 in Norwich. It was precisely such easily erected fortifications that the Normans needed at that time in order to consolidate the victory and subdue the hostile English, who could quickly gather strength and rebel. It is interesting to note the fact that when a hundred years later the Anglo-Normans, under the leadership of Henry II, tried to conquer Ireland, they built exactly the same castles on the occupied lands, although in England itself and on the Continent, large stone castles had already replaced the old wood-and-earth fortifications with bulk hills. and palisades.

Some of these stone castles were completely new and built on new sites, while others were rebuilt old castles. Sometimes main tower they replaced it with a stone one, leaving the wooden palisade that surrounded the castle courtyard intact, in other cases a stone wall was built around the castle courtyard, leaving the wooden tower untouched on top of the bulk hill. For example, in York, the old wooden tower stood for two hundred years after a stone wall was erected around the courtyard, and only Henry III between 1245 and 1272 replaced the wooden main tower with a stone one, which has survived to this day. In some cases, new stone main towers were built on the tops of old hills, but this only happened when old lock was built on a natural elevation. An artificial hill, poured only a hundred years ago, could not withstand the heavy weight of a stone building. In some cases, when the man-made mound had not settled sufficiently by the time of construction, the tower was erected around the mound, including it in a larger foundation, as, for example, in Kenilworth. In other cases, a new tower was not built on the top of the hill, but instead the old palisade was replaced with stone walls. Residential buildings, outbuildings, etc. were erected inside these walls. Such buildings are now called fences(shell keeps) - a typical example is the Round Tower of Windsor Castle. The same ones are well preserved in Restormel, Tamworth, Cardiff, Arundel and Carisbrooke. The outer walls of the courtyard supported the slopes of the hill, preventing them from slipping, and were connected on all sides with the walls of the upper enclosure.

For England, the main buildings of castles in the form of towers are more characteristic. In the Middle Ages, this building, this main part of the citadel, was called a donjon or simply a tower. The first word in the English language has changed its meaning, because in our time, hearing the word "dungeon" (dungeon), you imagine not the main tower of the castle citadel, but a gloomy prison. And of course, the Tower of London retained its former historical name.

The main tower formed the core, the most fortified part of the castle citadel. On the ground floor there were storage rooms for most of the food supplies, as well as an arsenal where weapons and military equipment were stored. Above were the premises of the guards, kitchens and living quarters for the soldiers of the castle garrison, and on the upper floor lived the lord himself, his family and retinue. The military role of the castle was purely defensive, since in this impregnable nest, behind incredibly strong and thick walls, even a small garrison could hold out for as long as food and water supplies allowed. As we shall see later, there were moments when the main towers of the citadel were attacked by the enemy or damaged so that they became unsuitable for defense, but this happened extremely rarely; usually castles were captured either as a result of treason, or the garrison surrendered, unable to withstand hunger. Problems with the water supply were rare, as there was always a source of water in the castle - one such source can still be seen today in the Tower of London.

Rice. 9. Pembroke Castle; shows a large cylindrical keep built in 1200 by William Marshal.

Enclosures were very common, probably because it was the easiest way to rebuild an existing castle with a courtyard and mound, but still the most typical feature of a medieval, and especially English, castle is a large quadrangular tower. It was the most massive building that was part of the castle buildings. The walls were gigantic in thickness and were set on a powerful foundation, capable of withstanding the blows of picks, drills and battering rams of the besiegers. The height of the walls from the base to the crenellated top averaged 70-80 feet (20-25 meters). Flat buttresses, called pilasters, supported the walls along their entire length and at the corners, at each corner such a pilaster was crowned with a turret on top. The entrance was always located on the second floor, high above the ground. An external staircase led to the entrance, located at a right angle to the door and covered by a bridge tower, installed outside directly against the wall. For obvious reasons, the windows were very small. On the first floor there were none at all, on the second they were tiny and only on the next floors they became a little larger. These distinguishing features - the bridge tower, the outer staircase and the small windows - can be clearly seen at Rochester Castle and Headingham Castle in Essex.

