Mideval Castles

A castle was the fortified private resident of a lord. The lord could be a king or a lesser baron, but in either case the castle was a home as well as a stronghold. A castle was designed to be safe against the charge against other armies. As well as being a home, a castle was a symbol of power. Castles were often the scenes of important meetings about the state of affairs.

The earliest castles appeared in the 9th and 10th centuries, when the empire created by Charlemagne in modern France, Germany, and Northern Italy was falling because of raids by people such as Vikings, and Magyars, or Hungarian nomads. Lords built castles for protection and as bases for their soldiers. Most of these early castles were built of earth and timber. The architecture of medieval castles had changed through the years, from timber castles to stone castles.

Castles were often built on a mountain cliff with a slopping, rocky terrain before it. This made it harder for enemies to attack because they had a hard time getting up the mountain.

The castles were built for protection. They were given good living conditions because if they died then they would be useless to the lords who captured them. The castle walls were very important. It was used for many things including sleeping, eating, and carrying out business. Accidental fires could be disastrous, so the castle kitchen was often separated from the main building.

Whether on the mote, inside the walls of the keep, or as a separate building, the living space of a castle were very basic. The hall, was a large one room structure with a loft ceiling, the hall was sometimes on the 1st floor, but sometimes it was raised to the second story for greater security. Early halls were ailed like a church, with rows of wooden posts or stone pillars supporting the timber roof. Windows had wooden shutters held on by an iron bar, but in the 11th and 12th centuries were rarely glazed. By the 13th century