How did the Crusades influence castle design?
The reason for the change was largely influenced by the crusades as Europeans went to the Holy Lands to conquer. In addition to conquering, these kings brought back a new way of designing and fortifying their castles in England, Wales and France.
What was the main feature of a concentric castle?
A concentric castle is a castle with two or more concentric curtain walls, such that the inner wall is higher than the outer and can be defended from it.
What was the concentric castle used for?
The Concentric castle was developed in the 12th and 13th centuries and offered the best protection against attack. What does concentric mean? The word concentric means one circle inside another (this referred to the walls of this type of castle).
What are the parts of a concentric castle?
The concentric castle is effectively two castles in one. A concentric castle has an outer wall with a gatehouse as in an ordinary castle, but it also has one or more inner walls with one or more gatehouses. The diagram shown on the left shows an example of a concentric castle.
Why did the Crusaders build castles?
When they were able to muster large numbers of fighting men (usually when crusading forces were in the Levant), the Crusader States used castles as places to resupply and leave wounded soldiers.
Where was the Crusader castle?
Krak des Chevaliers is a Crusader castle in Syria and one of the most important preserved medieval castles in the world. The site was first inhabited in the 11th century by a settlement of Kurdish troops garrisoned there by the Mirdasids; as a result it was known as Hisn al-Akrad, meaning the “Castle of the Kurds”.
What type of castle is Dover Castle?
Dover Castle probably originated as a motte and bailey castle, built after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It was transformed by King Henry II between 1179 and 1188; building the keep, the walls of the inner bailey and parts of the outer curtain wall.
How would concentric castles be attacked?
Once inside the outer curtain wall any intruder would be visible to archers or crossbowmen within up to 8 of the towers and along the walls. To successfully capture the castle they would also have to either scale both sets of walls, under fire from each of the towers, or breach the heavily fortified gatehouses.
What was the first concentric castle built?
Building concentric castles started in the mid 1200s, and the best examples were built in the 1290s and early 1300s. The first example of this design was Caerphilly Castle in Wales – which was built in about 1270.
How were concentric castles constructed?
Concentric castles had two or more surrounding walls around the central tower and were made of stone. The word ‘concentric’ means to ‘have a common center,’ such as a circle within another circle. So a concentric castle was like a castle within a castle. This made it very difficult for invaders to get inside.
When were concentric castles built in England?
Where is the Templars castle?
Château Pèlerin, Israel On the northern Mediterranean shore of modern-day Israel lies the ancient castle of Pèlerin. Built by the Templar order in 1218, the castle was a Templar stronghold for over seventy years until the order abandoned it in 1291 following the fall of the city of Acre.
What is a concentric castle?
Concentric castles represented a high point for medieval military architecture, and they were arguably the most formidable castles to be built during the period. The basic idea behind the design was simple – concentric castles were a castle within a castle.
How did concentric crusader castles defend against attacks?
The curtain walls of a concentric crusader castle also typically featured many towers, which could shelter defending troops and even hold siege engines such as trebuchets to allow the garrison to fire back at besiegers. The arrow slits of the towers also made firing at attackers from a covered position possible.
How did people build castles in the past?
There was no single method used to build castles in the past, as you can see from the diagram below: there are two methods of building a castle, with the concentric method being the most popular. Since Greek and Roman times, man has tried to build fortifications to protect himself and be safe.
How much did it cost to build Caernarfon Castle?
Edward I of England almost bankrupted his royal treasury with the series of concentric castles he built in Wales: Caernarfon Castle alone cost £25,000 to construct. Their great cost also ensured that the owners of concentric castles gained, for themselves, an enormous amount of prestige and political authority.