Castles

Castles:
Since the power and security of a lord depended upon his ability to defend himself, fief owners began to build sturdy castles. Castles were designed to withstand a siege and to mount a defense.

At first castles were made of wood. But they were too easy to burn down. By 1100 CE, castles were built of stone. Thick walls surrounded a castle. Inside these thick walls, there were many buildings.

At the first sign of trouble, the commoners rushed to get inside the castle walls before the gates closed and shut them out.

Questions
1)Who built castles?

2)What were castles designed to do?

3)What were the first castles of?

4)Why did they stop making castles from this material?

5)What did they start to build castles from by 1100 CE?

6)What surrounded the castles?

7)What was inside the thick walls?

8)What did the common people do if there where signs of trouble?


Location:
Castles were usually built on top of a hill, if one was handy. That way, the lookout guards could more easily spot attackers approaching.

Question 1 Where was the best spot to build a castle? Why?

The Moat:
A moat was built around many of the castles. This was a deep ditch surrounding the castle walls, filled with water. A bridge was built to cross the moat. The bridge was raised during an attack. The moat was loaded with traps and sharp spikes in case someone tried to swim across.

Question 2 What is a moat?
Question 3 where was it built?
Question 4 What was the moat loaded with? Why?

The Drawbridge:
The drawbridge was the bridge built across the moat. This bridge could be raised and lowered for added protection from intruders.

Question 5 What is a drawbridge? Why did a castle need one?

The Keep:
One of the largest spaces behind the thick walls was the keep. The keep was a storage area topped by a huge square tower with slotted windows for castle archers to use. The keep stored food, wine, and grain in case of siege.

Question 6 What was the keep used for? What did it look like?

The Barracks:
Other buildings made up the barracks. the barracks were the homes of the knights and their families.

Question 7 Who lived in the barracks?

The Great Hall:
The Great Hall was a passageway that connected the lord's home to the keep.

Question 8 what two places did the great hallway connect?

The Chapel:
The chapel was build either inside the lord's home or as a separate building. The chapel was a place to hold religious services.

Question 9 what was the chapel built for? where was it usually built?

The gatehouse
was a building used by the guards at the gates. The portcullis was the grating of iron bars at the gateway.

Question 10 who was stationed in the gatehouse?

Question 11 What do you think was the most important building in the castle?