It made it tricky for anyone to burrow beneath the castle, or undermine the outer walls. But this was more than enough to foil most attackers. Even if someone were brave enough to wade in, nasty surprises were sometimes hidden deep in the moat — such as sharpened stakes.
Castle towers were designed to give an unobstructed panorama of the countryside around a fortress, so lookouts could spot oncoming attackers. Castle architects also realised that, by planning castles strategically, they could glean the best possible view of the surrounding countryside. They designeed symmetrical castles — which helped give broader sight-lines — and taller towers, which would maximise the view. However, armies attacking the castle soon discovered a trick to bring down any tall tower.
Castle towers were originally built in a square shape, and so, by burrowing under one of the corners of the square foundations, it was easy to topple an entire tower — and devastate a castle.
The solution? Building round towers, of course! Late Medieval castles boasted circular towers, which had no corners which could be undermined by cunning marauders. People defending a castle could hurl items — like rocks, arrows or even animal dung — through these holes at an attacker below. Discover everything about grisly machicolations here.
It sounds a bit silly to say, but all castles needed an entrance. In times of peace, how else would food, musicians, craftsmen, the Lord and Lady, Knights and nobles ever enter the place otherwise?! The problem, of course, was that although the entrance to a castle was essential in times of peace, it became the most vulnerable point of the castle during times of siege. Built during the 15 th century , it is one of the largest fortresses in India.
The central citadel is surrounded by several rings of walls and towers which add to the overall defenses of the castle.
The Tower of London was one of the original defensive fortifications built to protect the city of London. Constructed using many elements from Romanesque Architecture , the castle is perched overlooking the Thames River. The castle was instrumental in maintaining London as a powerful medieval city.
It was built by William the Conqueror in CE. Throughout history, it has served a myriad of different functions, including a defensive castle, a currency mint, a jail, and currently the storage spot for the English Crown Jewels. The Castle at Ischia, built by the Kingdom of Aragon in the mid 15th century , is a particularly strong fortification. Located on an island with steep natural cliffs, it is only connected to the mainland by a man-made causeway.
Although the castle suffered severe damage during a siege by British Soldiers in the 18 th century , much of the original walls and towers can still be seen today. One of the largest forts on the Indian Subcontinent, the Chittorgarh Fort originally dates from the 7 th century. Although possession of the fort changed hands many times, the defenses are still highly formidable and are thought of as some of the strongest in India.
The fort takes advantage of a large hilltop plateau which acts as a natural barrier to invaders. Like Architecture of Cities? Sign up for our mailing list to get updates on our latest articles and other information related to Architectural History.
The original fortifications at Windsor Castle were built by Willian the Conqueror after his conquest of England in the 11 th century. Although the interiors have been drastically altered in Baroque and Rococo styles, the exterior of the castle maintains a very medieval aesthetic. The castle was strategically placed along a narrow waterway, which was meant to block ships from sailing through undetected. The castle was an important element in the Ottoman siege of the Byzantine city of Constantinople.
The castle originally dates from the 12 th century , on the foundation of a much earlier castle. Throughout history, it was primarily controlled by the Kingdom of Hungary. Unfortunately, after an 18th-century fire, today the castle is largely left in ruins. Malbork Castle is the largest castle in the world by land area and was originally built by Knights of the Teutonic Order. Construction on the castle began in the 13 th century with many of the oldest portions containing Gothic Architecture , and work continued for several centuries after that.
The castle was expanded repeatedly to provide more and more living space for the soldiers garrisoned within. This expansion created a series of defensive rings with different layers of towers, moats, and walls. Malbork Castle is strategically placed on the banks of the Nogat River, which allowed it to oversee much of the ships entering and exiting Poland from the Baltic Sea.
The fortress can be seen from over 19 miles and was controlled by various factions over the centuries, including the noble house of Carinthia and the Habsburg Family. Most of the architecture dates from the 16 th century.
The fortifications were greatly improved in order to protect against the constant Ottoman raids that were taking place throughout the area. The owners of the castle constructed 14 fortified gateways leading up to the castle. According to legend, attacks by the Ottomans never succeeding in getting past the fourth gate. After the first crusade, a large portion of the Levant was under the control of the Crusader Kingdoms.
The Crusader Kingdoms donated the existing fortress and land to a Christian order of Knights, known as the Knights Hospitaller. As the fire spread through the castle those living inside would be forced to leave allowing the attackers to take them prisoner or kill them. This was one of the reasons why Motte and Bailey castles were soon replaced by Stone Keep castles.
Fire has little effect on a stone castle. The thick stone walls of the Stone Keep castles were difficult for men to knock down. Although pickaxes could be used against castles with thinner walls, it would take a very long time to knock a hole through a castle with very thick walls. The battering ram was particularly useful since the weight of several men would be put behind it. This would make it a considerable force that could seriously weaken and possibly destroy doors or walls.
They also stopped people being able to tunnel underground to reach the castle from below. Being protected from the north by a river and earthwork ridge, and then from the south by the moat, undoubtedly put Prudhoe in a very strong strategic position with very few areas of weakness for invaders to try and take advantage of. This is a kind of fortified corridor at Prudhoe, made up of two walls on either side of the track leading to the gatehouse.
Imagine fighting your way through the barbican with missiles being thrown down form the battlements…. As attackers fought their way around towards the gatehouse, those defending Prudhoe would man the tops of these walls and fire arrows and missiles down at them. These are the courtyard areas inside the walls where important buildings like the keep, or perhaps stables and storehouses would have been built.
They were topped by a battlement behind which was a flat stone walkway. Following this second siege, Odinel Umfraville made more improvements to the defences of the castle by adding a stone keep and a great hall. Prudhoe was an important place for the English to build a castle because of the dispute over the ownership of the border lands between England and Scotland. It was an argument that lasted on and off for centuries.
He attacked Prudhoe twice in and again in when an army of men set upon the castle.
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