The walls were built of rough stones or rubble, lined with hewn stone inside and out. These stones were well worked, although in rarer cases the outer facing was also made of unhewn stones, for example in the white Tower of London. At Dover, the castle built by Henry II in 1170, the walls are 21-24 feet (6-7 meters) thick; at Rochester they are 12 feet (3.7 meters) thick at the base, gradually decreasing towards the roof to 10 feet (3 meters). The upper, non-endangered parts of the walls were usually somewhat thinner - their thickness decreased on each successive floor, allowing a little gain in space, reducing the weight of the building and saving building material. In the towers of such large castles as London, Rochester, Colchester, Headingham and Dover, the internal volume of the building was divided in half by a thick transverse wall that ran through the entire building from top to bottom. The upper parts of this wall were lightened by numerous arches. Such transverse walls increased the strength of the building and facilitated flooring and roofing, as they reduced the spans that had to be blocked. In addition, the transverse walls were beneficial in a purely military sense. For example, in Rochester in 1215, when King John was besieging the castle, his sappers dug under the northwest corner of the main tower, and it collapsed, but the defenders of the castle moved to the other half, separated by a transverse wall, and held out for some more time.

The more massive and tall main towers were divided into a basement and three upper floors; in smaller castles, two floors were erected on the basement, although there are, of course, exceptions. For example, Corfe Castle - very tall - had only two upper floors, just like Guildford, but Norchem Castle had four upper floors. Some castles, such as Kenilworth, Rising, and Middleham, all of which were elongated in plan and not particularly tall, had only a basement and one upper story.

Rice. 10. The main tower of Rochester Castle, Kent. Built in 1165 by King Henry II, this castle, besieged in 1214 by King John, was taken after a mine was dug under the northwest corner tower. The modern round tower was completed to replace the collapsed one by Henry III (the original text says that this happened in 1200, which is impossible, since Henry was born in 1207. - Transl.). The bridge tower is visible on the right in the figure.

Each floor was one large room, divided in two if the castle had a transverse wall. The basement was used as a storeroom: they kept provisions for the garrison and fodder for horses, food for servants, as well as weapons and various military equipment, among other things, necessary to ensure the life of the castle in peacetime and wartime - stones and wood for repairs, paints, lubricants, leather, ropes, bales of fabrics and linen, and, probably, supplies of quicklime and combustible oil, which were poured on the heads of the besiegers. Often the uppermost floor was divided by wooden walls into smaller rooms, and in some castles, such as Dover or Hedingham, the main room - the hall of the second floor - was made double-height; the hall had a very high vault, and galleries ran along the walls. (The main tower of the castle in Norwich, where the museum is now located, is arranged in this way and allows you to understand how it looked in real life.) In the larger main towers, fireplaces were installed on the upper floors, many of the early examples of which have survived to this day.

Rice. 11. The main building of Hedingham Castle in Essex, built in 1100. On the left side of the picture you can see the stairs leading to the front door. Initially, as in Rochester, this staircase was covered by a tower.

Stairs leading to all floors of the main building were arranged in its corners, they led from the basement to the turrets and went out to the roof. The stairs were spiral, twisted clockwise. This direction was not chosen by chance, since the defenders of the castle had to fight on the stairs if the enemy broke into the castle. In this case, the defenders had an advantage: naturally, they tried to push the enemy down, while the left hand with the shield rested against the central pillar of the stairs, and there was enough space for the right hand, which acted as a weapon, even on a narrow staircase. The attackers, on the other hand, were forced, overcoming resistance, to make their way up, while their weapons constantly ran into the central pillar. Try to imagine this situation, being on a spiral staircase, and you will understand what I mean.

Rice. 12. The main hall of Hedingham Castle in Essex. The arch, stretching from left to right in the figure, is the upper part of the transverse wall dividing the castle volume into two halves. The transverse wall, very thick in the basement, turns into an arch in the upper floor, which makes it possible to lighten the weight of the building and make the main hall more spacious.

In the upper floors of the main building, many small rooms were arranged directly in the wall. These were private quarters, rooms in which the lord of the castle, his family and guests slept; latrines were also located in the thickness of the walls. The toilets are very elaborate; medieval ideas about sanitation and hygiene are not as primitive as we tend to think. The latrines of medieval castles are more comfortable than the latrines still found in rural areas, and besides, they were easier to keep clean. The toilets were small rooms that protruded from the outer wall. The chairs were made of wood, they were located above the hole that opened outward. All, so to speak, waste, as in trains, poured directly into the street. Restrooms in those days were evasively called wardrobes (translated from French, “wardrobe” literally means “take care of the dress”). In Elizabethan times, the euphemism for the word lavatory was jake, just as we in America call the lavatory john, and the English use the word lu for the same purpose.

