Why was the entrance to the fortress made with a slope? Medieval castles: structure and siege

We have indicated before how churches adapted themselves to the needs of defense, and also what obstacles were created on bridges and roads against the advance of the enemy army; The most important monuments of military architecture are city fortifications and castles.

The fortifications of the city consist of a fence and a citadel, or castle, which serves both as a defense against the enemy and as a means of keeping the population in obedience.

The fencing of the city comes down to curtains, towers and gates, the location of which depends on the terrain and the details of which have already been described. Let's start with a review of the lock structure. The castle was almost always located closer to the city wall: in this way the lord better protected himself from rebellion. Sometimes they chose a place even outside the city fortifications - such was the location of the Louvre near Paris.

Just as the fortifications of a city consist of a fence and a castle, so the castle, in turn, is divided into a fortified courtyard and a main tower (donjon), which served as the last stronghold for the defenders when the enemy had already captured the rest of the fortress.

At first, living quarters did not play any role in defense. They were grouped at the foot of the main tower, scattered within the enclosure of the courtyard, like pavilions within the enclosure of a villa.

Choisy's opinion that at first the feudal lord's dwelling was located outside the donjon tower, at its foot, is incorrect. In the early Middle Ages, in particular in the 10th and 11th centuries, the donjon combined the functions of defense and housing for the feudal lord, and the donjon housed outbuildings. See Michel, Histore de l'art, vol. 1, p. 483.

Choisy attributes Loches Castle to the 11th century, while this castle has an exact date: it was built by Count Fulke Nerra in 995 and is considered the earliest castle (stone) preserved in France. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

In 11th-century castles like Langey, Beaugency, and Loches, the entire defensive force was concentrated in the main tower, not to mention some secondary structures.

Only by the 12th century. the extensions are combined with the main tower to form a defensive ensemble. From now on, all structures are located around the courtyard or at the entrances to the courtyard, opposing the attack with their walls. The new plan finds its first application in Palestinian structures of the Crusaders; here we see a courtyard surrounded by fortified buildings with the main tower - the donjon. The same plan was used in the castles of Krak, Mergeb, Tortoz, Ajlun and others, built during the 70 years of Frankish rule in Palestine and representing the most important structures of military architecture of the Middle Ages.

Also in the fortresses of Syria, the Franks for the first time used the construction of defensive structures, in which the main fortress wall was surrounded by a lower line of fortifications, representing a second fence.

In France, these various improvements appear only in the last years of the 12th century. in the castles of Richard the Lionheart, especially in the Andeli fortress.

At the end of the 12th century. in the West, the formation of military architecture is ending. Its most daring manifestations date back to the first quarter of the 13th century; these are the castles of Coucy and Chateau Thierry, erected by large vassals during the period of civil strife, during the minority of Saint Louis.

From the beginning of the 14th century, an era of disasters for France, very few monuments of military architecture, as well as religious architecture, remained.

The last castles that can be compared with those of the 12th and 13th centuries are those that defend royal power under Charles V (Vincennes, Bastille), and those that the feudal lords oppose it under Charles VI (Pierrefonds, Ferté Milon, Villers Coterre).

In Fig. 370 and 371 show in general terms the castles of the two main eras of feudal claims: Coucy (Fig. 370) - the period of the childhood of Saint Louis, Pierrefonds (Fig. 371) - the reign of Charles VI.

Let's look at the main parts of the building.

Main tower (donjon). - The main tower, which sometimes constitutes an entire castle in itself, is so constructed in all its parts that it can be defended independently of the other fortifications. Thus, in the Louvre and in Coucy, the main tower is isolated from the rest of the fortress by a moat dug in the courtyard itself; the main tower in Kusi was supplied with a special supply of provisions, had its own well, and its own bakery. Communication with the castle buildings was maintained by means of removable gangways.

In the XI and XII centuries. the main tower was often located in the center of a fortified fence, on top of a hillock; in the 13th century she is deprived of this central position and placed closer to the wall so that she can be helped from the outside.

The idea of ​​​​changing the position of the donjon tower in the castle of the 12th and 13th centuries. due to military-defense considerations, it is not justified by Choisy. The central position of the donjon tower in the castle, more precisely inside the castle wall, in the 11th-12th centuries, as well as the change in this position in the 13th century, can be explained by considerations not only of defensive, but also of architectural and artistic nature. In such. position of the donjon in the 11th and 12th centuries. one can discern the presence of compositional features of monuments of Romanesque art (architecture, painting, etc.), where we often see the coincidence of semantic and compositional centers with geometric ones. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

Square towers are found in all eras, and from the 11th and 12th centuries. there are no others left (Loches, Falaise, Chambois, Dover, Rochester). The round tower appears in the 13th century. Since that time, round and square towers have been built equally, with or without corner turrets.

The opinion is that round dungeons began to appear only in the 13th century. and that from the 11th and 12th centuries. only square towers have survived - incorrect. From the 11th and 12th centuries. dungeons have been preserved, both square and oblong - rectangular. Typically, vertically positioned flat and wide buttresses (or blades) ran along the outer walls; a square turret with a staircase adjoined the walls. In more early towers the staircase was an extension and led directly to the second floor, from where it was already possible to enter both the upper and lower floors via the internal staircase. In case of danger, the ladders were removed.

By the XI-XII centuries. relate French castles: Falaise, Arc, Beaugency, Brou, Salon, La Roche Crozet, Cross, Domfront, Montbaron, Sainte-Susan, Moret. The later ones (XII century) include: Att castle in Belgium (1150) and French castles: Chambois, Chauvigny, Conflans, Saint-Emillion, Montbrune (c. 1180), Moncontour, Montelimar, etc.

At the end of the 11th century. there is a polygonal tower: the hexagonal donjon of the castle of Guisor (Ere department) dates back to 1097; it is possible that this tower was rebuilt. This also includes the polygonal donjon of the 12th century. in Carentan (now in ruins), as well as a slightly newer donjon in Chatillon. The donjon of the Saint Sauveur castle has the shape of an ellipse. The round donjon towers have castles from the 12th century. Chateaudun and Laval. By the middle of the 12th century. includes the donjon of the castle in Etampes (the so-called Guinette tower), which is a group of four round, seemingly fused towers; The keep of Houdan Castle, built between 1105 and 1137, is a cylinder with four round turrets adjacent to it. Provins Castle has an octagonal keep with four round turrets adjacent to it. Some castles have two dungeons (Nior, Blanc, Verno). Of the dungeons of the second half of the 12th century that retained their rectangular shape, we note Niort, Chauvigny, Chatelier, and Chateaumur. Finally, in the 12th century. turrets appear in the enclosure of the donjon. See Michel, cit. cit., vol. 1, p. 484; Enlart, Manuel d'archeologie francaisi, vol. II. Architecture monastique, civile, militaire et navale, 1903, pp. 215 et seq.; Viollet le Duc, Dictionnaire raisonne de l'architecture francaise, 1875. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

The main tower is round in shape - Kusi; square shape - Vincennes and Pierrefonds. The main towers at Etampes and Andely have a scalloped outline (Fig. 361, K).

In the 13th century the main tower serves exclusively as a refuge (Kusi), in the 14th century. it is adapted for housing (Pierrefonds).

