Attacking a Medieval Castle

Attacking a Medieval Castle

Facts and interesting information about the History, Development and Architecture of Medieval Castles

Attacking a Medieval Castle
The Medieval Times encompass one of the most violent periods in the History of England 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 Attacking a Medieval Castle. The castle described is a concentric castle. Click the following link for details of Destroying Motte and Bailey castles

Attacking a Castle in Medieval Times
Attacking a concentric castle during the Medieval times of the Middle Ages was made difficult 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 Medieval times and era.  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 attacking a castle in Medieval Times more difficult. However, the advanced siege warfare tactics and different types of siege engines assisted the lords and knights in attacking a castle the Middle Ages.

Attacking a Castle in Medieval Times - Siege Warfare
Successfully attacking a castle during the Medieval times of the Middle Ages depended on whether the castle and its inhabitants could withstand a siege. Understanding Siege warfare was critical during the Medieval times and era. 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. The Medieval siege engines had to break down all of these defences if the attack on the castle was to be successful. The alternative was to starve the inhabitants of the castles and force surrender.

Attacking a Castle in Medieval Times - Siege Warfare
Attacking a castle in Medieval Times included undermining the Castle. The attackers chose the weakest point of the castle for these endeavours and mined underneath a corner. The attackers would dig a tunnel underneath one of the corners of the castle using timber props. These miners were called sappers. The tunnel would then be packed with highly flammable brush wood. The wood would be set on fire and the corner of the castle would be weakened and then collapse. The weight of the castle would bring the walls caving in and the whole castle would sometimes collapse. Other methods were also used when attacking a castle in Medieval Times

• Men, armed with scaling ladders scaled the walls of the castle when attacking a castle. The main attribute of the scalars was their speed
• Treachery - Traitors within the castle could turn on the inhabitants - this was a surprisingly common occurrence
• Starvation - An effective siege strategy if time and cost was not a problem

Attacking a Castle in Medieval Times - Siege Weapons
The soldiers attacking a castle in Medieval Times had to use every siege weapon that might be available to them. The Medieval Siege Weapons used during the Medieval times of the Middle Ages were constructed at the site of the castle which was to be placed under siege. The exact type and number of siege weapons and their design had to be established when plans were made to attack a castle. Medieval lords, knights and their Siege Engineers identified the weakest parts of the Castle and planned their siege strategy accordingly. The siege engines when attacking a castle in Medieval Times were the Trebuchet, Ballista, Catapult, Mangonel, Battering Ram and Siege Towers.

• The Battering Ram were used to literally 'batter' down, pound, punch, shake and drill into the walls of the castle
• The Ballista  was similar to a Giant Crossbow and worked by using tension when launching missiles
• The Mangonel launched missiles from a bowl-shaped bucket at the end of the one giant arm of the Mangonel
• The mighty Trebuchet siege engine consisted of a lever and a sling and was capable of hurling stones weighing 200 pounds when attacking a castle
• The Siege Tower was designed to protect attackers and their ladders whilst attacking a weak area of the castle wall

Siege Warfare was applied when attacking a concentric castle - Castle walls could fall due to bombardment from Siege Engines such as the ballista, the mangonel, and the trebuchet
   

Attacking a Medieval Castle
The enemy would use all the seige engines to their best advantage when attacking a castle in Medieval Times. Castle walls could fall due to bombardment from Siege Engines such as the ballista, the mangonel, and the trebuchet

Attacking a Medieval Castle
The Medieval Times website provides interesting facts, history and information about these great fortresses and castles of Medieval times including this section on Attacking a Castle in Medieval Times. The Medieval Times Sitemap provides full details of all of the information and facts about the fascinating subject of the lives of the people who lived during the historical period of the Middle Ages. The content of this article on Medieval life and times provides free educational details, facts and information for reference and research for schools, colleges and homework for history courses and history coursework.