The source or spring was extremely important for the survival of the inhabitants and the defenders of the castle. Sometimes, as was the case in the Tower, the source was located in the basement, but more often it was brought to the living quarters - this was more reliable and convenient. Another detail of the castle, which at that time was considered absolutely necessary, was the house church or chapel, which was located in the tower in case the defenders were cut off from the courtyard if it was captured by the enemy. An excellent example of a chapel is located in the main tower of the white Tower of London, but more often the chapels were located at the top of the porch that covered the front door.

At the end of the 12th century, important changes were planned in the architecture of the main tower of the castle. Rectangular in plan, the towers, despite the fact that they were very massive, had one significant drawback - sharp corners. The enemy, remaining practically invisible and inaccessible (it was possible to shoot only from the turret located at the top of the corner), could methodically remove stones from the wall, destroying the castle. In order to do away with this inconvenience and reduce the risk, they began to build round towers, such as the main tower of Pembroke Castle, built in 1200 by William Marshal. Some towers had an intermediate, transitional look, a compromise, so to speak, between the old rectangular design and the new cylindrical one. These were polygonal towers with beveled obtuse corners. Examples include the towers of Orford Castle in Suffolk and Conisborough in Yorkshire, the former built by King Henry II between 1165 and 1173 and the latter by Earl Gamlin de Weyrenne in the 1290s.

The stone walls that replaced the old palisades around the castle courtyards were built based on the same military engineering considerations as the main towers. The walls were built as high and as thick as possible. The lower part was usually wider than the upper part, in order to provide strength to the most vulnerable section of the wall, and also to make the wall surface sloping so that stones and other projectiles dropped from above would bounce off the lower part, ricochet and hit the besieging enemy harder. The wall was serrated, that is, it was crowned with structural elements, which we now call loopholes, located between the battlements. Such a wall with loopholes was arranged as follows: a fairly wide passage or platform stretched along the top of the wall, which in Latin was called alatorium, from which the English word is derived allure- wall balustrade. From the outside, the balustrade was protected by an additional wall 7 to 8 feet (about 2.5 meters) high, interrupted at equal distances by transverse slot-like openings, openings. These openings were called embrasures, and the sections of the parapet between them were merlons, or teeth. The openings allowed the defenders of the castle to shoot at the attackers or drop various projectiles on them. True, for this, the defenders had to show themselves to the eyes of the enemy for some time before hiding behind the battlements again. To reduce the risk of being hit, narrow slits were often made in the battlements through which the defenders could fire their bows while still in cover. These slots were located vertically in the wall or in the battlement, had a width of no more than 2-3 inches (5-8 centimeters) on the outside, and were wider on the inside to make it easier for the shooter to manipulate the weapon. Such shooting slots were up to 6 feet (2 meters) high and were provided with an additional transverse slot just above half the height of the slot. These transverse slots were intended to enable the shooter to throw arrows laterally at an angle of up to forty-five degrees to the wall. There were many designs of such slots, but in fact they were all the same. One can imagine how difficult it was for an archer or crossbowman to get an arrow into such a narrow gap; but if you visit any castle and stand at the shooting gap, then you will see how clearly the battlefield is visible, what a magnificent view the defenders had and how convenient it was for them to shoot through these cracks with a bow or crossbow.

Rice. 13. Reconstruction of the flank tower and the wall of the castle courtyard of the XIII century. The tower is cylindrical on the outside and flat on the inside. On the inside of the tower, you can see that a small lift sticks out of the wall, with the help of which ammunition was supplied to the defenders who were behind the fence inside the platform on the tower. The high roof is made of thick wooden rafters covered with tiles, flat stones or slate. The crown of the tower under the roof is surrounded by a wooden fence. One can imagine that the attackers, having overcome the moat filled with water, came under fire from the archers who were in the tower on its top and behind the fence of the gallery. A pedestrian platform is shown on the top of the wall, as well as buildings adjacent to the wall in the courtyard of the castle.

