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Siegecraft: Laying Siege to & Defending a Castle

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Author Topic: Siegecraft: Laying Siege to & Defending a Castle  (Read 3537 times)
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Major Weatherly
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« Reply #15 on: December 29, 2012, 11:28:25 pm »

A siege tower (or in the Middle Ages a belfry[1]) is a specialized siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification. The tower was often rectangular with four wheels with its height roughly equal to that of the wall or sometimes higher to allow archers to stand on top of the tower and shoot into the fortification. Because the towers were wooden and thus flammable, they had to have some non-flammable covering of iron or fresh animal skins.[1] The siege tower was mainly made from wood but sometimes had metal parts.

Used since the 11th century BC in the ancient Near East, the 4th century BC in Europe and also in antiquity in the Far East, siege towers were of unwieldy dimensions and, like trebuchets, were therefore mostly constructed on site of the siege. Taking considerable time to construct, siege towers were mainly built if the defense of the opposing fortification could not be overcome by ladder assault ("escalade"), by mining or by breaking walls or gates.

The siege tower sometimes housed pikemen, swordsmen, or crossbowmen who shot quarrels at the defenders. Because of the size of the tower it would often be the first target of large stone catapults but it had its own projectiles with which to retaliate.[1]

Siege towers were used to get troops over an enemy curtain wall. When a siege tower was near a wall, it would drop a gangplank between it and the wall. Troops could then rush onto the walls and into the castle or city.
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« Reply #16 on: December 29, 2012, 11:29:09 pm »




19th century French drawing of a medieval belfry.
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« Reply #17 on: December 29, 2012, 11:30:04 pm »

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« Reply #18 on: December 29, 2012, 11:31:51 pm »

Starting with timber castles, castles evolved throughout the centuries to build better elaborated strongholds. Before the XII century, most castles were made of timber and wood; by the end of the XII century, however, there was a much higher need of protection, hence stone castles.

Besieging a castle was a very difficult task and very frequently, a failed attempt. As castles evolved, so did their defense. When moats were introduced, invading a castle through force was a much harder task. Instead, besieging it was very common. Castle's walls were very effective in halting the invaders. Some walls were wider than 30 feet; thus destroying them was very hard, even after gunpowder was invented.

http://medieval-castles.org/index.php/improvements_to_castles_after_gunpowder
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Major Weatherly
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« Reply #19 on: December 29, 2012, 11:32:15 pm »

Even when the moat and the first line of defense were breached, most castles still had another two lines of defense including the keep which was the last defensible spot. Castles with more than two lines of defense are known today as concentric castles. Archers were situated on top of the walls, firing at their victims who took shelted behind trees or anything they could find in order to save their own lives. After bows, crossbows were introduced; severely improving the efficiency of a castle's defense.

Most castles used siege weapons to defend themselves. The most common was the catapult which was placed on a square or round tower to fire at the invaders who would also use siege weapons to destroy walls and launch dead animals to spread diseases to the defenders. Even though huge walls were needed to stop projectiles, there was even a bigger problem to worry about. Food was the biggest problem for the defenders for too much food meant spoilage whilst too few meant death. Most bigger castles had farming land in the interior, but the smaller ones had a very serious problem to worry about.

When there was not enough food, defenders would normally surrender or find another way out. Many castles had secret passageways which led to the exterior. They were normally used after the situation was critical due to the very big risk of leaving their only defense.


http://medieval-castles.org/index.php/castle_defenses
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Major Weatherly
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« Reply #20 on: December 29, 2012, 11:32:45 pm »

If, instead, support arrived when a castle was being besieged; the invaders would be in a very serious problem because of a double-front battle. Normally, the defender's army would attack at the same time as their relievers. Making the invaders in a serious disadvantage.


It is important to note that castles were normally built on top of a hill, near a river or on a very defensible position. They were additionally frequently built near an important town because of the castle's advantage of having an ongoing trade route and military support.

Castles were gradually useless when gunpowder was introduced. A very strong castle could last no more than a week when being subject to such devastating weapons. Still, we can see today the wonders of our ancestors and what they did to defend themselves.