The evolution of the purpose of individual castle buildings went from the combination of housing, defense and economic functions in the donjon (more precisely, storage functions, storerooms) - in the period of Romanesque architecture, to the differentiation of these functions - in the Gothic era. Subsequently, towards the end of the Gothic period and the beginning of the Renaissance (from the end of the 14th century), in connection with a shift in all areas of culture, in particular in connection with the advent of artillery, a new redistribution of functions occurs. The donjon and other fundamental buildings of the castle are allocated for housing, that is, the castle begins to turn into a palace, and the defense is transferred to the approaches to the castle - walls, ditches and bastions. Finally, in the era of absolutism, the castle is completely (or with very few exceptions) deprived of its defensive functions, ceases to be a fortress and finally turns into a palace or manor house; Along with this, the fortress gains its independence as a military-defense structure, part of the unified system of offensive and defense of the noble and noble-bourgeois state. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

Rice. 372 shows a cross-section of the main tower at Cusi. For defense there is a ring-shaped fence around the tower, encircling a wide ditch and including a gallery for counter mines; at the top there are reserves of shells for mounted firing, laid on the upper platform. The walls are not cut through by loopholes, like the walls of ordinary towers, and the halls located inside on floors are barely lit; this tower is not adapted either for permanent habitation or for defense with light weapons: it is a redoubt, where, apparently, minor means of defense were neglected and everything was prepared for the last defensive effort.

Castle buildings. - The buildings located in the fence are barracks for the garrison, large gallery, serving as a place for court and meetings, a hall for celebrations and ceremonial dinners, a chapel and, finally, a prison.

The gallery, the “great hall,” is the main room. What makes it vaulted is the ice-like vaults, the thrust of which along the entire length is perceived only by the vertical walls, which would turn out to be fragile if undermined by a glander; the large hall is covered only with a wooden roof (Cousy, Pierrefonds).

When the hall is two-story, then for the same reasons that we talked about regarding the towers, vaults are allowed only on the lower floor.

To make the spread of the vaults the least dangerous, it is reduced by introducing intermediate abutments; These abutments never have supporting elements in the form of buttresses protruding outward, which could facilitate access for the enemy. If there are buttresses, they are placed on the courtyard side. On the outside, the support is a blank wall.

The chapel is located in the castle courtyard: this location reduces the inconvenience arising from its vaults. In the castle of Coucy and in the palace in the ancient part of Paris (Palais de la Cite), the chapels were two-story, with one floor being on the same level as the living quarters.

Prisons are usually located in basements; in most cases these are dark and unhealthy rooms.

As for the halls and wells for torture, only in a few cases can this purpose be established with certainty: usually torture rooms are mixed with kitchen buildings, and simple latrine pits are mistaken for rooms for prisoners.

In residential premises, as in fortifications, the architect strived primarily for independence individual parts: As far as possible, each room has a separate staircase, which completely isolates it. This independence, combined with the certain complexity of the plan, in which it is easy to get confused, served as a guarantee against conspiracies and unexpected attacks; all difficult transitions were done intentionally.

Rice. 370.

Rice. 371.

Rice. 372.

Housing amenities have long been sacrificed for defense. The living quarters were cramped, had no external windows, except for small openings that looked out into the courtyard, gloomy from the high walls.

Finally, in last years XIV century the need for comfort takes precedence over defense precautions: the lord’s home begins to be illuminated from the outside.

The illumination of the lord's home (castle) with windows punched in the outer fortress wall is explained not only by the fact that the feudal lords' need for comfort was received in the 14th century. superiority over defense precautions, and a change in the defense system - when earthen fortifications, etc., begin to be erected in front of the castle, to which the main defense functions are transferred when artillery is brought into operation. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

In the castle of Coucy, both large halls were remodeled under Louis of Orleans: windows were made in them to the outside. The same lord who built the castle of Pierrefonds gave the living rooms, located in the main tower, a convenient location.

The Louvre, built under Charles V by the architect Raymond du Temple, was one of the first castles, with a library and a monumental staircase.

The plan of the Château de Vincennes seems to have chiefly defensive purposes in mind. The castles of Chateaudun and Montargis are both comfortable homes and fortresses. Such are the palace in the ancient part of Paris, built under Philip the Fair, the residence palaces of the Dukes of Burgundy in Dijon and Paris, and the palace of the Counts of Poitiers.

Castle Crac des Chevaliers (French: Crac des Chevaliers - “Castle of the Knights”). Syria

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEFENSE SYSTEM IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Let's return to the review of fortresses in the proper sense of the word. We have already examined them from the point of view of the defense system; We will try to accurately establish the origin of this system and the changes that it experiences as it approaches modern times, when firearms begin to take part in the attack.

Origin. - The most ancient fortresses, sharply different in appearance from the monuments of the Byzantine Empire, are located in Normandy or in areas subject to its influence: Falaise, Le Pen, Donfront, Loches, Chauvigny, Dover, Rochester, Newcastle.

There is news of the existence of wooden fortifications-castles on the territory of France and Germany in the 9th and 10th centuries, i.e. in the so-called Carolingian time, but we have no reason to consider them a product of Byzantine influence and talk about their similarity with the corresponding buildings of Byzantium IX-X centuries, especially all of them. Choisy wants to establish three stages in the development of Western European fortifications, taking as a basis a very shaky and methodologically incorrect criterion of borrowing.

Linking the appearance of early castles in Western Europe with the influence of Byzantine culture, Choisy reflects the theory that existed in Western European science, which recognized the main or significant factor in the formation of Romanesque art - the influence of Byzantine culture and art. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

These castles are from the 11th and 12th centuries. consist of only one square tower (donjon), surrounded by walls. This is the embodiment in durable materials of those palisaded blockhouses that the Norman pirates erected as shelters and strongholds on those coasts where they carried out their pirate raids.

The Norman fortresses, although impressive with their size, at the same time indicate that the art of military defense was at that time in its infancy. Only towards the end of the 12th century. in the fortresses built by Richard the Lionheart, skillful structures first appear.

Andely Castle creates an era in Western military architecture. It features a skillfully designed tower plan without “dead corners”; in it we find the earliest application of the idea of ​​machismo, which took about two more centuries to become widespread.

The time of construction of Andeli Castle coincides with the return of Western European chivalry from the Third Crusade, i.e., with the era of the formation of defensive art in Syria.

Krak and Margat, even earlier than Andeli Castle, had fences with double lines of fortifications, methodically coordinated, walls with machicolations and an impeccable flanking system. The fence of the castle of the Counts of Ghent, built in 1180, as noted by Dieulafoy, is reminiscent of Iranian art with its architectural details. Dieulafoy sees in these convergences evidence of eastern influences; and everything seems to confirm this continuity.

Choisy is a supporter of the theory of borrowings and influences, which in the field of medieval culture and art stood, in the person of its largest representatives, on Orientalist positions: these researchers looked for the sources of the emergence and development of medieval culture in the East. From the point of view of the conclusions of this theory, they try to resolve the question of the origin and formation medieval castles Dieulafoy, followed by Choisy. Both the first and second completely bypass the theory of the origin of the medieval castle from the late Roman turres or burgi, i.e. towers (see note 1), which had different shapes: square, round, elliptical, octagonal and complex - semicircular on the outside, tetrahedral on the inside . Some of these towers, or rather their bases, were used in the construction of feudal castles, some were turned into church towers, and some were preserved in ruins (see Otte, Geischen. Baukunst in Deutschland, Leipzig 1874, p. 16).

