Castles and The Feudal System Flashcards
What was the Feudal System?
In the Middle Ages, no one owned land apart from the King and the Church.
Everyone else rented their land in exchange for duties and services. If they failed to carry out these duties the land would be taken from them.
Feudal System diagram:
King
Top of the system
Barons/Bishops
(About 200)
Must provide knights and men for the King.
Pay taxes to the king
Knights
(About 2000)
Must fight for the Baron and provide armed men
Peasants
(About 1.5 million)
Must fight for the Knight and work on his land.
What were Motte & Bailey castles?
Motte and Bailey castles were wooden castles that could be put up quickly. They were there because the Normans needed castles to keep control of England 🇬🇧. Stone castles could take up to ten years to build so this provided a quick way for them to build the castles they needed.
What were the parts of a Motte & Bailey castle?
There were five main parts of a Motte and Bailey castle. They were:
● The motte: this was a small hill made by digging up a small hole and then putting soil in the centre.
● The keep: This was a tower, made of wood 🪵, that was used as a lookout tower.
● The bailey: The bailey was an enclosed area. This is where the soldiers lived and slept 😴.
● The moat: This is the name given to the ditch that surrounded the whole castle. Sometimes it was filled with water
● Wooden bridge: The wooden bridge connected the keep to the bailey.
What were stone castles?
The second they could, the Normans began to replace their motte and bailey castles with stone castles. The most common type of castle was called the keep-in-bailey castle. This type of castle had a stone keep surrounded by curtain wall. They were mainly built in the 12th and 13th centuries.
What were the parts of the keep?
In a tower house castle there was a dungeon (for storage), a kitchen area (on the first floor), a dining area (on the second floor) and a sleeping area on the 3rd floor.
What was life like in a castle?
Castles were not very comfortable to live in.
Toilets were usally in the corner of towers a hole ran through the stone to the outer wall. Somtimes, clothes were hung over toilets because lots of people believed the smell kept away moths.
Castles usally neeeded a steward to look after the running of the castle.
In order to save space, staircases were spiral and built into a corner. They went clockwise going up. This helped the defender because the attacker would find it hard to swing their sword going up, but the defender (going down the stairs) would find it easy to swing his sword.
What was the food like?
Breakfast was bread soked in ale.
The main meal was at 11:00 am and was mostly meat - mostly beef and mutton and somtimes venison an poultry.
Common vegtables were dried peas and beans, onions, garlic and herbs.
Explain advantages of a Motte and Bailey Castle
Could be built quickly
Only needed basic materials such as earth and wood so cheap to build.
Sent a clear message to the English that the Normans were here to stay
Hard to capture as the height and ditch gave quite a big advantage against attackers.
Explain disadvantages of Motte and Bailey Castles
Could be set on fire easily
The castle would rot over time.
Mottes often had a broad base which meant attackers could climb the hill from many directions
The Bailey on top was often quite small meaning the living quarters were not very impressive.
What are the features of a Keep-in-Bailey castle
Wall walk
Curtain wall
Drawbridge
Merlons (small walls) with embrasures (spaces) between for shooting arrows
Keep
Gatehouse with two towers and portcullis
Machicolation
