Castles

?
Why were castles built?
Castles were built to secure land in areas which were prone to rebellion / resistance and to intimidate any rebels in the surrounding area.
1 of 21
Where were castles built?
Castles would usually be built on high ground as a vantage point, they were usually built near towns to protect them.
2 of 21
Motte and Bailey Castles
Motte and Bailey castles where the most common types of early castle. They were made of earth and wood and could be built extremely quickly.
3 of 21
What did Motte and Bailey castles consist of?
Motte and Bailey castles consisted of a Motte, which was a man-made mound of dirt in which a lookout was commonly placed upon, and a Bailey, which was a small settlement used for keeping animals, food, soldiers and laborers.
4 of 21
What defenses did the Motte and Bailey castles have?
The Motte and Bailey's primary defense was a Palisade, which was a tall fence surrounding the entire structure. But it was also common for the Motte and Bailey castles to have ditches and banks to increase their defense aswell.
5 of 21
Stone Castles with Keeps
These were natural extensions of the Motte and Bailey castle. As Motte and Bailey castles where only supposed to be 'temporary', these stone castles where built to last much longer.
6 of 21
What did Stone Castles with Keeps consist of?
They were practically the same as Motte and Baileys, just reinforced and designed to last longer, they were still on a hill of steep slope to keep the vantage point, and there was still a small community living at the bottom of each of them.
7 of 21
Concentric Castles
Concentric castles were big advancements in the castles 'business', they consisted of many 'layers' of walls surrounding a main structure. The inner walls were higher than the outer ones as it made it easier to defend.
8 of 21
What did Concentric Castles consist of?
As with any castle, they were placed on vantage points if possible, they are similar to stone keep castles in the sense of standing strong, but these where to STAY, and provided as much defense as possible with multiple 'curtain' walls..
9 of 21
Attacking Castles
Attacking a castle is a very complicated process, it requires many tools and skills to successfully breach a castle and these will be covered throughout the next few flashcards.
10 of 21
Archers
One of the most common way of breaching early castles was the use of archers, for the simple fact that Motte and Bailey castles were primarily made of wood, making then susceptible to fire. A well aimed hit with a flaming arrow can do alot of damage!
11 of 21
Battering Ram
As fire isn't very effective against stone, warfare strategies cam up with the excellent idea of using a log to simply knock down the walls. Although time consuming, this method is very effective.
12 of 21
Ladders
Tired of knocking down walls? Then why not climb over them! With a ladder, troops can just climb over and there's no fuss!
13 of 21
Catapult
Using a catapult to fling objects at the castle to help with the breach is very useful, whether it be a rock, flaming things or even dead bodies, they create alot of chaos!
14 of 21
Mining
While inefficient, it does the job, and does it well, digging under a castle is a great way to get in, and stealthy at that!
15 of 21
Seige
A great way that doesn't require much effort is seiging a castle! After about a month, the water supply will be low and food will be scarce. Soon enough everybody will be dead from starvation and / or dehydration.
16 of 21
Defending A Castle
There are many ways to defend a castle, the next few flashcards will be covering some of them!
17 of 21
Round towers
If you've done any work on erosion, you'll know that corners... Well... They're not very great. So engineers decided to use round towers as they are stronger!
18 of 21
Moats and Ditches
Armour is heavy. It's hard to swim in armour. Walking up and down ditches is tiring. Walking up and down ditches in armour is even more tiring.
19 of 21
Portcullises
A great way to manage what goes in and out of your castle is using a Portcullis, they're strong, they're practical, and the stop the enemy dead in their tracks.
20 of 21
Why did castles decline?
The simple reason for the decline in castles is because military strategy became stronger, and the use canon and mortars was a great threat to the structures as the where quite weak to their attacks.
21 of 21

Other cards in this set

Card 2

Front

Where were castles built?

Back

Castles would usually be built on high ground as a vantage point, they were usually built near towns to protect them.

Card 3

Front

Motte and Bailey Castles

Back

Preview of the front of card 3

Card 4

Front

What did Motte and Bailey castles consist of?

Back

Preview of the front of card 4

Card 5

Front

What defenses did the Motte and Bailey castles have?

Back

Preview of the front of card 5
View more cards

Comments

No comments have yet been made

Similar History resources:

See all History resources »See all Norman Conquest resources »