The theory of the origin of the medieval castle from burgi, while operating on a number of valuable facts and interesting considerations, still suffers from schematism and does not take into account the cultural interactions with which the development of the medieval castle is associated. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

We have already given a description of a fortified front with two lines of defense. It applies equally to the French fortifications of Andely and Carcassoia, to the Syrian castles of Krak and Tortosa and to the Byzantine fortifications of Constantinople or, going back to antiquity, to the fortified places of Iran and Chaldea. All data suggests that. these construction techniques - as ancient as Asian civilization itself - were introduced by the Crusaders.

Local options. - However, different countries, inspired by the traditional principles of the East, managed to give military architecture their own special character: just as religious art has its own schools and successively changing centers, fortress architecture also has its own centers.

In the 11th century, during the era of William the Conqueror, fortress construction apparently awakened in Normandy. From there it is transferred to Touraine, Poitou and England.

In the 12th century, when the “holy land” was conquered by the crusaders, the classic country of fortification was Palestine. Here, in the most colossal fortresses that the Middle Ages left us, the system apparently took shape, the principles of which were brought to France by Richard the Lionheart.

Then, during the 13th century, the center moved to Ile de France, from where religious art was already spreading. Here the type of medieval castle finally takes shape, and here we find its most complete application; It was in central France that it was built in the 13th century. Coucy castle, at the end of the 14th century - Pierrefonds and Ferte Milon. The fortifications of Carcassonne and Aigues Mortes, built under the administration of the royal seneschals, belong to the same school.

Choisy establishes three stages, three stages in the development of the medieval castle: the first, as indicated, is the period of influence of Byzantium, the second is the period of the spread throughout Europe of the type of castle that developed in Normandy, and finally, the third is the time of the influence of fortifications in Syria and Palestine, even Iran; local variants include the castles of Ile de France (XIII century), the type of which spread throughout France in the XIII-XIV centuries. Thus, following Choisy, we can talk about the fourth stage - the period of influence of Ile de France. On the continuity between the indicated structures of the 12th-13th centuries. and buildings of the 11th century. and earlier Choisy is silent, since this would contradict the theory he accepted.

The question of the origin of the medieval castle is one of the particulars of the problem of the formation of medieval architecture and should be resolved in the same plane as questions relating to the formation of other architectural types, in particular religious buildings - Western European basilicas. Mastering the ancient heritage and the heritage of various “new” peoples (in particular the Normans) who conquered Europe, the new class - the feudal lords - adapted the remaining burgi to the needs of housing and to the tasks of defense and attack in conditions of feudal war. Among the typological diversity of burgi or turres, the square tower begins to displace other forms, but at the same time it itself changes its shape: the type of rectangular tower with its own characteristics becomes predominant. Medieval castles began to be built in this essentially new type in the 9th-10th centuries; at first these were predominantly wooden structures, then stone ones, which, throughout their development, could not help but adopt a number of features of similar buildings in other countries (cf. the change from the T-shaped basilica, the so-called early Christian one, to the cruciform basilica of the Romanesque style). The continuity (but not borrowing) of the medieval castle and the late Roman castella and burg is emphasized in the names of the castle: in Germany “Burg”, in England - “Castle”. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

Fortifications closest to the French type are found in the German countries: Landeck, Trifels and Nuremberg. Flank cover is more rare here; with this exception, the general system remains the same.

In England, the castle initially followed the tower (donjon) shape of the Norman fortress. But, as the feudal regime gives way to the authority of the central government, the castle turns into a villa, the buildings of which are located in a barely fenced space and which has been built since the 14th century. preserves only the decorative side of defense structures.

In Italy the fortress has a simpler form: the towers are usually square or octagonal, the plans are regular, as in the castle of Frederick III, known as Castel del Monte; in the latter, all buildings are inscribed in an octagonal plan, with towers at eight corners.

The Neapolitan castle was a square fort with attached towers. In Milan, where the dukes were related to the great builder of fortresses, Louis of Orleans, there was a castle, the plan of which was generally close to the French type. In general, Italy since the 15th century. is an agglomeration of small republics. The monuments of its military architecture are mainly city walls and fortified municipal town halls, rather than castles.

The Milan castle, whose plan is close to a square (rectangular), is equipped with towers both in the corners and for flank defense. In establishing the distance between the towers and in other features, the instructions of Vitruvius were apparently used, but taking into account the new conditions of defense in connection with the introduction of firearms. Vitruvius in "De Architectura", book 1, chapter V. says:

"2. Next, the towers must be taken out beyond the outer part of the wall, so that during an attack the enemies can be hit from the right and left with throwing projectiles on their sides facing the towers. The main thing to take care of is that the approach to the wall during an attack is not easy, for why circle it along the edge of the steep so that the roads to the gate do not lead straight, but from the left? For if this is done this way, the attackers will find themselves facing the wall with their right tank, an unprotected shield. The outline of the city should not be rectangular and not with. with protruding corners, but rounded so that the enemy can be observed from several places at once. Cities with protruding corners are difficult to defend, since the corners serve more as cover for enemies than for citizens.

3. The thickness of the walls, in my opinion, should be such that two armed men walking along them towards each other could disperse without hindrance. Then, through the entire thickness of the walls, beams from burnt olive wood should be laid as often as possible, so that the wall, connected on both sides by these beams, like clamps, forever retains its strength: for such a forest cannot be damaged by either rot, bad weather, or time, but even buried in the ground and immersed in water, it is preserved without any damage and remains always usable. So, this applies not only to city walls, but also to retaining structures, and all those walls that should be built to the thickness of city walls, being fastened in this way, will not soon be destroyed.

4. The distances between the towers should be made so that they are no further than the flight of an arrow from one another, so that it is possible to repel an enemy attack on any of them with scorpions and other throwing weapons, shooting from the towers both from the right and from the left side. And the wall adjacent to the internal parts of the towers must be separated by intervals equal to the width of the towers, and transitions in the internal parts of the towers must be made of paving stones and without iron fastenings. For if the enemy occupies any part of the wall, then the besieged will break such a platform and, if they manage quickly, will not allow the enemy to penetrate the remaining parts of the towers and walls without the risk of falling headlong.

5. Towers should be made round or polygonal, because quadrangular ones are more likely to be destroyed by siege weapons, because the blows of rams break off their corners, while when they are rounded, they, as if driving wedges to the center, cannot cause damage. At the same time, the fortifications of the walls and towers turn out to be most reliable when connected to earthen ramparts, since neither rams, nor mines, nor other military weapons can damage them."

For an illustration of the Milan Castle, see the book Bartenev S.P., Moscow Kremlin, 1912, vol. 1, pp. 35 and 36. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

The Italian school apparently had a fairly strong influence on southern France: The connection between the two countries was established by the Angevin dynasty. The castle of King René in Tarascon was built on the same plan as the Neapolitan castle; The papal palace at Avignon, with its large square towers, is in many ways reminiscent of an Italian fortress.

The influence of firearms. - The defense system we described, designed almost exclusively for assault, for undermining with a grapple or for a frontal attack with ladders, seemed to have to be abandoned. From the moment when firearms made it possible to attack from long distances. But this did not happen. The cannon has appeared on the battlefield since 1346; but for a whole century the defense system did not take this new force into account, which can be explained by the slow development of siege artillery. The most skilful application of the medieval defense system dates back to this transitional age; the great era of battlemented defense coincides with the period of internal unrest in the reign of Charles VI. Pierrefonds dates back to around 1400.

