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Siegecraft: Laying Siege to & Defending a Castle

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Major Weatherly
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« Reply #30 on: December 30, 2012, 12:01:43 am »


A Castle Under Siege

Introduction: Castles were built to survive long sieges and to withstand an attack by the best of weapons, such as a battering ram or a huge catapult. Castle walls were immensely thick. Most of the castle walls were made up of two layers of stone, held together by a kind of cement called mortar, and a filling of stone rubble,  to insure extra     
The most important defense weapons where:
The Knight                                 

These soldiers were not originally Knights. First they were just boys at the age of seven,  who practiced archery and playing with wooden swords.  When they reached the age of fourteen they became squires. A squire helped the Knights by going hunting with them and handing them their arrows. They also observed their technique. These knights either fought on foot or horseback. After battle, if they lived, they were rewarded with a piece the King’s land, where they built houses for their families.
Arrow slits

Castles had arrow slits or ‘loopholes’ which protected an archer from an arrow. The archer could stand behind a loophole and fire an arrow at the enemy.
Ballista

A ballista was a large device used to fire spears. It was similar to a crossbow but was larger and fired a spear with great strength.
Battering Ram

A battering ram was a machine used to break through walls. Chains hung on a thick tree trunk. One end of the trunk it was sharpened and covered with iron. This pointed end was aimed at the wall. Soldiers swung the battering ram back and fourth, until it broke through the wall. 

   
Catapult             

This mechanism was used to hurl stones and other objects.
Drawbridge

A drawbridge was a bridge that could be raised or lowered over the moat or ditch.
Flaming Catapult

A flaming catapult was a machine used to set a besieged castle on fire. When the lock was released, the arm came forward and hurled a flaming object soaked in tar. This object would land inside the castle walls, setting structures on fire.
Gatehouse

The gatehouse defended the main entrance. This was the castles weakest point therefore many lords tried to make them stable.
Greek Fire

The Greek fire was boiled oil, when dropped from the top of a castle, it boiled under the enemy’s armor and burned their flesh.
Mangon

A mangon was a machine that could hurl heavy rocks or other objects at the castle walls. It had an arm, which was pulled or drawn back. Under the great pressure then release. The arm would shoot forward firing a missile.
Mining Under the Walls

Mining under the walls was another method of attack. First, a tunnel was dug under walls. Wooden beams held up the roof of the tunnel. The roof would collapse and stones from the castle wall would fall down into the tunnel. This left an opening into the castle at the bottom of the walls. The enemy would use this to get into the castle. 

 
Murder holes

Murder holes were holes in the floor above where arrows could be fired on enemies through the holes.
 Portcullis

A heavy timber grill called a portcullis could be lowered to block the entrance to the castle. The portcullis was built to slide up and down in grooves cut into the walls. The bottom end of each timber was sharpened and covered with iron. If the attackers happened to break through the portcullis, they still would have to get through heavy wooden doors.
 Siege Tower

A siege tower was a high tower on wheels used to gain entry into a castle. It could be rolled beside the castle walls. The attackers would climb up inside the siege tower. At the top, they lowered a drawbridge and tried to cross over onto the top of the castle wall. The outside of the tower was covered with wet animal skins. This protected the soldiers inside from arrows that were fired at them from the castle. This method also protected the tower from catching on fire.
Trebuchet

A trebuchet was a huge catapult. It was used to break the hoards of a castle. A missile was placed in the sling; the beam was wound down using a machine called a windlass. When released, the beam shot upright, pulled down by the counterweight. This missile was hurled with great force.
Winch Room

The winch room was the room in a castle that the crank of the drawbridge and portcullis was kept.

 
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110522/castle_defense_weapons.htm

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Major Weatherly
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« Reply #31 on: December 30, 2012, 12:12:47 am »

Renaissance Warfare and Weapons - Defending Against a Siege

Castles, with their thick, tall walls, were built for defense but with the advent of gunpowder they were no longer effective. For example, the army of Ferdinand and Isabella conquered the Moorish strongholds in Granada. These strongholds had held off attackers for centuries but the use of gunpowder and cannons proved no match for the old way of defending yourself.

Realizing that the old methods of building fortifications had to change, the Italian architect Leon Battista Alberti during the fifteenth century postulated that walls be “built in uneven lines, like the teeth of a saw”.

