Medieval Castles

Rectangular Keep- Hedingham Castle

Castles were placed in almost all of the large towns. The river valleys, the main channels of traffic, the important fords and bridges ended up being guarded by castles. On the coast, particularly in the south-east, the part most susceptible of invasion, all convenient landing places were similarly protected. Other castles kept open the main lines of communications across country, while in the dangerous districts each large estate possessed a castle primarily built for the protection of the tenant, but also being part of the general defense of the neighborhood. Such castles were especially numerous on the Scottish border and in the Welsh Marches.

There are various opinions in classifying the Medieval Castles. Perhaps the best is the one based on the system of defense adopted. According to this system, the presence or absence of the great and distinguishing feature, the keep, divides the castles in two main types:

1. Castles with keeps.
2. Keep-less castles.

1. Castles with rectangular keeps.
2. Castles with shell keeps.
3. Castles with circular keeps.

Keep-less Medieval Castles also can be divided into three groups:

1. Castles of Enceinte, were the keep was discarded and its place taken by a main ward, surrounded by a lofty wall of enceinte, flanked by boldly projecting mural towers usually cylindrical in form, containing the state and domestic apartments. These castles belong for the most part to the later years of the long reign of Henry III, and to that of his successor.
2. The Edwardian or Concentric Castles, in which the main ward is completely surrounded by a second, and sometimes a third line of defense, subordinated to and commanded by the inner one.
3. The later castles in which the idea of defense was more or less subordinated to that of domestic comfort. They were usually quadrangular in plan, built around an inner courtyard, with towers, almost invariably rectangular, at the corners, and with a great gate-house in the middle of one face. Castles of this type began to be built during the reign of Richard II, and became increasingly common in the 15th Century.

Circular Keep-Warwick Castle

Overall, we might say that after starting with the Norman Castle, the subsequent development of the English Medieval Castles was governed by three factors:

- The growth of luxury and the increasing idea of comfort.
- The gradual improvement in methods of attack.
- The introduction, through influence of returning crusaders, of the more scientific military   architecture of the Byzantine Empire.

The first of these led to the disuse of the keep as a place of residence; always cold, inconvenient, and uncomfortable, its cramped accommodation became too limited for the growing numbers of dependants in personal service.

Of at least equal importance in the development of the Medieval Castles was the improvement in the art of siege-craft. For all through the medieval period the art of defense was always in front of that of attack, and even the gunpowder did not, for a long time, alter the relation.

During the crusades, the soldiers of Western Europe became acquainted with the more advanced art of fortification of the Byzantine Empire. This art was introduced before the reign of Edward I, and the main ward was girt with a high wall, strengthened by a circle of projecting mural towers, so placed that no attacking party could approach the base of the wall without being exposed to an overwhelming fire from them, and further all subordinated wards were so completely dominated by the high wall of the inner ward that even if taken they could not be held against it.

Leeds Castle

During the long reign of Edward III, a radical change took place in the development of the Medieval Castles. The need for fortress-castles ceased, and few new ones were built, except on the Scottish border. Later then Edward’s reign scarcely a single defensible castle was founded, and many of the existing royal castles fell into disrepair, or were handed over to their counties to be used as jails.

The place of the fortress-type Medieval Castles was taken by the castle-palaces of the last group, quadrangular groups of buildings around a central courtyard, adorned rather then protected by angle towers, gate-house and moat. A marvelous example is Leeds Castle. In exposed situations, some attempt at defensibility was made by the thickness of the outer walls and the absence of any important external openings, but the majority of them had large external windows and walls of no great strength.