In the Pierrefonds castle, as can be seen in the illustration in Choisy's book, there are not only corner towers, but there are also towers in the walls, in the middle of each side of the fortress. These intermediate towers are essential for flank defense and give some reason to assume that Vitruvius' instructions were taken into account not only in Italy, but also in Northern Europe. approx. ON THE. Kozhin

The only innovation, the appearance of which was caused by new means of attack, consisted of small earthen embankments that covered the guns and were placed in front of walls with towers and machicolations.

At first glance, one method of defense seems to exclude the other, but the engineers of the 15th century. judged differently.

In those days, the cannon was still too imperfect a weapon to destroy walls from afar, despite the enormous size of the projectiles it threw. To make a hole, individual blows are not enough; accurate shooting must be concentrated at a certain point; but the aim was not accurate, and the shooting caused only a concussion, which could destroy the parapet, but not make a breach. They only fired “bombs”, and their impact on the wall was of little danger. The high walls were able to withstand the action of this rudimentary artillery for a long time. The means used in Pierrefonds were sufficient: batteries installed in front of the walls kept the attacker at a distance. If the enemy crossed the line of fire of the forward batteries, then he had to place his artillery under fire from the fortress or conduct a tunnel; in the first case, the advantage was given to the defenders by mounted shooting from the crest of the fortress walls, in the other, the Gothic fortification completely retained its significance.

The resulting combination of the two systems continues to exist until the firearms acquire sufficient accuracy of sight to make holes at a distance.

Among the first fortresses that had platforms or casemates for firing guns, one should name: in France - Langres; in Germany - Lübeck and Nuremberg; in Switzerland - Basel; in Italy, the Milan Castle, in which bastions with casemates covered curtains, also equipped with massive towers with machicolations.

In the 16th century earthworks are considered almost the only serious defense; They stop counting on the towers, and the further they go, the wider the windows are cut into their walls. However, they continue to be preserved - especially in those countries where the feudal system has left its deep imprint - external forms of the defense system, which, in essence, have already been abandoned: the castle of Amboise with massive towers was built under Charles VII, Chaumont - under Louis XII, Chambord - under Francis I.

The traditional parts of the castle are adapted, as far as possible, for another purpose: inside the Chaumont castle round towers there are more or less well-fitted square rooms; in the Chateau de Chambord the towers serve as offices or staircases; the machicolations turned into a dull arcature. These are completely free decorative options based on ancient fortress architecture.

A new society has been created, the needs of which are no longer satisfied by medieval art - it needs new architecture. The general foundations of this new architecture will be created in accordance with the new requirements, and the forms will be borrowed from Italy. This will be the Renaissance.

Auguste Choisy. History of architecture. Auguste Choisy. Histoire De L'Architecture

After all, medieval architects were geniuses - they built castles, luxurious buildings that were also extremely practical. Castles, unlike modern mansions, not only demonstrated the wealth of their owners, but also served as powerful fortresses that could hold a defense for several years, and at the same time life in them did not stop.

Even the very fact that many castles, having survived wars, natural disasters and the carelessness of their owners, still stand intact, suggests that more reliable housing has not yet been invented. They are also incredibly beautiful and seem to have appeared in our world from the pages of fairy tales and legends. Their tall spiers remind of the times when the hearts of beauties were fought for, and the air was saturated with chivalry and courage.

Reichsburg Castle, Germany

The thousand-year-old castle was originally the residence of King Conrad III of Germany and then King Louis XIV of France. The fortress was burned by the French in 1689 and would have sunk into oblivion, but a German businessman acquired its remains in 1868 and spent most of his wealth to restore the castle.

Mont Saint Michel, France

Swallow's Nest, Crimea

Initially, there was a small wooden house on the rock of Cape Ai-Todor. And its current appearance " bird home"received thanks to the oil industrialist Baron Steingel, who loved to vacation in Crimea. He decided to build a romantic castle that resembles medieval buildings on the banks of the Rhine River.

Castle Stalker, Scotland

Castle Stalker, which means "Falconer", was built in 1320 and belonged to the MacDougall clan. Since that time, its walls have survived a huge number of strife and wars, which affected the condition of the castle. In 1965, the owner of the castle became Colonel D. R. Stewart from Allward, who personally, together with his wife, family members and friends, restored the structure.

Bran Castle, Romania

Bran Castle is the pearl of Transylvania, a mysterious fort museum where the famous legend of Count Dracula - the vampire, murderer and commander Vlad the Impaler - was born. According to legend, he spent the night here during his campaigns, and the forest surrounding Bran Castle was Tepes’s favorite hunting ground.

Vyborg Castle, Russia

Vyborg Castle was founded by the Swedes in 1293, during one of the crusades against Karelian land. It remained Scandinavian until 1710, when the troops of I drove the Swedes far and long. From that time on, the castle managed to be a warehouse, a barracks, and even a prison for the Decembrists. And today there is a museum here.

Cashel Castle, Ireland

Cashel Castle was the seat of the kings of Ireland for several hundred years before the Norman invasion. Here in the 5th century AD. e. Saint Patrick lived and preached. The castle walls witnessed the bloody suppression of the revolution by the troops of Oliver Cromwell, who burned soldiers alive here. Since then, the castle has become a symbol of the cruelty of the British, the true courage and fortitude of the Irish.

Kilhurn Castle, Scotland

The very beautiful and even slightly creepy ruins of Kilhurn Castle are located on the shore picturesque lake Eive. The history of this castle, unlike most castles in Scotland, proceeded quite calmly - numerous earls lived here, who replaced each other. In 1769 the building was damaged by lightning and was soon abandoned, as it remains to this day.

Lichtenstein Castle, Germany

Built in the 12th century, this castle was destroyed several times. It was finally restored in 1884 and since then the castle has become a filming location for many films, including The Three Musketeers.

The Middle Ages in Europe were a turbulent time. The feudal lords, for any reason, organized small wars among themselves - or rather, not even wars, but, to put it modern language, armed “showdowns”. If a neighbor had money, it had to be taken away.

Lots of land and peasants? This is simply indecent, because God ordered sharing. And if knightly honor was affected, then it was simply impossible to do without a small victorious war.

Initially, these fortifications were made of wood and did not resemble the castles we know in any way - except that a ditch was dug in front of the entrance and a wooden palisade was placed around the house.

The manorial courts of Hasterknaup and Elmendorv are the ancestors of the castles.

However, progress did not stand still - with the development of military affairs, the feudal lords had to modernize their fortifications so that they could withstand a massive assault using stone cannonballs and rams.

The besieged castle of Mortan (withstood the siege for 6 months).

Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.

Welcome

We are heading to the castle, which stands on a ledge of a mountain slope, at the edge of a fertile valley. The road goes through a small settlement - one of those that usually grew up near the fortress wall. Simple people live here - mostly artisans, and warriors guarding the outer perimeter of defense (in particular, guarding our road). These are the so-called “castle people”.

Scheme of castle structures. Note that there are two gate towers, the largest one standing separately.

The first obstacle is a deep ditch, and in front of it is a shaft of excavated earth. The moat can be transverse (separates the castle wall from the plateau) or crescent-shaped, curved forward. If the landscape allows, a moat encircles the entire castle in a circle.

The bottom shape of ditches could be V-shaped or U-shaped (the latter is the most common). If the soil under the castle is rocky, then ditches were either not made at all, or they were cut down to a shallow depth, preventing only the advance of infantry (it is almost impossible to dig under the castle wall in the rock - therefore the depth of the ditch was not of decisive importance).