Allure:
Allures were implemented later on. Their invention meant that attackers could no longer climb castle walls easily because an allure was a passageway on top of a wall. This helped archers tremendously since there were virtually no blind spots after they were implemented. Battlements were invented a few years later. They consisted on making intervals of a wall in the allure; they were very helpful for archers since they could fire at the invaders with minimal risk of being fired back.


Archer loops
Archer loops were small holes placed on a wall giving an archer a very good advantage. They were normally placed on towers since the height also influenced the effectiveness of an archer. Different shapes were made to help the defenders have a better angle when shooting at their victims; additionally, the attackers could only fire arrows back because no other projectile could fit in the hole. Thus, its effectiveness.


Towers
Towers were very important in defending a castle. Their taller height helped the archers tremendously, they could fire easily at their targets; but their targets couldn't fire back.

Many different shapes existed. The most common ones were:


Round towers:
They were the stronger kind of towers. Their height averaged 80-120 feet; much bigger than a normal wall. Even though they were more expensive to build, they were stronger; thus their enormous use.

http://medieval-castles.org/index.php/castle_defenses
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« Reply #21 on: December 29, 2012, 11:34:15 pm »

After the XIV century, in which gunpowder started appearing, many notorious changes occurred to medieval castles. The most important one was the building of ditches far away from a castle; impeding cannons to get close to the castle's keep.

Concentric castles were also a major improvement after the discovery of gunpowder. Having many lines of defense improved a castle's chance to withstand a siege. Nevertheless, older castles had their walls severely strengthened. Sometimes they doubled the width of a wall.

Archers were useless. In consequence, archer loops were changed in size (smaller) to make them fit for gunners. Castles usually had dozens of these loops; thus they could kill hundreds of invaders.

After all these improvements, it was also realized that the best defense against a cannon was another cannon. Round towers were shortened and on top of them, cannons were placed. The same principle that governs an arrow when fired from the top of a wall also applies to a cannon. The higher the cannon, the more damage it inflicts.

The downside for castles was that cannons began to be improved. Their caliber increased dramatically, and, after a few years; castles started to lose their newly acquired strength.

Constantinople was subject to these changes. Being a very fortified city itself, it was promptly destroyed by a combination of gunpowder and a much greater force in numbers. When it was besieged, an enormous cannon was used to destroy the walls which played a very important role in Constantinople's fall.


http://medieval-castles.org/index.php/improvements_to_castles_after_gunpowder
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« Reply #22 on: December 29, 2012, 11:56:58 pm »

Castle Siegecraft and Defence

Photographs of siege engines at Caerphilly Castle
copyright © 2002 by Jeffrey L. Thomas.



fter the accession of Henry II castle warfare began slowly to take on a different character. On the one hand, defence was assisted by developments in the plan and construction of castles; on the other, the weaponry of attack was generally improved. In the castle itself walls became thicker; corner and mural towers were built to give enfilading fire. Loops were located in the walls with increasing regard both to the field of fire which they could control and to the convenience of the archer. The walls were crowned with battlements which gave protection to the defenders, and the gaps between the merlons were often guarded by hinged flaps. The entrance, always the most vulnerable point in the circuit of walls, was protected by a gatehouse, which, when fully developed, consisted usually of an entrance tunnel set back between drum-towers and further protected by drawbridge, portcullis and stout oaken gates.
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« Reply #23 on: December 29, 2012, 11:57:26 pm »

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« Reply #24 on: December 29, 2012, 11:57:50 pm »

The defence was assisted from the later years of the 12th century by the introduction of the crossbow. The traditional English bow was the short-bow, with a range of no more than 200 metres. The medieval crossbow derived from the classic balista. It was a more accurate weapon, with a longer range, and the quarrel which it fired was in all respects more deadly than a simple arrow. It had been condemned by the Papacy in 1139, but never ceased to be used. It was adopted in England in the later years of the 12th century. Richard I favoured it, and from the time of King John small bands of balistarii, or crossbowmen, were stationed in the more important castles. The crossbow gave the defence a considerable advantage during the 13th century. But it's rate of fire was slow and the archer needed protection while drawing his bow. Loops facilitated sighting the bow, and the wide internal splay gave the bowman room to handle his weapon. The crossbow was a remarkably accurate weapon, capable of picking off defenders on the walls and even of shooting a quarrel through a loop and hitting the defender. Its accuracy and range led to the construction of wooden shutters and bretaches over the tops of castle walls.
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« Reply #25 on: December 29, 2012, 11:58:23 pm »


