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, learned from 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.

The military garrison of castles in peacetime 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, first of all, 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 a 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 the central square of 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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For some reason, when the word “fairy tale” is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is medieval castles and fortresses. Maybe because they were built in those ancient times, when wizards walked freely through the fields and meadows, and fire-breathing dragons flew over the mountain peaks.

Be that as it may, even now, looking at the castles and fortresses that have been preserved here and there, one inevitably imagines princesses sleeping in them and evil fairies conjuring magic potions. Let's take a look at the once luxurious homes of the powers that be.

(German: Schloß Neuschwanstein, literally “New Swan Stone”) is located in Germany, near the town of Fussen (German: Fussen). The castle was founded in 1869 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Construction was completed in 1891, 5 years after the unexpected death of the king. The castle is magnificent and attracts curious tourists from all over the world with its beautiful architectural forms.

This is the “dream palace” of the young king, who was never able to see it realized in its full grandeur. Ludwig II of Bavaria, the founder of the castle, ascended the throne too young. And being a dreamy person, who imagined himself as the fairy-tale character Lohengrin, he decided to build his own castle in order to hide in it from the harsh reality of the defeat of Bavaria in an alliance with Austria in 1866 in the war with Prussia.

Having moved away from state concerns, the young king demanded too much from the army of architects, artists and craftsmen. Sometimes he set completely unrealistic deadlines, which required round-the-clock work by masons and carpenters. During construction, Ludwig II delved deeper into his fictional world, for which he was later declared crazy. The architectural design of the castle was constantly changing. So the guest quarters were eliminated and a small grotto was added. The small audience hall was transformed into the majestic Throne Hall.

A century and a half ago, Ludwig II of Bavaria tried to hide from people behind the walls of a medieval castle - today they come in millions to admire his fabulous refuge.

(German: Burg Hohenzollern) is an ancient castle-fortress in Baden-Württemberg, 50 km south of Stuttgart. The castle was built at an altitude of 855 m above sea level on the top of the Hohenzollern mountain. Only the third castle has survived to this day. The medieval castle fortress was first built in the 11th century and completely destroyed after its capture, at the end of a grueling siege by troops of the cities of Swabia in 1423.

On its ruins, a new fortress was built in 1454-1461, which served as a refuge for the House of Hohenzollern during the Thirty Years' War. Due to the complete loss of strategic importance by the fortress, by the end of the 18th century, the castle had noticeably deteriorated, and some parts of the building were finally dismantled.

The modern version of the castle was built in 1850-1867 on the personal instructions of King Frederick William IV, who decided to completely restore the ancestral castle of the Prussian royal house. The construction of the castle was led by the famous Berlin architect Friedrich August Stüler. He managed to combine new, large-scale castle buildings in the neo-Gothic style and the few surviving buildings of the former destroyed castles.

(Karlštejn), built by order of the Czech king and Emperor Charles IV (named in his honor) on a high limestone rock above the Berounka River, as a summer residence and storage place for the sacred relics of the royal family. The first stone for the foundation of Karlštejn Castle was laid by Archbishop Arnošt, close to the emperor, in 1348, and already in 1357 the construction of the castle was completed. Two years before the end of construction, Charles IV settled in the castle.

The stepped architecture of Karlštejn Castle, ending with a tower with a chapel of the Grand Cross, is quite common in the Czech Republic. The ensemble includes the castle itself, the Church of the Virgin Mary, the Catherine Chapel, the Great Tower, the Marian and Well Towers.

The majestic Studnicna Tower and the Imperial Palace, which housed the king’s chambers, take tourists back to the Middle Ages, when a powerful monarch ruled the Czech Republic.

Royal palace and fortress in the Spanish city of Segovia, in the province of Castile and Leon. The fortress was built on a high cliff above the confluence of the Eresma and Clamores rivers. Such a favorable location made it practically impregnable. Now it is one of the most recognizable and beautiful palaces in Spain. Originally built as a fortress, the Alcazar was at one time a royal palace, a prison, and a royal artillery academy.

The Alcazar, which was a small wooden fortress in the 12th century, was later rebuilt into a stone castle and became the most impregnable defensive structure. This palace became famous for great historically significant events: the coronation of Isabella the Catholic, her first marriage to King Ferdinand of Aragon, the wedding of Anne of Austria to Philip II.