The crest of the earthen rampart lying directly in front of the ditch (which makes it seem even deeper) often carried a palisade - a fence made of wooden stakes dug into the ground, pointed and tightly fitted to each other.

A bridge spanning a moat leads to the outer wall of the castle. Depending on the size of the ditch and bridge, the latter is supported by one or more supports (huge logs). The outer part of the bridge is fixed, but the last section (right next to the wall) is movable.

Scheme of the entrance to the castle: 2 - gallery on the wall, 3 - drawbridge, 4 - grate.

Counterweights on the gate lift.

This drawbridge is designed so that in a vertical position it covers the gate. The bridge is powered by mechanisms hidden in the building above them. From the bridge to the lifting machines, ropes or chains go into the wall openings. To facilitate the work of people servicing the bridge mechanism, the ropes were sometimes equipped with heavy counterweights, taking part of the weight of this structure on themselves.

Of particular interest is the bridge, which worked on the principle of a swing (it is called “tipping” or “swinging”). One half of it was inside - lying on the ground under the gate, and the other stretched across the ditch. When the inner part rose, covering the entrance to the castle, the outer part (which the attackers sometimes already managed to run into) sank down into the ditch, where the so-called “wolf pit” was built (sharp stakes dug into the ground), invisible from the outside until the bridge is down.

To enter the castle when the gates were closed, there was a side gate next to them, to which a separate lift ladder was usually laid.

The gate is the most vulnerable part of the castle; it was usually not made directly into its wall, but was located in the so-called “gate towers”. Most often, the gates were double-leaf, and the doors were knocked together from two layers of boards. To protect against arson, they were lined with iron on the outside. At the same time, in one of the doors there was a small narrow door that could only be passed through by bending over. In addition to locks and iron bolts, the gate was closed by a transverse beam lying in the wall channel and sliding into the opposite wall. The cross beam could also be inserted into hook-shaped slots on the walls. Its main purpose was to protect the goal from being attacked by attackers.

Behind the gate there was usually a lowering grate. Most often it was made of wood, with lower ends bound in iron. But there were also iron gratings made from steel tetrahedral rods. The lattice could descend from a gap in the arch of the gate portal, or be located behind them (on the inside of the gate tower), descending along grooves in the walls.

The grate hung on ropes or chains, which in case of danger could be cut off so that it would quickly fall down, blocking the path of the invaders.

Inside the gate tower there were rooms for guards. They kept watch on the upper platform of the tower, asked the guests the purpose of their visit, opened the gates, and, if necessary, could shoot with a bow all those who passed under them. For this purpose, in the arch of the gate portal there were vertical loopholes, as well as “resin noses” - holes for pouring hot resin onto the attackers.

All on the wall!

Zwinger at Lanek Castle.

At the top of the wall there was a gallery for defense soldiers. On the outside of the castle they were protected by a strong parapet of half human height, on which stone battlements were regularly located. You could stand behind them at full height and, for example, load a crossbow. The shape of the teeth was extremely varied - rectangular, round, swallowtail-shaped, decoratively decorated. In some castles, the galleries were covered (wooden canopy) to protect the soldiers from the weather.

A special type of loophole is a ball loophole. It was a freely rotating wooden ball fixed to the wall with a slot for firing.

Pedestrian gallery on the wall.

Balconies (the so-called “machiculi”) were installed in the walls very rarely - for example, in the case when the wall was too narrow for the free passage of several soldiers, and, as a rule, performed only decorative functions.

At the corners of the castle, small towers were built on the walls, most often flanking (that is, protruding outward), which allowed the defenders to fire along the walls in two directions. In the late Middle Ages, they began to be adapted for storage. The inner sides of such towers (facing the castle courtyard) were usually left open so that an enemy who broke into the wall could not gain a foothold inside them.

Flanking corner tower.

Castle from the inside

The internal structure of the locks was varied. In addition to the mentioned zwingers, behind the main gate there could be a small rectangular courtyard with loopholes in the walls - a kind of “trap” for attackers. Sometimes castles consisted of several “sections” separated by internal walls. But an indispensable attribute of the castle was a large courtyard (outbuildings, a well, rooms for servants) and a central tower, also known as the “donjon”.

Donjon at Vincennes Castle.

The location of the water source depended primarily on natural causes. But if there was a choice, then the well was dug not in the square, but in a fortified room, in order to provide it with water in case of shelter during a siege. If, due to the nature of the occurrence of groundwater, a well was dug behind the castle wall, then a stone tower was built above it (if possible, with wooden passages into the castle).

When there was no way to dig a well, a cistern was built in the castle to collect rainwater from the roofs. Such water needed purification - it was filtered through gravel.

Military garrison of castles in Peaceful time was minimal. So in 1425, two co-owners of the castle of Reichelsberg in the Lower Franconian Aube entered into an agreement that each of them would provide one armed servant, and pay two gatekeepers and two guards together.

Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.

Inside the tower there was sometimes a very high shaft going from top to bottom. It served either as a prison or a warehouse. Entry into it was possible only through a hole in the vault of the upper floor - “Angstloch” (German - terrifying hole). Depending on the purpose of the mine, the winch lowered prisoners or provisions into it.

If there were no prison premises in the castle, then the prisoners were placed in large wooden boxes made of thick boards, too small to stand up to their full height. These boxes could be installed in any room of the castle.

Of course, they were taken prisoner primarily to obtain a ransom or to use the prisoner in a political game. Therefore, VIPs were provided with the highest class - guarded chambers in the tower were allocated for their maintenance. This is exactly how Frederick the Handsome “spent his time” at the castle of Trausnitz on Pfeimde and Richard the Lionheart in Trifels.

Chamber at Marksburg Castle.

Abenberg Castle tower (12th century) in section.

At the base of the tower there was a basement, which could also be used as a dungeon, and a kitchen with a pantry. The main hall (dining room, common room) occupied an entire floor and was heated by a huge fireplace (it distributed heat only a few meters, so iron baskets with coals were placed further along the hall). Above were the chambers of the feudal lord's family, heated by small stoves.

Sometimes the donjon did not serve as a living space. It could well have been used only for military-economic purposes (observation posts on the tower, dungeon, food storage). In such cases, the feudal lord’s family lived in the “palace” - the living quarters of the castle, standing apart from the tower. The palaces were built of stone and had several floors in height.

It should be noted that the living conditions in the castles were far from the most pleasant. Only the largest palaces had a large knightly hall for celebrations. It was very cold in the dungeons and palaces. Fireplace heating helped, but the walls were still covered with thick tapestries and carpets - not for decoration, but to preserve heat.

The windows let in very little sunlight (this was due to the fortification nature of the castle architecture); not all of them were glazed. Toilets were arranged in the form of a bay window in the wall. They were unheated, so visiting the outhouse in winter left people with a unique feeling.

Large temples had two floors. Commoners prayed below, and gentlemen gathered in a warm (sometimes glassed-in) choir on the second tier. The decoration of such rooms was quite modest - an altar, benches and wall paintings. Sometimes the temple served as a tomb for the family living in the castle. Less often it was used as a refuge (along with the donjon).

War on earth and underground

To take the castle, it was necessary to isolate it - that is, to block all food supply routes. That is why the attacking armies were much larger than the defending ones - about 150 people (this is true for a war of mediocre feudal lords).