Attack was assisted by a variety of "engines" which threw missiles, usually stones, into the castle. They made use of tension, as in a bow, of torsion and of counterpoise. Most had been used in classical times. All were used in the Middle Ages to beat down walls and crush buildings and also defended against all that approached their walls too closely. The term ballista usually denoted a great crossbow operated by the tension of the bow; the springal relied on the tension of a bent beam of wood, and the mangonel on the torsion of tightly twisted rope. Only one engine was the invention of the Middle Ages, the trebuchet. It relied on a counterpoise and was simpler in design and construction than most others. Prince Louis of France is credited with bringing it to England in 1216. Various engines were constructed in the king's North Wales castles of Deganwy and Dyserth, where four "switches" were built for catapults and mangonels. It was usual to drag these machines around the country as need arose.
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« Reply #26 on: December 29, 2012, 11:59:10 pm »

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« Reply #27 on: December 29, 2012, 11:59:27 pm »

Attackers had a range of options. They could pulverize both the external walls and buildings within by their artillery; they could pick away at the walls with a "bore," or undermine them by tunnelling, and they could make a direct assault either with ladders or by building a mobile wooden tower which could be advanced to the walls. In the last resort a castle could be isolated and forced into surrender by starvation. All methods were used. Most siege engines were capable of throwing a stone of 300 lbs or more a distance of at least 150 metres. Stones of this weight have been excavated at Kenilworth Castle, where they were probably used in the siege of 1266. Siege engines were heavy and clumsy. Kendall claimed that the seven trebuchets used at Berkhamsted called for fifty-six long-carts for their transport. It seems more likely that siege engines were constructed at the site, as they were when the Welsh attacked the castles of Mold and Dyserth. Wooden towers were sometimes pushed close to the walls, which were then assaulted by foot soldiers gathered on their upper levels. The Justice of Chester was in 1244 ordered to have four good strong wooden towers built in the forest of the Wirral and to have two such towers made as close as possible to the border to carry wherever the king may wish in Wales.
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« Reply #28 on: December 29, 2012, 11:59:42 pm »

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« Reply #29 on: December 30, 2012, 12:00:15 am »

 Not surprisingly, the long, slow siege was preferred, and for this reason castles that were at risk were usually well stocked with food. Most provisions, however, had only a short shelf-life and had to be frequently renewed. For the most part the attackers put their trust in having sufficient time for the slow process of starvation to compel the surrender of the castle. The besieged, however, always counted on the timely arrival of a relieving force. A set of rules was worked out and was normally adhered to. A siege became a kind of poker game governed by strict rules. In the siege of Dolforwyn, the garrison "gave eight hostages, the best after the constable, as a guarantee that they will surrender the castle on the Thursday after the close of Easter unless they are relieved by Llywelyn, and if relieved, the hostages are to be returned to them." The choice of date by which the castle should be relieved or surrendered was crucial and represented the **** in the negotiation. Whenever a castle was yielded the garrison was usually allowed to march away. Only when it was taken by assault do we find evidence of a wholesale slaughter.

The Medieval Castle in England and Wales. N. J. G. Pounds, Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Learn more about medieval siege warfare by visiting the NOVA web site pages on life in a medieval castle. The site teaches visitors about medieval siege engines, in particular the trebuchet, a fearful weapon used against castle defenders. The NOVA site explains how their team of engineers and historians built their own a working trebuchets, a story that was featured in a recent PBS NOVA television episode. You can even try out the trebuchet yourself via an interactive game! A very entertaining and informative site. Highly recommended.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/trebuchet/castle.html

http://www.castlewales.com/siege.html
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