(Castelul Peleş) was built by King Carol I of Romania near the city of Sinaia in the Romanian Carpathians. The king was so fascinated by the local beauty that he bought up the surrounding lands and built a castle for hunting and summer recreation. The name of the castle was given by a small mountain river that flowed nearby.

In 1873, construction began on a grandiose structure under the leadership of architect Johann Schulz. Along with the castle, other buildings necessary for a comfortable life were built: royal stables, guard houses, a hunting lodge and a power plant.

Thanks to the power plant, Peles became the first electrified castle in the world. The castle officially opened in 1883. At the same time, central heating and an elevator were installed. The construction was completely completed in 1914.

It is a symbol of the small city-state of San Marino on the territory of modern Italy. The beginning of the construction of the fortress is considered to be the 10th century AD. Guaita is the first of three San Marino fortresses built on the peaks of Monte Titano.

The structure consists of two rings of fortifications; the inner one has retained all the signs of forts from the feudal era. The main entrance gate was located at a height of several meters, and it was possible to pass through it only along a drawbridge, now destroyed. The fortress was restored many times in the 15th – 17th centuries.

Well, so we looked at some medieval castles and fortresses in Europe, of course, not all. Next time we will admire the fortresses on the tops of inaccessible cliffs. There are still so many interesting discoveries ahead!

When you think of medieval castles, picturesque walls covered in ivy, beautiful ladies in high towers and noble knights in shining armor come to mind. But it was not these sublime images that motivated the feudal lords to build impregnable walls with loopholes, but the harsh reality.

Who owned castles in the Middle Ages?

During the Middle Ages, Europe experienced many changes. After the collapse of the Roman Empire, the processes of resettlement of peoples began, new kingdoms and states emerged. All this was accompanied by constant conflicts and strife.

Nobleman-feudal lord, who had a knighthood, to protect himself from enemies, and they could even be his closest neighbors, was forced to strengthen his home as much as possible and build a castle.

Wikipedia suggests distinguishing between a castle and a fortress. Fortress - walled area land with houses and other buildings. The castle is smaller in size. This is a single structure that includes walls, towers, bridges and other structures.

The castle was the private fortress of a noble lord and his family. In addition to the direct function of protection, it was an indicator of power and well-being. But not all knights could afford it. The owner could be an entire knightly order - a community of warriors.

How and from what materials were medieval castles built?

Building a real castle was a time-consuming and costly procedure. All work was done by hand and sometimes lasted for decades.

Before construction began, it was necessary to select a suitable location. The most impenetrable castles were built on the cliffs of steep rocks. However, more often they chose a hill with an open view and a river nearby. The waterway was necessary to fill ditches and was also used as a route for transporting goods.

A deep ditch was dug on the ground and an embankment was formed. Then the walls were erected using scaffolding.

The challenge was building the well. We had to dig deep down or chisel the rock.

Selection of material for construction depended on many factors. Of decisive importance were:

terrain;
human resources;
budget.

If there was a quarry nearby, the structure was built from stone; otherwise, wood, sand, limestone or brick were used. For the outside we used facing materials, for example, processed stone. The wall elements were connected using lime mortar.

Although glass was known in those days, it was not used in castles. Narrow windows were covered with mica, leather or parchment. Inside the living quarters of the castle owners, the walls were often covered with frescoes and hung with tapestries. In the remaining rooms they limited themselves to a layer of lime or left the masonry untouched.

What elements did the castles consist of?

Exact lock configuration depended on local traditions, landscape, and wealth of the owner. Over time, new engineering solutions appeared. Previously built structures were often completed and rebuilt. Among all the Medieval fortifications, several traditional elements can be distinguished.

Ditch, bridge and gate

The castle was surrounded by a moat. If there was a river nearby, it was flooded. At the bottom they made wolf pits - depressions with stakes or sharp rods.

It was possible to get inside through the moat only with the help of a bridge. Huge logs served as supports. Part of the bridge rose and blocked the passage inside. The mechanism of the drawbridge was designed in such a way that 2 guards could handle it. In some castles the bridge had a swing mechanism.

The gates were double doors and closed a cross beam that slid into the wall. Although they were knocked together from several words of strong boards and upholstered with iron, the gates remained the most vulnerable part of the structure. They were protected by a gate tower with a guard room. The entrance to the castle turned into a long narrow passage with holes in the ceiling and walls. If the enemy was inside, a stream of boiling water or resin was poured on him.