The issue of provisions was the most painful. A person can live without water for several days, without food - about a month (one should take into account his low combat effectiveness during a hunger strike). Therefore, the owners of a castle preparing for a siege often took extreme measures - they drove out all the commoners who could not benefit the defense. As mentioned above, the garrison of the castles was small - it was impossible to feed an entire army under siege conditions.

The attackers had no less problems. The siege of castles sometimes lasted for years (for example, the German Turant defended from 1245 to 1248), so the question of logistics for an army of several hundred people arose especially acutely.

In the case of the siege of Turant, chroniclers claim that during all this time the soldiers of the attacking army drank 300 fuders of wine (a fuder is a huge barrel). This amounts to about 2.8 million liters. Either the census taker made a mistake, or the constant number of besiegers was more than 1000 people.

View of Eltz Castle from Trutz-Eltz Counter-Castle.

The war against castles had its own specifics. After all, any more or less high stone fortification presented a serious obstacle to conventional armies. Direct infantry attacks on the fortress could well be crowned with success, which, however, came at the cost of great casualties.

That is why, in order to successfully capture the castle, a whole complex of military measures was necessary (the siege and starvation have already been mentioned above). One of the most labor-intensive, but at the same time extremely successful ways to overcome the castle’s defenses was undermining.

Undermining was done for two purposes - to provide troops with direct access to the castle's courtyard or to destroy a section of its wall.

So, during the siege of the Altwindstein castle in Northern Alsace in 1332, a brigade of sappers of 80 (!) people took advantage of the diversionary maneuvers of their troops (periodic short attacks on the castle) and within 10 weeks made a long passage in solid rock to the south-eastern part fortresses

If the castle wall was not too large and had an unreliable wall, then a tunnel was dug under its base, the walls of which were strengthened with wooden struts. Next, the spacers were set on fire - just under the wall. The tunnel was collapsing, the base of the foundation was sagging, and the wall above this place was falling apart.

Curious devices were used to detect tunnels. For example, large copper bowls with balls inside were placed throughout the castle. If a ball in any bowl began to tremble, this was a sure sign that a tunnel was being mined nearby.

But the main argument in attacking the castle were siege engines - catapults and rams.

Storming of the castle (14th century miniature).

A type of catapult is a trebuchet.

Sometimes the catapults were loaded with barrels filled with flammable materials. To give the defenders of the castle a couple of pleasant minutes, catapults threw the severed heads of prisoners to them (especially powerful machines could even throw whole corpses over the wall).

Storming the castle using a mobile tower.

In addition to the usual ram, pendulum ones were also used. They were mounted on high mobile frames with a canopy and looked like a log suspended on a chain. The besiegers hid inside the tower and swung the chain, causing the log to hit the wall.

In response, the besieged lowered a rope from the wall, at the end of which steel hooks were attached. With this rope they caught the ram and tried to lift it up, depriving it of mobility. Sometimes an unwary soldier could get caught on such hooks.

Having overcome the rampart, broken the palisades and filled in the ditch, the attackers either stormed the castle using ladders or used tall wooden towers, the upper platform of which was flush with the wall (or even higher than it). These gigantic structures were doused with water to prevent the defenders from setting them on fire and were rolled up to the castle along a plank flooring. A heavy platform was thrown over the wall. The assault group climbed up the internal stairs, went out onto the platform and fought into the gallery of the fortress wall. Usually this meant that in a couple of minutes the castle would be taken.

Silent Sapa

Sapa (from the French sape, literally - hoe, saper - to dig) is a method of digging a ditch, trench or tunnel to approach its fortifications, used in the 16th-19th centuries. The switchback (quiet, secretive) and flying glanders are known. Work with a shift gland was carried out from the bottom of the original ditch without workers going to the surface, and with a flying gland - from the surface of the earth under the cover of a previously prepared protective embankment of barrels and bags of earth. In the 2nd half of the 17th century, specialists - sappers - appeared in the armies of a number of countries to perform such work.

The expression to act “on the sly” means: to sneak, slowly, unnoticed, to penetrate somewhere.

Fights on the castle stairs

From one floor of the tower it was possible to get to another only by a narrow and steep spiral staircase. The ascent along it was carried out only one after another - it was so narrow. At the same time, the warrior who went first could rely only on his own ability to fight, because the steepness of the turn was chosen in such a way that it was impossible to use a spear or long sword from behind the leader’s back. Therefore, the battles on the stairs were reduced to single combat between the defenders of the castle and one of the attackers. Namely the defenders, because they could easily replace each other, since there was a special extended area behind them.

Samurai castles

We know the least about exotic castles - for example, Japanese ones.

Stone castles began to be built at the end of the 16th century, taking into account European achievements in fortification. An indispensable feature of a Japanese castle are wide and deep artificial ditches with steep slopes that surrounded it on all sides. Usually they were filled with water, but sometimes this function was performed by a natural water barrier - a river, lake, swamp.

Inside, the castle was a complex system of defensive structures, consisting of several rows of walls with courtyards and gates, underground corridors and labyrinths. All these structures were located around central square honmaru, on which the feudal lord's palace and the high central tenshukaku tower were erected. The latter consisted of several gradually decreasing rectangular tiers with protruding tiled roofs and pediments.

Japanese castles, as a rule, were small - about 200 meters long and 500 wide. But among them there were also real giants. Thus, Odawara Castle occupied an area of ​​170 hectares, and the total length of its fortress walls reached 5 kilometers, which is twice the length of the walls of the Moscow Kremlin.

Ancient charm

French castle of Saumur (14th century miniature).

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The Norman Conquest of England led to a boom in castle building, but the process of creating a fortress from scratch is far from simple. If you want to start building a fortress yourself, then you should familiarize yourself with the tips given.

It is extremely important to build your castle on high ground and at a strategic point.

Castles were usually built on natural elevations, and were usually equipped with a link connecting them with the external environment, such as a ford, bridge or passage.

Historians have rarely been able to find evidence from contemporaries regarding the choice of location for the construction of the castle, but they still exist. On September 30, 1223, 15-year-old King Henry III arrived in Montgomery with his army. The king, who had successfully carried out a military campaign against the Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, was planning to build a new castle in this area to ensure security on the border of his possessions. The English carpenters had been given the task of preparing the wood a month earlier, but the king's advisers had only now determined the site for the construction of the castle.

After a careful survey of the area, they chose a point on the very edge of a ledge overlooking the Severn valley. According to the chronicler Roger of Wendover, this position "looked unassailable to anyone." He also noted that the castle was created “for the security of the region from frequent attacks by the Welsh.”

Tip: Identify places where the topography rises above transport routes: These are natural places for castles. Keep in mind that the design of the castle is determined by where it is built. For example, a castle will have a dry moat on a ledge of outcroppings.

2) Come up with a workable plan

You will need a master mason who can draw plans. An engineer knowledgeable in weapons will also come in handy.

Experienced soldiers may have their own ideas about the design of the castle, in terms of the shape of its buildings and their location. But it is unlikely that they will have the knowledge of specialists in design and construction.

To implement the idea, a master mason was required - an experienced builder, whose distinguishing feature was the ability to draw a plan. With an understanding of practical geometry, he used simple tools such as the ruler, square, and compass to create architectural plans. Master masons submitted a drawing with a building plan for approval, and during construction they supervised its construction.