Of course, the even wall surrounding the castle has a lot of shortcomings, since if the attackers reached its foot, they became inaccessible to the defenders. Anyone who dares to lean out of the embrasure will be immediately shot dead, while those who would remain under the protection of the battlements could not cause any harm to the attackers. Therefore, the best way out was to dismember the wall and build along its perimeter at regular intervals watchtowers or bastions that protruded forward, beyond the plane of the wall in the field, and through the shooting slots in their walls, the defenders got the opportunity to shoot from loopholes in all directions, that is, shooting through the enemy in the longitudinal direction, along the enfilade, as they expressed in those days. At first, such towers were rectangular, but then they began to be erected in the form of half-cylinders protruding from the outer side of the walls, while the inner side of the bastion was flat and did not protrude beyond the plane of the castle courtyard wall. The bastions rose above the upper edge of the wall, dividing the pedestrian parapet into sectors. The path continued through the tower, but if necessary, it could be blocked by a massive wooden door. Therefore, if some detachment of the attackers managed to penetrate the wall, then it could be cut off in a limited section of the wall and destroyed.

Rice. 14. Various types of shooting slots. In many castles in their various parts there were rifle slots of various shapes. Most of the slots had an additional transverse slot, which allowed the archer to shoot not only straight ahead, but also in lateral directions at an acute angle to the wall. However, such slots were also made that did not have a transverse part. The height of the shooting slots ranged from 1.2 to 2.1 meters.

The castles seen today in England are usually flat-topped and unroofed. The upper edge of the walls is also flat, except for the battlements, but in those days when castles were used in their own intended purpose, the main towers and bastions often had a steep roof, which can still be seen today in the castles of continental Europe. We tend to forget when we look at such dilapidated castles as Usk at Dover or Conisborough, succumbed to the onslaught of inexorable time, as they were covered with wooden roofs. Very often, the upper part - the parapets and walkways - of the walls, bastions and even the main towers were crowned with long wooden covered galleries, which were called enclosures, or in English hoarding(from the Latin word hurdicia), or sail. These galleries protruded from the outer edge of the wall by about 6 feet (about 2 meters), holes were made in the floor of the galleries, which made it possible to shoot through them at the attackers at the foot of the wall, throw stones at the attackers and pour boiling oil or boiling water on their heads. The disadvantage of such wooden galleries was their fragility - these structures could be destroyed with the help of siege engines or set on fire.

Rice. 15. The diagram shows how fences, or "lintels", were attached to the walls of the castle. Probably, they were placed only in those cases when the castle was threatened with a siege. In many walls of the castle courtyards, one can still see square holes in the walls under the battlements. Beams were inserted into these holes, on which a fence with a covered gallery was placed.

The most vulnerable part of the wall surrounding the castle courtyard was the gate, and at first close attention was paid to the defense of the gate. The earliest way to protect the gates was to place them between two rectangular towers. A good example of this type of protection is the arrangement of gates in the Exeter Castle of the 11th century that has survived to this day. In the 13th century, square gate towers give way to the main gate tower, which is a merger of the two former ones with additional floors built on top of them. Such are the gate towers in the castles of Richmond and Ludlow. In the 12th century, the more common way to protect the gate was to build two towers on both sides of the entrance to the castle, and only in the 13th century did gate towers appear in their finished form. Two flanking towers are now connected into one above the gate, becoming a massive and powerful fortification and one of the most important parts of the castle. The gate and entrance are now transformed into a long and narrow passage, blocked at each end. porticoes. These were doors sliding vertically along the gutters cut in stone, made in the form of large lattices of thick timber, the lower ends of the vertical bars were sharpened and bound with iron, thus, the lower edge porticoes It was a series of pointed iron stakes. Such lattice gates were opened and closed using thick ropes and a winch located in a special chamber in the wall above the passage. In the "bloody tower" of the Tower of London and today you can see portico with a working lifting mechanism. Later, the entrance was protected by mertieres, deadly holes drilled into the vaulted ceiling of the passage. Through these holes, on anyone who tried to break through to the gates by force, objects and substances that were common in such a situation - arrows, stones, boiling water and hot oil - poured and poured. However, another explanation seems more plausible - water was poured through the holes if the enemy tried to set fire to the wooden gate, since the most the best way to penetrate the castle was to fill the passage with straw, logs, thoroughly soak the mixture with combustible oil and set it on fire; they killed two birds with one stone - they burned the lattice gates and roasted the defenders of the castle in the gate rooms. In the walls of the passage there were small rooms equipped with shooting slots, through which the defenders of the castle could hit from close range with bows a dense mass of attackers who were trying to break into the castle.