In addition to wooden gates, there was often a lattice, which was closed using a winch and ropes. In an emergency, the ropes were cut off and the barrier fell sharply.

An additional element of gate protection was the barbican - walls extending from the gate. Opponents had to squeeze in into the passage between them under a hail of arrows.

Walls and towers

The height of the walls of the medieval fortification reached 25 meters. They had a powerful base and withstood the blows of battering guns. The deep foundation was designed to protect against undermining. The thickness of the walls decreased towards the top, they became sloping. At the top there was a platform behind the teeth. While on it, the defenders fired at enemies through slit-like openings, threw stones down or poured out tar.

Double walls were often built . Overcoming the first obstacle, the opponents found themselves in a narrow space in front of the second wall, where they became easy prey for archers.

At the corners of the perimeter there were watchtowers that protruded forward in relation to the wall. Inside they were divided into floors, each of which was a separate room. In large castles, the towers had a vertical partition for strengthening.

All the stairs in the towers were spiral and very steep. If the enemy penetrated into the internal territory, the defender had an advantage and could throw the aggressor down. Initially, the towers had a rectangular shape. But this interfered with the view during defense. They were replaced by round buildings.

Behind the main gate there was a narrow courtyard, which was well covered by fire.

Rest of interior space The castle was occupied by buildings. Among them:

In large knightly castles there was a vegetable garden, and sometimes a whole garden, inside.

The central and most fortified structure of any castle is the donjon tower. In the lower part there was a storage room with food supplies and an arsenal with weapons and equipment. Above there was a guard room and a kitchen. The upper part was occupied by the home of the owner and his family. A throwing weapon or catapult was installed on the roof. The outer walls of the donjon had small projections. There were restrooms there. The holes opened outwards and waste fell down. Underground passages could lead from the donjon to the shelter or neighboring buildings.

Mandatory elements of a castle in the Middle Ages there was a church or chapel. It could be located in the central tower or be a separate building.

The castle could not do without a well. Without a source of water, the inhabitants would not have lasted even a few days during the siege. The well was protected by a separate building.

Living conditions in the castle

The castle provided the need for security. However, its inhabitants often had to neglect other benefits.

Little light penetrated into the premises, since the windows were replaced by narrow loopholes, which were covered with dense materials. The living rooms were heated with fireplaces, but this did not save them from the dank damp and cold. In the harsh winter the walls froze through. Using latrines during the cold season was especially uncomfortable.

Residents often had to neglect hygiene. Most of the water from the well was used to maintain vital functions and care for animals.

Over time, the structure of castles became more complex and new elements appeared. However, the development of gunpowder weapons deprived castles of their main advantage - inaccessibility. They were replaced by fortresses with more complex engineering solutions.

Gradually, medieval castles, many of which have survived to this day, turned into architectural monuments and reminiscent of the era of chivalry.

You write about a baron in a castle - at least have a rough idea of how the castle was heated, how it was ventilated, how it was lit...
From an interview with G. L. Oldie

When we hear the word “castle,” our imagination conjures up an image of a majestic fortress - the hallmark of the fantasy genre. There is hardly any other architectural structure that would attract so much attention from historians, military experts, tourists, writers and lovers of “fairy-tale” fiction.

We play computer, board and role-playing games where we have to explore, build or capture impenetrable castles. But do we know what these fortifications actually are? What interesting stories are associated with them? What do the stone walls hide behind - witnesses of entire eras, grandiose battles, knightly nobility and vile betrayal?

Surprisingly, it is a fact - fortified dwellings of feudal lords in different parts of the world (Japan, Asia, Europe) were built according to very similar principles and had many common design features. But in this article we will focus primarily on medieval European feudal fortresses, since they served as the basis for the creation of a mass artistic image of a “medieval castle” as a whole.

Birth of a fortress

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, in 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.

Under such circumstances, the large aristocratic landowners had no choice but to strengthen their homes with the expectation that one fine day their neighbors might come to visit them, and if they don’t feed them bread, let them kill someone.

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

The European castle has its roots in antiquity. The earliest structures of this kind copied Roman military camps (tents surrounded by a palisade). It is generally accepted that the tradition of building gigantic (by the standards of that time) stone structures began with the Normans, and classic castles appeared in the 12th century.