When Edward II began building a huge residential tower at Knaresborough Castle in Yorkshire in 1307 for his favorite Piers Gaveston, he not only personally approved the plans created by the London master mason Hugh of Titchmarsh - probably made as a drawing - but also demanded regular reports on the construction . From the mid-16th century, a new group of professionals called engineers increasingly began to take on a role in drawing up plans and constructing fortifications. They had technical knowledge of the use and power of cannons, both for defense and attack on castles.

Tip: Plan the loopholes to provide a wide angle of attack. Shape them according to the weapon you're using: longbow archers need larger slopes, crossbowmen need smaller ones.

You will need thousands of people. And not all of them will necessarily come of their own free will.

The construction of the castle required enormous efforts. We have no documentary evidence of the construction of the first castles in England from 1066, but from the scale of many castles of that period it is clear why some chronicles claim that the English population was under pressure to build castles for their Norman conquerors. But from the later Middle Ages, some estimates with detailed information have reached us.

During the invasion of Wales in 1277, King Edward I began building a castle at Flint, north-east Wales. It was erected quickly, thanks to the rich resources of the crown. A month after the start of work, in August, 2,300 people were involved in the construction, including 1,270 diggers, 320 woodcutters, 330 carpenters, 200 masons, 12 blacksmiths and 10 charcoal burners. All of them were driven from the surrounding lands under an armed escort, who made sure that they did not desert from the construction site.

From time to time, foreign specialists could be involved in construction. For example, millions of bricks for the reconstruction of Tattershall Castle in Lincolnshire in the 1440s were supplied by a certain Baldwin “Docheman”, or Dutchman, that is, “Dutchman” - obviously a foreigner.

Tip: depending on size work force and the distance she had to travel, it may be necessary to provide them with accommodation at the construction site.

An unfinished castle on enemy territory is very vulnerable to attack.

To build a castle on enemy territory, you need to protect the construction site from attacks. For example, you can surround the construction site with wooden fortifications or a low stone wall. Such medieval defense systems sometimes remained after the construction of the building as an additional wall - as, for example, at Beaumaris Castle, the construction of which began in 1295.

Safe communication with the outside world for the delivery of building materials and supplies is also important. In 1277 Edward I dug a canal to the River Clwyd straight from the sea to the site of his new castle at Rydlan. The outer wall, built to protect the construction site, extended to the piers on the banks of the river.

Security problems can also arise when radically renovating an existing castle. When Henry II rebuilt Dover Castle in the 1180s, the work was carefully planned so that the fortifications would provide protection for the duration of the renovation. According to the surviving decrees, work on the inner wall of the castle began only when the tower was already sufficiently repaired so that guards could be on duty in it.

Tip: building materials for building a castle are large and voluminous. If possible, it is better to transport them by water, even if this means building a dock or canal.

When building a castle, you may have to move a significant amount of earth, which is not cheap.

It is often forgotten that the castle’s fortifications were built not only through architectural techniques, but also through landscape design. Huge resources were devoted to moving land. The scale of the Norman land work can be considered outstanding. For example, according to some estimates, the mound built in 1100 around Pleshy Castle in Essex required 24,000 man-days.

Some aspects of landscaping required considerable skill, especially the creation of water ditches. When Edward I rebuilt Tower of London in the 1270s, he hired a foreign specialist, Walter of Flanders, to create a huge tidal ditch. Digging the ditches under his direction cost £4,000, a staggering sum, almost a quarter of the cost of the entire project.

With the increasing role of cannons in siege art, the earth began to play an even more important role as an absorber of cannon shots. Interestingly, experience in moving large volumes of earth allowed some fortification engineers to find work as garden designers.

Tip: Reduce time and cost by excavating the stonework for your castle walls from the moats around it.

Carefully implement the mason's plan.

Using ropes of the required length and pegs, it was possible to mark the foundation of the building on the ground in full size. After the ditches for the foundation were dug, work began on the masonry. To save money, responsibility for construction was assigned to the senior mason instead of the master mason. Masonry in the Middle Ages was usually measured in rods, one English rod = 5.03 m. At Warkworth in Northumberland, one of the complex towers stands on a grid of rods, perhaps for the purpose of calculating construction costs.

Often the construction of medieval castles was accompanied by detailed documentation. In 1441-42 the tower of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire was destroyed and plans were drawn up for its successor on the ground. But for some reason the Prince of Stafford was dissatisfied. The king's master mason, Robert of Westerley, was sent to Tutbury where he held a meeting with two senior masons to design a new tower on a new site. Westerly then left, and over the next eight years a small group of workers, including four junior masons, built a new tower.

Senior masons could be called upon to certify the quality of the work, as was the case at Cooling Castle in Kent when the royal mason Heinrich Yewel assessed the work carried out from 1381 to 1384. He criticized deviations from the original plan and rounded down the estimate.

Tip: Don't let the master mason fool you. Make him make a plan so that it is easy to make an estimate.

Complete the construction with complex fortifications and specialized wooden structures.

Until the 12th century, the fortifications of most castles consisted of earth and logs. And although later preference was given to stone buildings, wood remained a very important material in medieval wars and fortifications.

Stone castles were prepared for attacks by adding special battle galleries along the walls, as well as shutters that could be used to cover the gaps between the battlements to protect the castle defenders. All this was made of wood. Heavy weapons used to defend the castle, catapults and heavy crossbows, springalds, were also built from wood. Artillery was usually designed by a highly paid professional carpenter, sometimes with the title of engineer, from the Latin "ingeniator".

Such experts were not cheap, but could end up being worth their weight in gold. This, for example, happened in 1266, when the castle of Kenilworth in Warwickshire resisted Henry III for almost six months with the help of catapults and water defense.

There are records of marching castles made entirely of wood - they could be carried with you and erected as needed. One of these was built for the French invasion of England in 1386, but the garrison of Calais captured it along with the ship. It was described as consisting of a wall of logs 20 feet high and 3,000 steps long. There was a 30-foot tower every 12 paces, capable of housing up to 10 soldiers, and the castle also had unspecified defenses for archers.

Tip: Oak wood becomes stronger over the years, and it is easiest to work with when it is green. The upper branches of trees are easy to transport and shape.

8) Provide water and sewerage

The most important aspect for the castle was efficient access to water. These could be wells that supplied water to certain buildings, for example, a kitchen or stable. Without a detailed knowledge of medieval well shafts, it is difficult to do them justice. For example, at Beeston Castle in Cheshire there is a well 100 m deep, the top 60 m of which is lined with cut stone.

There is some evidence of complex aqueducts that brought water to the apartments. The tower of Dover Castle has a system of lead pipes that delivers water to the rooms. It was fed from a well using a winch, and possibly from a rainwater collection system.

Effective disposal of human waste was another challenge for lock designers. Latrines were collected in one place in the buildings so that their shafts were emptied in one place. They were located in short corridors that trapped unpleasant odors, and were often equipped with wooden seats and removable covers.

Today, it is widely believed that restrooms used to be called “wardrobes.” In fact, the vocabulary for toilets was extensive and colorful. They were called gongs or gangs (from the Anglo-Saxon word for "place to go"), nooks and jakes (the French version of "john").

Tip: Ask a master mason to design comfortable and private latrines outside the bedroom, following the example of Henry II and Dover Castle.

The castle not only had to be well guarded - its inhabitants, having a high status, demanded a certain chic.

During war, the castle must be defended - but it also serves as a luxurious home. Noble gentlemen of the Middle Ages expected their homes to be both comfortable and richly furnished. In the Middle Ages, these citizens traveled together with servants, things and furniture from one residence to another. But home interiors often had fixed decorative features, such as stained glass windows.