A few towns began building fortresses with this new style but the vast majority of rulers paid no attention to this new theory of protection. Things changed dramatically when Charles VIII invaded Italy with only 18,000 men and horse drawn siege engines. This tactic proved so effective that he could defeat virtually and city or state no matter how well it was defended.

It became obvious that a new style of fortress was needed to withstand these new styles of attacks.
New defense strategies:

The old high and relatively thin walls of the castles were easy targets for cannons. It was obvious that the most effective way to protect the fortress walls was to increase the thickness of the walls and to have varying angles to lessen the likelihood of a direct (square) cannon hit. Walls were lowered and earth was used to thicken them in front and in back. The old square towers familiar in the castles were changed into triangles.

The new fortress designs eventually led to the “trace italienne” style of fortification. Developed in Italy during the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries in response to the French invasion of the Italian peninsula. This new style of fortification was designed to withstand the use of cannons that so easily destroyed traditional fortifications.

To withstand an attack by the new weapons the walls were built lower and thicker. The new design also included the building of “bastions”. A bastion projects out from the main wall of a fortification and is situated at the corners of straight walls. The bastion allows the defenders to cover different angles and to cover adjacent bastions with protective fire. Bastions provide covering fire, often from multiple angles. The need for cover fire at differing angles led to the design of the “star” shaped fortress.

These star shaped defenses proved to be very difficult to capture. The cost to build these new styled fortresses was incredibly high. In a strange twist of fate the town of Siena spent so much money building the style of fortress for protection that it didn’t have enough money to maintain their army so it lost the war anyway.

Around the mid 1500’s this new style of fortress spread from Italy into the remainder of Europe. The demand for Italian engineers knowledgeable in the design of these new fortresses was especially high in war torn countries like the Netherlands, France and Spain.

These new fortresses could hold over 10,000 men and were designed to withstand a series of sieges. A fortress holding over ten thousand soldiers meant that the attacking armies had to be aware of the risk of a counter attack too.

In the late 1600’s Marshal Vauban, a French military engineer made improvements on the new fortress design. He added slopes so that attackers could no longer be protected when they got close to the fortress (these slopes are called glacis).A glacis is an artificial slope of earth placed in front of the wall of a defended position. The slopes are constructed to keep attackers under the fire of the defenders. Without the glacis, on natural ground level, troops attacking any high structure achieve a degree of protection from its fire when they get close to it. Raising the ground to form a glacis allows the defenders to keep the attackers under fire from a bastion or a parapet.

Vauban also improved on the bastion design to allow the attackers to be enfiladed. This meant they were designed to be able to shoot at various angles. An attacker is “enfiladed” if the defenders can shoot straight down the line of attack. For example if the defender can shoot down the length of a trench then the trench is “enfiladed”.

Vauban also added trenches as defense mechanisms.

Fort McHenry in Baltimore, La Citadelle in Quebec City and Fort Ticonderoga in New York are all examples of the Vauban fortress design.

http://www.all-about-renaissance-faires.com/warfare/siege_defense.htm
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« Reply #32 on: December 30, 2012, 12:14:50 am »



Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages
The Middle Ages encompass one of the most violent periods in English History are are epitomised by the castles of the Middle Ages.

 The development, architecture and building of these great fortresses changed as time progressed, influenced by important historical events such as the crusades and the technology of siege warfare. This page provides interesting and important information about Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages. The castle described is a concentric castle. Click the following link for details of Defending Motte and Bailey castles

Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages
Defending a concentric castle during the Middle Ages was made easier by the skills and designs of the concentric castles by people like King Edward I and his master builder and architect, Master James of St. George. The Crusades were popular during the Middle Ages.  Thousands of people travelled to Holy Land and joined in the Medieval crusades of the Middle Ages. They were exposed to the great fortresses of the Holy Land, different architecture and advanced siege warfare tactics and siege engines. This new found knowledge and ideas helped to improve the designs of concentric castles making the task of defending a castle in the Middle Ages easier.

Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages - Siege Warfare
Successfully defending a castle during the Middle Ages depended on whether the castle and its inhabitants could withstand a siege. Understanding Siege warfare was critical during the Middle Ages. The concentric castles of the Middle Ages were designed with this in mind and included defence features such as the Moat, Portcullis, Barbican, Gatehouse, Crenellations and Drawbridge.

Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages - Withstanding a Siege situation
The site of a castle was chosen carefully. The following factors were considered:

    Castles were always built on land containing a well or a spring - so lack of water was not usually a problem. It was essential for the inhabitants of a castle to have access to a well

    Many castles were built with direct access to the sea, or a river, so that fresh supplies could be delivered to the castle and the defenders could not be starved into submission

    Water was also required to douse any fires within the castle complex

    The inhabitants of Castles which were built inland ran the risk of being starved into submission

    The higher the land the castle was built upon the easier it was for defending a castle

Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages - A Defence strategy
A sound defence strategy was a vital requirement of the lords, nobles and knights defending a castle during the Middle Ages. The central tower or keep was the most important building in a castle complex housing the family of the lord of the castle and his valuables. All buildings were expendable - the keep was the most highly defended building. The attackers had to get through a series of castle defences before reaching this inner sanctum of the castle. The Strengths and Advantages of Castles described illustrating the strategies applied when defending a castle during the Middle Ages:

    Round - shaped Keeps or Towers were built eliminating the weak corners of the square keeps which were easy to undermine

    The concentric castles were massive allowing many soldiers to be housed in the castle complex

    Moats were surrounded the whole Concentric Castle complex

    Some moats were up to 30 feet deep

    Castle moats could be filled with wooden stakes or water

    Water was preferable - filling a moat with water reduced the risk of tunnelling and potential fires

    A solid, thick outer wall, called the curtain wall, surrounded the whole of the castle complex. A Curtain wall was built between 6 and 20 feet thick

    The Curtain wall, had projecting towers to house soldiers defending the castle

    Various other walls within the castle complex were built at different levels - the highest wall being the Inner wall - this allowed the defenders of the keep or tower to have a clear view of any attackers

    The main entrance to the castle was the castle gate, or gateway

    Considerable engineering skills were put into strengthening and reinforcing the gateway which was the weakest part of the Castle. The main entrance, would be heavily barred. A series of entrances further aided those defending a castle

    Castles with a moat required a drawbridge. The drawbridge consisted of a wooden platform with one hinged side fixed to the castle wall and the other side raised by rope or chains. The purpose of a drawbridge was to hinder or prevent fast and easy entry into a castle

    The Portcullis was a heavy grilled door that was suspended from the Barbican or gatehouse ceiling. The portcullis was meant to be lowered quickly in times of attack. Ropes could be quickly slashed or a fast release catch was enabled. The portcullis would come crashing down blocking the entrance to the castle, the spikes impaling the enemy soldier

    The Barbican was an exterior castle defence situated at the entrance of the castle which confined the enemy soldiers in a narrow passage. The Barbican was an exterior walled passage with multiple gates leading to the main entrance ( the Gatehouse)

    The Castle Gatehouse was a fortified structure built over the gateway to a castle

    The Barbican passage contained Murder Holes in the ceiling and arrow slits on either side of the barbican passage. The barbican is also referred to as the Death Trap

    Murder Holes were holes in the ceilings of castle gateways, barbicans or passageways through which heavy missiles or dangerous substances could be thrown on the enemy when defending a castle during the Middle Ages. The Missiles dropped from 'Murder Holes' included heavy stones, hot sand, molten lead, boiling water and boiling tar or pitch

    A castle Battlement was a rampart built around the top of a castle with regular gaps for firing arrows. The parts called the Crenels was the 2-3 feet wide gap and the Merlons were the solid portion between two crenels. Battlements are also called crenellations

    Machicolations were projecting parapets or platforms situated at the top of a castle wall, some spanned the whole of the battlements whilst other Machicolations protruded from the walls like balconies

        The purpose of the full Machicolations was to provide clear access across the top of the battlements enabling the soldiers to quickly follow the attack point of the enemy

        The balcony style Machicolations had holes in the floor for dropping various missiles on the enemy which were called Murder Holes

    Castle Loopholes were narrow vertical windows from which defenders launched their arrows from a sheltered position

        Castle Loopholes were accessed from wide inside areas narrowing to long, narrow apertures

        Loopholes were different designs and sizes which accommodated the shape of different weapons such as the bow which was launched vertically or the crossbow which was launched horizontally

    The Castle Bastion was a small tower, which was situated at the corners, the middle or at the end of the curtain wall. The purpose of a Bastion was to cover any 'blind spots' in the castle curtain wall

Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages
The defenders would use all the traps which were built into the castle designs to their best advantage when defending a castle in the Middle Ages. The siege engines which mounted heavy attacks on a castle would be attacked using fire and grappling irons. Defenders would maintain a constant assault on the enemy by firing arrows, stones and crossbow bolts. Defenders launched arrows from the sheltered windows called loopholes.

Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages
Each section of this Middle Ages website addresses all topics and provides interesting facts and information about these great fortresses and castles of Medieval times including this section on Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages. The Sitemap provides full details of all of the information and facts provided about the fascinating subject of the Middle Ages!
 
Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages

    Middle Ages era, period, life, age and times

    Interesting Facts and information about Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages

    Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages

    Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages - Siege Warfare

    Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages - Withstanding a Siege situation

    Defending a Castle in the Middle Ages - A Defence strategy

   

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/defending-a-castle-in-the-middle-ages.htm
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« Reply #33 on: December 30, 2012, 12:18:08 am »





The Alhambra in Granada, Spain

Karl Weatherly/Photodisc/Getty Images
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« Reply #34 on: December 30, 2012, 12:18:32 am »

Medieval Sieges

What happens when an invading army entered a territory and laid siege to its castle? Let's look at siege methods and how the castle's defenders could counter it.
Surround and starve

The invading army surrounded the castle and cut off its supplies of food and water with the hope of starving the defenders. In an effort to spread disease among the defenders, the invaders could use their catapults to send dead or diseased animal and human bodies over the castle walls. They could also loft fiery projectiles to wreak havoc inside the castle. This siege method was actually preferred because the invading army might negotiate the castle's surrender with minimal casualties. But it took months to years to work, and the invading army had to be very well supplied with food and water for the duration of the siege.

If they had time to prepare, the defenders could outlast the siege. They usually brought supplies and people from the surrounding countryside into the castle. Most castles had their own water supplies for this situation. Also, the defenders would usually burn the surrounding countryside so the invading army could not forage it for supplies. Often, the outcome of the siege depended upon whether the invading army or the defending army received reinforcements first.
Scale the walls

The invaders would set huge scaling ladders against the castle's outer curtain wall. Invading soldiers would climb the ladders to gain access to the castle. However, the climbers were vulnerable to arrow fire and objects thrown at them from the battlements on the castle walls. Defenders could also push the ladders off the walls.

Alternatively, the invaders built large wooden siege towers and filled them with soldiers. Other soldiers would wheel the towers to the base of the curtain wall. Soldiers in the top of the tower would lower a plank, storm across it onto the battlements and hope to outnumber the defenders. Siege towers provided cover for the invading soldiers, but they were large and heavy. The invaders were vulnerable as they stormed across the plank single-file. Also, the defenders could set the wooden towers ablaze with flaming arrows.
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Major Weatherly
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« Reply #35 on: December 30, 2012, 12:19:09 am »

Ram the doors

If an invading army could break down the castle gate, they could enter the castle relatively easily.So they'd use battering rams (large wooden logs) to pound against the gate (or sometimes the castle walls) and eventually break it. Some battering rams were covered to shield the invading soldiers from the defenders' arrow fire and thrown objects. Sometimes, the wooden castle gates were set on fire to weaken them.

To defend against battering rams, defenders would fire arrows (sometimes flaming). They would often lower soft, padded curtains or wooden walls to lessen the impact of the battering rams. Finally, they could brace the castle doors or gates to withstand the forces of the blows.

And as we mentioned, castle gates had murder holes and arrow loops to help pick off invaders who breached the gate.
Bring down the walls

If an invading army could create a breach in a wall, they could enter the castle in a less defended place. Invaders smashed the walls with battering rams and launched heavy stone projectiles and flaming projectiles at and over the walls. They used catapults, trebuchets (heavy sling weapons) and ballistae (large mounted crossbows).

Another way to bring down castle walls was to mine under them. The invading army would dig tunnels under the castle walls and brace them with timber supports. Once they dug the tunnel far enough to the other side, they would set the tunnel on fire. The timber supports would be destroyed, and the wall above the tunnel would collapse. But defenders could counter by digging under the invading army's tunnel before it reached the wall.

Sieges usually combined all of these tactics. They were expensive, exhausting and time-consuming, but were often necessary to take control of a castle and its territory.
Siege on Film

The 2005 movie "Kingdom of Heaven" accurately depicts siege techniques during the segment on the siege of Jerusalem during the crusades.

http://history.howstuffworks.com/historical-figures/castle6.htm
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« Reply #36 on: February 06, 2013, 12:10:36 am »

Great topic!  Lots of information.
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