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

The castle had very simple requirements - it must be inaccessible to the enemy, provide surveillance of the area (including the nearest villages belonging to the owner of the castle), have its own source of water (in case of a siege) and perform representative functions - that is, show the power and wealth of the feudal lord.

Beaumarie Castle, owned by Edward I.

Welcome

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

The road is laid in such a way that the newcomers always face the castle with their right side, not covered by a shield. Directly in front of the fortress wall there is a bare plateau lying at a significant slope (the castle itself stands on a hill - natural or embankment). The vegetation here is low so that there is no cover for attackers.

Sometimes dividing ditches were dug inside the castle, making it difficult for the enemy to move through its territory.

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

Counterweights on the gate lift.

Castle gate.

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 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.

Tar noses.

All on the wall!

The most important defensive element of the castle was the outer wall - high, thick, sometimes on an inclined base. Processed stones or bricks made up its outer surface. Inside it consisted of rubble stone and slaked lime. The walls were placed on a deep foundation, under which it was very difficult to dig.

Often double walls were built in castles - a high external one and a small internal one. An empty space appeared between them, which received the German name “zwinger”. The attackers, when overcoming the outer wall, could not take with them additional assault devices (bulky ladders, poles and other things that cannot be moved inside the fortress). Once in the zwinger in front of another wall, they became an easy target (there were small loopholes in the walls of the zwinger for archers).

Zwinger at Lanek Castle.

In addition to the battlements, behind which it was convenient to hide, the castle walls were equipped with loopholes. The attackers fired through them. Due to the peculiarities of using throwing weapons (freedom of movement and a certain shooting position), the loopholes for archers were long and narrow, and for crossbowmen they were short, with expansion on the sides.

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.

Flanking corner tower.

Castle from the inside

Donjon at Vincennes Castle.

The life of all the inhabitants of the castle directly depended on the presence and location of the well. Problems often arose with it - after all, as mentioned above, castles were built on hills. The solid rocky soil also did not make the task of supplying water to the fortress any easier. There are known cases of castle wells being laid to a depth of more than 100 meters (for example, Kuffhäuser Castle in Thuringia or the Königstein fortress in Saxony had wells more than 140 meters deep). Digging a well took from one to five years. In some cases, this consumed as much money as the entire interior of the castle cost.

Due to the fact that water had to be obtained with difficulty from deep wells, issues of personal hygiene and sanitation faded into the background. Instead of washing themselves, people preferred to care for animals - especially expensive horses. It is not surprising that townspeople and villagers wrinkled their noses in the presence of castle inhabitants.

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.

The castle also had a number of buildings that ensured the autonomous life of its inhabitants in conditions of complete isolation (blockade): a bakery, a steam bath, a kitchen, etc.

Kitchen at Marksburg Castle.

The tower was the tallest structure in the entire castle. It provided the ability to observe the surrounding area and served as a last refuge. When the enemies broke through all the defense lines, the population of the castle took refuge in the donjon and withstood a long siege.

The exceptional thickness of the walls of this tower made its destruction almost impossible (in any case, it would have taken a huge amount of time). The entrance to the tower was very narrow. It was located in the courtyard at a significant (6-12 meters) height. The wooden staircase leading inside could easily be destroyed and thereby block the attackers' path.

Entrance to the donjon.

Chamber at Marksburg Castle.

Abenberg Castle tower (12th century) in section.

At the very top of the tower there was an open (less often covered, but if necessary, the roof could be dropped) platform where a catapult or other throwing weapon could be installed to fire at the enemy. The standard (banner) of the owner of the castle was also erected there.

Castle toilet.

Concluding our “tour” of the castle, we cannot fail to mention that it necessarily had a room for worship (temple, chapel). The indispensable inhabitants of the castle included a chaplain or priest, who, in addition to his main duties, played the role of a clerk and teacher. In the most modest fortresses, the role of a temple was played by a wall niche where a small altar stood.

There are many tales told about underground passages in castles. Of course, there were moves. But very few of them led from the castle somewhere into the neighboring forest and could be used as an escape route. As a rule, there were no long moves at all. Most often there were short tunnels between individual buildings, or from the dungeon to a complex of caves under the castle (an additional shelter, warehouse or treasury).

War on earth and underground

Contrary to popular misconceptions, the average size of the military garrison of an ordinary castle during active hostilities rarely exceeded 30 people. This was quite enough for defense, since the inhabitants of the fortress were in relative safety behind its walls and did not suffer such losses as the attackers.