In the upper floors of the gate tower there were quarters for soldiers and often even living quarters. In special chambers there were gates, with the help of which a drawbridge was lowered and raised on chains. Since the gate was the place that was most often attacked by the enemy besieging the castle, they were sometimes supplied with another means of additional protection - the so-called barbicans, which began at some distance from the gate. Usually the barbican consisted of two high thick walls running parallel outward from the gate, thus forcing the enemy to squeeze into a narrow passage between the walls, exposing themselves to the arrows of the archers of the gate tower and the barbican's upper platform hidden behind the battlements. Sometimes, to make access to the gate even more dangerous, the barbican was set at an angle to it, which forced the attackers to go to the gate on the right, and parts of the body not covered by shields turned out to be a target for archers. The entrance and exit of the barbican was usually very fancifully decorated. At Goodrich Castle near Herfordshire, for example, the entrance was made in the form of a semicircular vault, and the two barbicans covering the gates of Conway Castle looked like small castle courtyards.

Rice. 16. Reconstruction of the gate and the barbican of the castle of Arc in France. The Barbican is a complex structure with two drawbridges covering the main entrance.

The gate tower, built in the mid-14th century by Thomas Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick (the grandfather of Earl Richard), is a good example of a compact watchtower and barbican combined into a superbly designed ensemble. The gate tower is built in the traditional plan in the form of two towers, connected from above over a narrow passage, it has three additional floors with high jagged turrets at each corner, rising above the battlements of the walls. Ahead, outside the castle, two battlements form another narrow passage leading to the castle; at the far end of these barbican walls, beyond them, there are two more towers - smaller copies of the gate tower. In front of them is a drawbridge across a water-filled moat. This means that the attackers, in order to break through to the gates, first had to make their way with fire or a sword through a raised drawbridge that blocked the path to the first gate and the porticos located behind them. Then they would have to fight their way through the narrow passage of the barbican. After that, finally finding themselves in front of the actual gate, the attackers would have been forced to force a second ditch, break through the next raised bridge and porticoes. Having accomplished these feats, the enemy found himself in a narrow corridor, showered with arrows and doused with boiling water and hot oil from numerous mertiers and rifle slots in the side walls, and at the end of the enemy’s path, the following porticoes were waiting. But the most interesting thing about this gate tower was the truly scientific way in which the staggered battlements covered each other. First came the walls and turrets of the barbican, behind them and above them rose the walls and the roof of the gate tower, over which the corner turrets of the gate tower dominated, the first pair was located below the second, from each subsequent shooting platform it was possible to cover the one below. The turrets of the gate fortification were connected by transitional hanging arched stone bridges, so the defenders did not have to go down to the roof to move from one turret to another.

Today, when you enter the gate leading to the courtyard and main tower of a castle such as Warwick, Dover, Kenilworth or Corfe, you are crossing a large expanse of cut grass in the courtyard. But everything here was different in those days when the castle was used for its intended purpose! The entire space of the courtyard was filled with buildings - mostly wooden, but there were also stone houses among them. Numerous covered rooms were located near the walls of the courtyard - some stood next to the wall, some were arranged directly in its thickness; there were stables, kennels, cowsheds, all kinds of workshops - masons, carpenters, gunsmiths, blacksmiths (one should not confuse a gunsmith with a blacksmith - the first was a highly qualified specialist), sheds for storing straw and hay, dwellings of a whole army of servants and hangers-on, open kitchens, dining rooms, stone premises for hunting falcons, a chapel and a large hall - more extensive and roomy than in the main tower of the castle. This hall, located in the courtyard, was used in the days of peace. Instead of grass, there was hard-packed earth or platforms paved with cobblestones or even paving stones, or, in a very few castles, the courtyard was covered with a mess of impassable mud. Instead of tourists idly resting in the shadow of the ruins, people were constantly walking here, busy with their daily work. Cooking took place almost continuously, horses were fed, watered and trained all the time, cattle were driven into the yard for milking and driven out of the castle to pasture, gunsmiths and blacksmiths repaired armor for the owner and the soldiers of the garrison, shod horses, forged iron objects for the needs of the castle , repairing wagons and carts - there was the incessant noise of continuous work.

Rice. 17. The figure shows one of the ways to construct a drawbridge.

