Castle+by+CalebC-CMS

__ Medieval Castle Design and Construction __ The Middle Ages were a time of royal rulers, knights, kingdoms and… Castles. Everyone knows what a castle is, but many of us don’t care to think about how and why they’re there in the first place. The construction and designing of a castle was a laborious 20 to 30 year task that engineered the dwellings of kings.

Castles had been used to protect royals for many years when they eventually became obsolete. Stone castles are no longer used, but were a great defense against a medieval opponent. The main materials used in the construction process were: large amounts of stone, wood, rubble, and medieval cement.



**__ Materials and Beginning of the Build __**

Stone was a very important material in building the castle, but it was hard to get. In fact, before the first shipment of stone got to the masons, the carpenter’s job of cutting and setting up the wood frame (which took about a couple of weeks of 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. working) would be about halfway done (2009. Castle Construction. //Howstuffworks.com//. Apr. 7, 2011). When it finally got to the build site the castle started to take shape.

The timber came from a nearby forest, and Europe had no shortage of forests at the time, so it got to the build site in much quicker time than the stone (as mentioned in the last paragraph). The wood was used for the frame of the castle and as the build progressed, the temporary scaffolding put up around the castle walls. The temporary camp that was put up around the construction site was mostly made of cheap wood buildings, because it wasn’t necessary to spend that money on more expensive brick dwellings (Reid, 1996).

Mortar, another important material in castle building, was used as a medieval cement. It was made by mixing together three things: lime, water, and sand, and used for holding together the walls of the castle. What the masons would do was, they would make a first layer of bricks and mortar, then put a layer of mortar and gravel. Next they made another layer of bricks and mortar to complete the wall (Reid, 1996).



**__ Parts of a Castle __**

There were many parts of a castle that helped the whole fortress stay in top shape. They ranged from the forges to the kitchens with many in between. The keep was one of those areas. It contained the living quarters of the lord and lady, a store of everything needed to survive a siege, the dungeons, and was the last place of refuge in a large castle if the outer defenses were compromised.

There were also baileys which were fortified enclosures. Usually there was more than one in the castle. They usually resembled smaller courtyards and separated high priority structures from low ones. Some high priority buildings were the chapel, the keep, the gatehouse, the outer and inner defenses, and the towers. Some low priority structures were the stables for cavalry horses, workshops where the carpenters worked, barracks for soldiers, and forges where the blacksmiths worked (2009. Castle Construction. //Howstuffworks.com//. Apr. 7, 2011).

// The ability to defend a castle against an enemy attack was very important because // // rival kingdoms were always trying to expand their kingdom by taking over others. A very common defense was a moat, which was usually created by digging a large trench out of the ground on the perimeter of the castle. Then a canal was dug from a nearby water source which flowed into the trench, creating an effective barrier against foot soldiers. The walls themselves were a good defense against enemies, but could be scaled or crushed. The towers enabled the enemy to be seen from a long distance away, being so high up. Baileys aren’t necessarily a defense, but they were sometimes used to trap the enemy in a locked enclosure to then be fired upon by archers. // //**__ Progressive Castle Designs __**//

// Castles had been used for thousands of years, before the giant stone behemoths came into use. They weren’t just used for royalty, but for the protection of the small tribe. // // Needless to say, the first “castles” were very primitive structures. They were constructed with timber, sometimes rock, and mud, though no real records were kept on exactly how these forts were made (2011. Timeline of Medieval Castles. //**Medieval-Castles.org//. Mar. 12,//** // 2011). They probably would resemble a small village enclosed in a wood fence with a gate. Many other civilizations used fortifications,(such as Rome, Greece, Persia, and the Mauryans) but these primitive ones were located where the future British would build their large stone castles. //

// The first true castles were probably built around the 900’s A.D. They were not nearly as // // protected as the stone ones, but still provided a great protection at the time. These castles took around five to fifteen years to build and were comprised mostly of wood, earth, and metals. The castles, not nearly as large as the stone giants which replaced them, were mostly made up of the keep, the wall, a gatehouse, and some guard towers (2011. Castle Design. //**Wikipedia.org//. Mar. 18, 2011)//**//.//

// The 1100’s were the turning points in history for castle design, and from these times came the classic stone castles. They were easily defensible, almost self-sufficient, and were extremely large and magnificent. They had one drawback though: the time it took to build it. The size, place, and number of workers affected how long a castle took to build (Macaulay, 1977). If a bishop of a region was building it, it would probably take longer because, unlike a king of an entire kingdom he got his land from the king and could only use that land and its resources. He also had less workers to build it for him. Twenty to thirty years was an average time for a castle to be built, but for a king with almost unlimited resources and manpower, it could be done in just under twenty. //

//**__ Conclusion __**//

// When the last brick was put into place, and the last piece of scaffolding taken down, a celebration for the kingdoms new prized jewel was held and none at the construction site had an unhappy face. Yet at the end of the middle ages, inventions like gun powder, cannons, and firearms, made the great castles of old obsolete to the new threat. Like everything, it was bested by higher technology, yet we still look in awe at them today. //

//Works Cited List// // Reid, Struan. Castle. London: Quarto Children’s Books,1996. Print. // // “Castle.” Wikipedia. 3 Apr. 2011. Web.7 Apr. 2011. . // // “How Stuff Works “Castle Construction”” How Stuff Works “History” Web. 7 Apr. 2011.< http.history.how stuff works.com/middle-ages/castle5.htm> // // Macaulay, David. Castle. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. Print. // // Joaquin. “Timeline of Medieval Castles.” Web log post. Medieval-Castles.org. Web. 12 Mar. 2011This page has been revised {$pagerevisions} times. // //The last revision was {$revisiondate} by {$revisioneditor}. //