Henry III's tastes in furnishings are recorded very carefully, with interesting and attractive detail. In 1235-36, for example, he ordered his hall at Winchester Castle to be decorated with images of the world map and the wheel of fortune. Since then, these decorations have not survived, but the well-known round table of King Arthur, created perhaps between 1250 and 1280, remains in the interior.

The large area of ​​the castles played an important role in luxurious life. Parks were created for hunting, a jealously guarded privilege of aristocrats; gardens were also in demand. The extant description of the construction of Kirby Muxloe Castle in Leicestershire says that its owner, Lord Hastings, began laying out gardens at the very beginning of the castle's construction in 1480.

In the Middle Ages they also loved rooms with beautiful views. One group of 13th-century rooms in the castles of Leeds in Kent, Corfe in Dorset and Chepstow in Monmotshire were called gloriettes (from the French gloriette - a diminutive of the word glory) for their magnificence.

Tip: The interior of the castle should be luxurious enough to attract visitors and friends. Entertainment can win battles without having to expose oneself to the dangers of combat.

There are few things in the world more interesting than the knightly castles of the Middle Ages: these majestic fortresses breathe evidence of distant eras with grandiose battles, they have seen both the most perfect nobility and the most vile betrayal. And not only historians and military experts are trying to unravel the secrets of ancient fortifications. The Knight's Castle is of interest to everyone - the writer and the layman, the avid tourist and the simple housewife. This is, so to speak, a mass artistic image.

How the idea was born

A very turbulent time - in addition to major wars, the feudal lords were constantly fighting with each other. Like a neighbor, so it doesn't get boring. The aristocrats fortified their homes against invasion: at first they would only dig a ditch in front of the entrance and put up a wooden palisade. As they gained siege experience, the fortifications became more and more powerful - so that they could withstand rams and were not afraid of stone cannonballs. In antiquity, this is how the Romans surrounded their army with a palisade while on vacation. The Normans began to build stone structures, and only in the 12th century did the classic European knightly castles of the Middle Ages appear.

Transformation into a fortress

Gradually the castle turned into a fortress; it was surrounded by a stone wall into which tall towers. The main goal is to make knight's castle inaccessible to attackers. At the same time, be able to monitor the entire area. The castle must have its own source of drinking water - in case a long siege awaits.

The towers were built in such a way as to hold off any number of enemies for as long as possible, even alone. For example, they are narrow and so steep that the warrior coming second cannot help the first in any way - neither with a sword nor with a spear. And you had to climb them counterclockwise so as not to cover yourself with a shield.

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Imagine a mountainside on which a knight's castle is built. Photo attached. Such structures were always built at a height, and if there was no natural suitable landscape, they made a bulk hill.

A knight's castle in the Middle Ages was not only about knights and feudal lords. Near and around the castle there were always small settlements where all kinds of artisans settled and, of course, warriors guarding the perimeter.

Those walking along the road always face their right side towards the fortress, the side that cannot be covered by a shield. There is no tall vegetation - there is no hiding. The first obstacle is the ditch. It can be around the castle or across between the castle wall and the plateau, even crescent-shaped, if the terrain allows.

There are dividing ditches even within the castle: if the enemy suddenly managed to break through, movement will be very difficult. If the soil is rocky, a ditch is not needed and digging under the wall is impossible. The earthen rampart directly in front of the ditch was often surrounded by a palisade.

The bridge to the outer wall was made in such a way that the defense of a knight's castle in the Middle Ages could last for years. It's liftable. Either the whole thing or its extreme segment. In the raised position - vertically - this is additional protection for the gate. If part of the bridge was raised, the other was automatically lowered into the ditch, where a “wolf pit” was set up - a surprise for the most hasty attackers. The knight's castle in the Middle Ages was not hospitable to everyone.

Gate and gate tower

The knightly castles of the Middle Ages were most vulnerable precisely in the area of ​​the gate. Latecomers could enter the castle through the side gate via a lifting ladder if the bridge was already raised. The gates themselves were most often not built into the wall, but were located in gate towers. Usually double doors, made of several layers of boards, were sheathed with iron to protect against arson.

Locks, bolts, cross beams sliding across the opposite wall - all this helped hold out the siege for quite a long time. In addition, behind the gate there was usually a strong iron or wooden grille. This is how knightly castles of the Middle Ages were equipped!

The gate tower was designed so that the guards guarding it could find out from the guests the purpose of the visit and, if necessary, treat them with an arrow from a vertical loophole. For a real siege, there were also holes built in for boiling resin.

Defense of a knight's castle in the Middle Ages

The most important defensive element. It should be tall, thick and better if it is on the base at an angle. The foundation under it is as deep as possible - in case of undermining.

Sometimes there is a double wall. Next to the first high one, the inner one is small, but impregnable without devices (ladders and poles that remained outside). The space between the walls - the so-called zwinger - is shot through.

The outer wall at the top is equipped for the defenders of the fortress, sometimes even with a canopy from the weather. The teeth on it existed not only for beauty - it was convenient to hide behind them at full height in order to reload, for example, a crossbow.

The loopholes in the wall were adapted for both archers and crossbowmen: narrow and long for a bow, widened for a crossbow. Ball loopholes - a fixed but rotating ball with a slot for firing. Balconies were built mainly for decorative purposes, but if the wall was narrow, they were used by retreating and allowing others to pass.

Medieval knight's towers were almost always built with convex towers at the corners. They protruded outward to fire along the walls in both directions. The inner side was open so that the enemy, who penetrated the walls, would not gain a foothold inside the tower.

What's inside?

In addition to the Zwingers, other surprises could await uninvited guests outside the gates. For example, a small closed courtyard with loopholes in the walls. Sometimes castles were built from several autonomous sections with strong internal walls.

Inside the castle there was always a courtyard with household facilities - a well, a bakery, a bathhouse, a kitchen and a donjon - the central tower. Much depended on the location of the well: not only the health, but also the life of the besieged. It happened that (remember that the castle, if not just on a hill, then on the rocks) cost more than all the other buildings of the castle. The Thuringian castle Kuffhäuser, for example, has a well more than one hundred and forty meters deep. In the rock!

Central tower

Donjon - the most tall building castle From there the surrounding area was monitored. And it is the central tower that is the last refuge of the besieged. The most reliable! The walls are very thick. The entrance is extremely narrow and located at a high altitude. The stairs leading to the door could be pulled in or destroyed. Then the knight's castle can hold a siege for quite a long time.

At the base of the donjon there was a basement, a kitchen, and a storage room. Next came floors with stone or wooden floors. The stairs were made of wood; if they had stone ceilings, they could be burned to stop the enemy on the way.

The main hall was located on the entire floor. Heated by a fireplace. Above were usually the rooms of the castle owner's family. There were small stoves decorated with tiles.

At the very top of the tower, most often open, there is a platform for a catapult and, most importantly, a banner! Medieval knightly castles were distinguished not only by chivalry. There were cases when a knight and his family did not use the donjon for housing, having built a stone palace (palace) not far from it. Then the donjon served as a warehouse, even a prison.

And, of course, every knight's castle necessarily had a temple. The obligatory inhabitant of the castle is the chaplain. Often he is both a clerk and a teacher, in addition to his main job. In rich castles, churches were two-story, so that the gentlemen would not pray next to the mob. The owner's ancestral tomb was also built within the temple.