Castles In Medieval England

During the years of 550CE – 1550CE, also known as the ‘Middle Ages’ or ‘the Medieval Period’, the times were gruesome and filled with bloodthirsty knights, unlucky peasants and slaves and most of all, rich Kings, Queens, Lords and Barons. During these times, kingdoms wanted more land to rule over. This lead to lots of wars and deaths. To protect themselves during these hostile times, the French and the English built castles. Castles originated from France after the ‘Battle of Hastings’. The ‘Battle of Hasting’ was fought in 1066CE between the Normans and the English, and was eventually won by the Normans, led by ‘William the Conqueror’. After the “Battle of Hasting’, William the Conqueror introduced castles to France. Once England found out

They were used as extra defence, just in case the enemy got within the within the curtain wall. One of these defence features include, the inner wall. The inner wall puts another layer of protection between the attackers and the lord of the castle. If the attackers got through the outer wall, it was almost certain death, as they had nowhere to go, and they just got shot by the attackers who are in the towers high above. The inner wall, much like the curtain wall, was very thick (four meters) and very high (several stories). Once inside the two walls, there is two towers protecting the keep. The keep was a multi-storey building that contained the lord and his family’s quarters, the great hall, the kitchen and the dungeon. All of these defence features all have one main purpose… to protect the lord of the

All castles had a King/Lord/Baron. These men were rich enough to build a castle and were rich enough to pay the people who defended it. These defenders were known as ‘knights’. Knights; they were the king’s/Lord’s/Baron’s private army. The private army of knights consisted of archers and swordsmen. Inside the walls of the castle were builders and blacksmiths. These people built weapons and other items to sell. The people who would trade for these items, or buy these items are; the farmers and the peasants of the village and the castle. The farmers would grow crops and look after animals to eat and to sell. To help the Lord of the castle slaves/peasants were used. These people would help the Lord in any way. Another important person who lived within the castle, was the priest. The priest would run ceremonies at the church. The priest is high in the hierarchy and in feudal system. Not everyone listed lived inside the walls of the castle. Lots of the peasants and farmers lived in the village that the castle is watching over and that surrounds the castle. All of these people were a part of the feudal system and everyone played an important part to keep the castle