A. An open drawbridge, such as the barbican bridge at Arc Castle. The bridge is attached by a chain to two powerful horizontal beams, each of which is hinged to the tops of pillars dug vertically into the ground. The chains attached to the edges of the bridge were attached with their other ends to the outer ends of the horizontal bars, while weights were attached to their opposite ends, balancing the weight of the bridge. These rear ends of the weighted horizontal bars were connected by chains to winches. Since the weights balanced the weight of the bridge, two people could easily lift it. B. This drawing shows a drawbridge located in front of the actual gates of the castle. The principle of its work is the same. The internal, weighted ends of the horizontal bars are located behind the walls of the castle, the bars themselves are passed through holes in the wall directly above the entrance. The outer ends protrude beyond the walls. When the bridge was raised, the horizontal bars lay in special slots in the wall and were recessed flush with the wall; in the same way, the canvas of the bridge lay in a special recess in the wall, and its plane, in the raised state, merged with the outer surface of the wall. Some drawbridges were simpler - they were raised on chains attached to the outer edge of the bridge deck, passed through holes in the wall and wound around the winch gate. True, the lifting of such a bridge required great physical effort due to the lack of a counterweight.

The huntsmen and grooms were also busy all the time, since there was a whole army of animals in the castle - dogs, falcons, hawks and horses, which had to be looked after and which had to be trained and trained, preparing for hunting. Every day, parties of hunters for deer or small game - hares and rabbits, and sometimes expeditions of hunters for wild boar were equipped from the castle. There were also lovers to hunt birds with a falcon. Hunting, whether driven or falconry, which seemed to be the main leisure activity of the high society of that time, was a much more important part of everyday life than we are inclined to think. With such an abyss of eaters who lived in the castle, all the game obtained during the hunt went into the boiler.

Despite the fact that the type of castle with a courtyard and a main tower was the main one in continental Europe and in England throughout the Middle Ages, one should not think that this type was the only one. The diversity stemmed from the fact that during the 13th century castles began to undergo rebuilding and improvements to keep pace with advances in siege art and innovations in the way fortresses were defended. For example, Richard the Lionheart was an excellent military engineer; it was he who introduced many new ideas into practice, rebuilding such previously erected castles as the Tower of London, and embodying all the innovations in the great castle of Les Andelys in Normandy, in his famous Château Gaillard. The king boasted that he could hold this castle even if its walls were made of butter. In fact, this castle fell only a few years after its construction, unable to withstand the onslaught of the French king, but, as in most such cases, traitors inside the castle opened the gates to the winner.

In that century many of the old castles were enlarged and completed; new towers, gatehouses, bastions and barbicans were erected; There are also completely new elements. The old wooden fences on the walls were gradually replaced by stone hinged loopholes. These loopholes essentially reproduced in stone the shape of old wooden fences - open galleries. Such hinged loopholes are a characteristic feature of castles of the 13th century.

Rice. 18. One of the towers of the castle of Sully-sur-Loire; hinged loopholes are visible around the edge of the roof of the tower and along the upper edge of the wall. In this castle, the ancient roofs of the XIV century have been preserved unchanged to this day.

But at the end of this century, castles of a completely new type appear in England, several of them were built in Wales. After Edward I seized power twice - in 1278 and 1282, this king, in order to keep what he had conquered, began to build new castles, in the same way that King William I began to build two centuries earlier with the same goal. But Edward's buildings were strikingly different from their predecessors - castles built on artificial hills, surrounded by wooden palisades and earthen ramparts. In short, in terms of the new type of architecture, there was no main tower, but the walls and towers of the courtyard were significantly strengthened. In the castles of Conway and Caernarvon, the outer walls reached almost the same height as the former main towers, and the flanking towers became simply prohibitive. There were two more open courtyards within the walls, but they were smaller than those of the older, more extensive and open castles. Conway and Caernarvon were not built according to the correct plan, their architecture was adapted to the features of the terrain on which they were built, but the castles of Harlech and Beaumarie were built according to the same plan - they were quadrangular fortresses with very high strong walls and large cylindrical (drum) corner towers. In the courtyard of the castle there was another concentric wall with bastions. There is no space here to describe in detail the castle architecture of this type, but at least the basic idea is now clear to you.

