Why would a castle be under attack?

Why would a castle be under attack?

Sometimes a rival lord or an invading foreign army would lay siege to a castle. The enemy would surround the castle, set up camp, and wait. They stopped anyone entering or leaving the castle, so that the people inside would run out of food and be forced to surrender.

How were castles attacked in medieval times?

The main methods of attacking a Medieval Castle were: Fire. Battering Rams. Ladders.

What was the main aim for an army attacking a castle?

The main aim of an attacking army was to capture and kill the people inside. You may also want to keep the castle for yourselves. However to do this you must first get into the castle. There are many different methods at your disposal to enable you do this.

What protected the medieval castles?

The top of the castle walls were the battlements, a protective, tooth shaped parapet often with a wall walk behind it for the soldiers to stand on. The defenders could fire missiles through gaps (crenels). The raised sections between, called merlons, helped to shelter the defenders during an enemy attack.

What was the main purpose of building castles in the Middle Ages?

Medieval castles were built as homes for kings and nobility, the noble class of a country such as royalty and important public figures, to protect them from unwanted intruders. Castles were typically built in the middle of the land the king or lord of the castle was ruler over.

Why were castles built on cliffs?

Due to the high altitude, building castles on a hill offered a significant defence advantage during the sieges and easy control of the surrounding lands in peaceful times.

Why did the tactics of defending and attacking a castle change?

From the early 1400s, gunpowder and cannons changed the way castles were designed. For example, narrow arrow slits were replaced with wider gunloops. Attackers used cannons too. Cannons eventually became so powerful that castles couldn’t defend against them any more and the time of castles came to an end.

How did invading armies try to break into castles?

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. To defend against battering rams, defenders would fire arrows (sometimes flaming).