Britain 1066 1500 Attacking and Defending a Castle

Britain 1066– 1500 Attacking and Defending a Castle Icons key: For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation Flash activity. These activities are not editable. Web addresses 11 of of 26 26 Teacher’s notes included in the Notes Page Accompanying worksheet Sound © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Learning objectives Understand why castles were built and why their design developed. Learn about castle defences. Learn about the different ways of attacking a castle. Know how methods of attack might be adapted in different situations. 2 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Why castles? 3 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Location, location A castle’s first defence was its location. Harlech Castle was almost impossible to surround – why? Other castles were built on hills. This helped the defenders spot approaching enemy forces and meant that objects could be thrown down on attacking soldiers. Attackers would also be tired from climbing the hill. 4 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Castle defences Castles were often built near rivers. Why do you think this was? 5 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Castle defences 6 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

The castle entrance often had a barbican attached. This was an extra gatehouse which protected the weakest part of the castle – the main gate. Barbicans usually had portcullises. These were metal gates which could be raised and lowered. Barbican Soldiers attacking this barbican had to get through three entrance gates with portcullises. 7 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Defending the main entrance 8 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Castle defences The castle battlements sometimes had a wooden hoarding (or battrice) at the top. This provided a place from which soldiers could fire arrows or drop heavy stones and boiling tar onto the enemy below. At the bottom of the curtain wall the walls were angled so that when stones were dropped they would bounce off the bottom and hit the attackers. If there was no slope at the bottom of the wall, how would the stones fall? 9 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Castle defences There were a number of features which could be added to the castle to make it stronger. Most castles had round towers in their walls. This was so soldiers could fire in all directions along the battlements. The strongest part of the castle was the keep. The keep was usually in the centre of the castle or on its highest point. Keeps had numerous defensive features including thick walls, narrow staircases and big cellars for sieges. Some even had their own drawbridges. 10 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Castle defences 11 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Why did castles develop? As castles became stronger and harder to capture, armies had to think of new ways to attack them. As the attackers improved their methods of attack… …so the castle builders had to improve their castle’s defences. This led to continuous development in siege warfare technology. 12 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Battering rams 13 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Projectile weapons Catapults were used to throw stones and other objects at castles. There were two main types: The mangonel threw medium-sized rocks or other objects using tension created by twisting ropes. twisted rope The mangonel had a range of about 150 metres. 14 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Projectile weapons The trebuchet used a counterweight to fling larger objects. As the weight dropped, the throwing arm flung the missile. Edward I had a massive trebuchet, nicknamed ‘Warwolf’, built during his Scottish campaigns. counterweight Trebuchets had a range of around 200 metres. Given that a longbow could kill a man at about 250 metres, why could sieges take a long time? 15 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Projectile weapons Which type of projectile weapon is being used in this picture of the Siege of La Rochelle? 16 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Siege towers were used to get soldiers over castle walls. They had wheels so that they could be rolled into position, and a drawbridge at the top to bridge the gap between the tower and the battlement. The soldiers would climb up the tower and rush across the drawbridge onto the wall. Towers were often covered in animal skins to protect them from fire. What do you think were the main disadvantages with this method of attack? 17 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Mining 18 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Castle attack Which of the methods of attack do you think would have been the most effective? Why? Can you suggest any other methods attackers might have used? 19 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Biological warfare Catapults were not just used to throw stones – sometimes attackers used more gruesome methods. During one siege in the fourteenth century, plague victims were catapulted over the castle walls to spread the disease. Dead, rotting animals were also thrown. Psychological warfare was used too. The heads of executed prisoners were sometimes flung over castle walls and body parts thrown through murder holes onto attacking soldiers. 20 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Starving them out Castles were sometimes so strong that the only method of attack was to wait. This was called laying siege. The attackers would surround the castle, preventing supplies getting in. Eventually, the defenders were forced to give up or starve to death. Sieges could take a very long time. Many castles had wells in the keep and large storerooms full of supplies. The best time to attack would be spring as, by then, the supplies from the previous year’s harvest would be running low. 21 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Case study: the siege of Rochester Here is an example of a real medieval siege. In 1215, around 100 rebels were besieged by King John in Rochester Castle. John surrounded the castle on October 11 th. He set up his headquarters on a nearby hill and began to bombard the castle using 5 large trebuchets. The trebuchets failed to breach the walls, so John ordered that a mine should be dug. Part of the outer wall was successfully demolished and the rebels retreated into the keep. 22 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Case study: the siege of Rochester By now, life in the castle was very hard. The defenders had to eat their horses to stay alive. John had a second mine dug under the keep. Part of the keep collapsed, but the rebels were able to barricade themselves in another part. When a few defenders surrendered, John had their hands and feet cut off. Why do you think John did this? The castle was finally captured on November 30 th – eight weeks after the siege began. Which method of attack was the most successful during the siege of Rochester? 23 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007

Case study: the siege of Rochester No one alive can remember a siege so fiercely pressed and so manfully resisted. The Barnwell Chronicler The rules of chivalry said that if a castle or town surrendered, the attackers had to spare those inside. Most of the rebels at Rochester did not surrender. What do you think happened to them? John would have been within his rights to kill all the rebels. Luckily for them, he decided to imprison them instead. 24 of 26 © Boardworks Ltd 2007