The inhabitants of the castle rarely launched counterattacks. This simply did not make sense - there were fewer of them than the attackers, and they felt much calmer behind the walls. A special case is forays for food. The latter were carried out, as a rule, at night, in small groups that walked along poorly guarded paths to the nearest villages.

The most preferred season for starving a castle was summer - there is less rain than in spring or autumn (in winter, the inhabitants of the castle could get water by melting snow), the crops were not yet ripe, and old supplies had already run out.

The attackers tried to deprive the castle of a source of water (for example, they built dams on the river). In the most extreme cases, “biological weapons” were used - corpses were thrown into the water, which could provoke outbreaks of epidemics throughout the area. Those inhabitants of the castle who were captured were mutilated by the attackers and released. They returned back and became unwitting parasites. They might not have been accepted at the castle, but if they were the wives or children of the besieged, then the voice of the heart outweighed considerations of tactical expediency.

The residents of the surrounding villages who tried to deliver supplies to the castle were treated no less cruelly. In 1161, during the siege of Milan, Frederick Barbarossa ordered the hands of 25 townspeople of Piacenza who were trying to supply food to their enemies to be cut off.

The besiegers set up a permanent camp near the castle. It also had some simple fortifications (palisades, earthen ramparts) in case of a sudden attack by the fortress’s defenders. For protracted sieges, a so-called “counter-castle” was built next to the castle. Usually it was located higher than the besieged one, which made it possible to conduct effective observation of the besieged from its walls and, if the distance allowed, to fire at them from throwing weapons.

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

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.

Thus, 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 over the course of 10 weeks made a long passage through solid rock into the south-eastern part of the fortress .

If the castle wall was not too large and had an unreliable foundation, 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.

Storming of the castle (14th century miniature).

Later, with the advent of gunpowder weapons, bombs were planted in tunnels under castle walls. To neutralize the undermining, the besieged sometimes dug counter-undermining. Enemy sappers were doused with boiling water, bees were released into the tunnel, feces were poured into it (and in ancient times, the Carthaginians released live crocodiles into Roman tunnels).

But the main argument in attacking the castle were siege engines - catapults and rams. The first were not much different from those catapults that were used by the Romans. These devices were equipped with a counterweight, which imparted the greatest force to the throwing arm. With proper dexterity of the “gun crew,” catapults were quite accurate weapons. They threw large, smoothly hewn stones, and the combat range (on average, several hundred meters) was regulated by the weight of the projectiles.

A type of catapult is a trebuchet.

Storming a castle using a mobile tower.

Silent Sapa

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

Fights on the castle stairs

In all castles, the stairs twist clockwise. There is only one castle with a reverse twist - the fortress of the Counts Wallenstein. When studying the history of this family, it was discovered that most of the men in it were left-handed. Thanks to this, historians realized that such a design of stairs greatly facilitates the work of the defenders. The most powerful blow with a sword can be delivered towards your left shoulder, and a shield in your left hand best covers your body from this direction. Only the defender has all these advantages. The attacker can only strike to the right side, but his striking hand will be pressed against the wall. If he puts his shield forward, he will almost lose the ability to use weapons.

Samurai castles

Himeji Castle.

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

Initially, samurai and their overlords lived on their estates, where, apart from the “yagura” watchtower and a small moat around the dwelling, there were no other defensive structures. In case of a protracted war, fortifications were erected in hard-to-reach areas of the mountains, where it was possible to defend against superior enemy forces.

Ancient charm

Castles are still being built today. Those that were state property are often returned to the descendants of ancient families. Castles are a symbol of the influence of their owners. They are an example of an ideal compositional solution, which combines unity (defense considerations did not allow the picturesque distribution of buildings throughout the territory), multi-level buildings (main and secondary) and the utmost functionality of all components. Elements of castle architecture have already become archetypes - for example, a castle tower with battlements: its image sits in the subconscious of any more or less educated person.

French castle of Saumur (14th century miniature).

And finally, we love castles because they are simply romantic. Knightly tournaments, ceremonial receptions, vile conspiracies, secret passages, ghosts, treasures - when applied to castles, all this ceases to be a legend and turns into history. The expression “the walls remember” fits perfectly here: it seems that every stone of the castle breathes and hides a secret. I would like to believe that medieval castles will continue to maintain an aura of mystery - because without it, sooner or later they will turn into an old pile of stones.