• In the gatehouse, the drawbridge and the portcullis were found. The drawbridge could be raised and lowered to control entry to the castle. It was raised at night and if the castle was under attack. The portcullis was a metal grid which could be lowered over the gate if necessary.
• The castle was surrounded by a deep ditch fi lled with water called the moat. Stone castle
keep battlements bailey tower or turret
portcullis curtain wall drawbridge gatehouse Castles and war
Warfare was widespread during the Middle Ages. Castles were key to the defence of a lord’s lands and a kingdom generally. Their high walls and well-armed soldiers and knights made them a diffi cult target. Even if an attacking army surrounded the castle and waited for surrender (a siege), the castle could hold out for a long time once it had enough food stores and a well. Defenders could fi re arrows down from the walls, or pour boiling water or oil down on the attackers. Castles were often built on hills or beside rivers to add to their defences.
Laying siege to a castle could be diffi cult and time-consuming, so the attacking army used various means to try to breach the castle’s walls, such as catapults and siege towers. Gunpowder was brought to Europe from China in the 1400s and the cannon was invented. This meant that a castle’s walls could be easily and quickly destroyed and they were no longer key to warfare.
Go to page 37 of your Sources and Skills Book for an evidence task on medieval castles. CHECKPOINT!
1. Why were castles built in the Middle Ages? 2. Describe a motte and bailey castle. 3. What were the main defensive features of a castle? 4. Why were castles so diffi cult to capture?
. I can describe a medieval castle. TIME TO GO BACK I CAN MOVE FORWARD 71