The same principle formed the basis for the construction of the last real castle in England - powerful high walls connecting the corner towers. At the end of the 14th century, castles of a new type were built - such as Bodiam in Sussex, Nunni in Somerset, Bolton and Sheriff Hatton in Yorkshire, Lumley in Durgham and Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppey. The last castle in the plan was not quadrangular, but round, with an inner concentric wall. This castle was razed to the ground by order of Parliament during civil war in England, and not even a trace of him remains. We know about its appearance only from ancient drawings. For internal device these castles are not characterized by buildings scattered around the courtyard or stuck to the walls, all the rooms were built into the walls, they were turned into more orderly and convenient places for work and living.

Rice. nineteen. It is shown how hinged loopholes were arranged.

Later the end of the XIV century, the architecture of the classical English castle falls into decay - the place of the castle is occupied by a fortified manor house, for which home comfort and convenience is much more important than defense. Many castles built in the 15th century were quadrangular in plan, and most were surrounded by a moat; the only defensive structure was a double tower that covered the entrance. At the end of this century, the construction of such structures finally stopped, and the Englishman's castle turned into his usual home. From the 16th century began the great era of the construction of English estates.

This remark, of course, does not apply to continental castles; on the continent, the socio-political conditions were quite different. This is especially true of Germany, where internecine wars continued until the end of the 16th century, and castles were still in great demand. In England, however, the need for such fortified buildings remained only in the Welsh Alps and on the Scottish border. In the Welsh Alps, old castles were used for their intended purpose as early as the 15th century; indeed, a completely new castle was built at this time near Raglan in Monmouthshire. It was very similar to the castles of the time of Edward I, and was built around 1400 by Sir William of Thomas, known as the Blue Knight of Gwent, and his son Sir William Herbert, later Earl of Pembroke. One feature strikingly distinguished this castle from the castles of Edward's time - a tower standing separately on a hill, hexagonal in plan, surrounded by its own moat and rampart with bastions. This is a separate castle, standing in front of the main castle. This building went down in history under the name "yellow tower of Gwent". This is a late example of new construction in a region where military clashes could be expected; on the northern borders, wars were fought almost constantly and without interruption. The raids of the Scots, stealing cattle, and the reciprocal punitive raids of the British did not stop. Under such conditions, every estate, every village farm had to be turned into a fortified castle. As a result, so-called saws, small quadrangular fortresses. Usually such a fortress was a solid, dull, simple, but strong tower with a small courtyard, which was more like an ordinary village courtyard, and by no means a castle courtyard, surrounded by a high, flat, crenellated wall. Most of these saws were in fact ordinary farms, and when robbers appeared in the distance, the owner, his family and workers locked themselves in the tower, and the cattle were herded into the yard. If the Scots took it upon themselves to besiege the fortress and break into the courtyard, then people took refuge in the tower - they drove the cattle into the basement, and they themselves went up to the top floor. But the Scots rarely engaged in sieges. They were always in a hurry to swoop in, grab everything that lay badly, and go home.

Rice. 20. Bird's-eye view of Harlek Castle. This is one of the large castles built in the era of King Edward I. Characteristic buildings - large, powerful cylindrical towers, connected into a quadrangle by massive high walls. The whole castle thus became, to some extent, one large main tower, and the oversized guard tower became the dominant part of the entire structure. In front of the main gate stands another tower, much smaller. There is also long bridge, thrown over the moat, as well as a drawbridge (which is now, of course, replaced by a stationary one). The drawbridge was located at a slight angle to the inner end of the access road. The outer edge of the moat is surrounded by a wall - a counterscarp, and the other wall crowns the steep rocky inner bank of the moat. The castle is built on a high stone cliff, and the only place from where it could be attacked is just visible in the picture. One can imagine how difficult it was to overcome the counterscarp, then the ditch, then climb the steep bank to the high walls, after that - under continuous shelling - break through the main wall and only after all approach even higher walls and towers. All residential and utility rooms of the castle Harlek were located outside the main gate, inside the castle.

great era The construction of castles almost completely coincides in time with the era of chivalry - from the 11th to the 15th centuries. Wars, even internecine and private, have become more cunning and less courteous than the wars of former days, becoming the lot of hired professionals. The appearance of cannons made even the strongest and most powerful castles vulnerable. It is curious, however, that two hundred years after the last castle was built in England, and many of them were abandoned and destroyed during the Civil War of 1642-1649, the castles again began to be used for their intended purpose. Some of them withstood long sieges, fired from cannons much more powerful than those used in the 15th century, and none of these castles was ever taken by storm.

Notes:

Counterscarp - the slope of the moat of a long-term or temporary fortification.