Today I'm blogging at Seduced by History on medieval castles. Come on by to visit! Here's a sneak peak...
Castles in medieval times varied greatly from large wooden forts to magnificent stone structures. Earlier castles were built up on large man-made hills called mottes. Surrounding the motte was a bailey, which is like a courtyard. Atop the motte was the castle or better known as a keep, which was fenced in. Surrounding the bailey would be a wall or fence, and sometimes a castle could have more than one bailey, an upper bailey and a lower bailey or inner/outer. Inside the bailey were huts for the people, stables, a chapel, blacksmith, tanner, etc…All the things that will keep the people within the castle thriving—especially if they were caught in a siege. The bailey could be surrounded by a mote and a drawbridge could be raised or lowered to allow entry.
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Cheers!
Eliza
I'm going to be at Carcassonne later this month, first trip to France. I've been to some castles in England, the Tower of London and a Norman castle north east of London, but that's it. Looking forward to visiting a bunch of ruins in the Languedoc.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, BTW :)
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your visit! I've been there and it is amazing!
The Tower of London is on my schedule next, I can't wait to see it!