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    How To Attack A Castle - And How To Defend It
    How To Attack A Castle - And How To Defend It
    How To Attack A Castle - And How To Defend It
    Ebook163 pages2 hours

    How To Attack A Castle - And How To Defend It

    By Trevor Yorke

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    About this ebook

    This book answers the questions everyone really wants to ask when they visit Britain's magnificent castles.


    Bastions of heritage, some are majestically complete and full of menace; others are silent ruins shorn of their defences following the English Civil War.


    Just what did the grim and grisly business of siege warfare actually involve? How did the siege machines work? Did attackers really fling the corpses of captured enemies back over the walls as a sign of what would befall those inside? Is it true that castle defenders poured boiling water onto the attacking forces scaling ladders towards them?


    Through powerful illustrations and accounts of actual sieges in every chapter, you will discover how armies from Norman and Medieval times up to the Civil War attacked and besieged British castles, and how changing weaponry shaped the defences we see the remains of today.


    The weapons, siege engines and mining techniques used are described in detail here, alongside diagrams showing how they worked and details of the defensive structures erected to counter them.


    The book includes an extensive list of castles to visit in the UK, with details about the historical significance of each, plus contact details and visitor information.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCountryside Books
    Release dateJun 1, 2018
    ISBN9781846749063
    How To Attack A Castle - And How To Defend It
    Author

    Trevor Yorke

    Trevor Yorke is a professional author and artist who has studied and written about various aspects of England's architectural and industrial heritage. He has produced many illustrated books that introduce the reader to these topics and writes articles and reviews for various magazines. He lives in the UK.

    Read more from Trevor Yorke

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      Book preview

      How To Attack A Castle - And How To Defend It - Trevor Yorke

      HOW TO ATTACK

      A CASTLE

      AND HOW TO DEFEND IT

      Trevor Yorke

      First published 2018

      © Trevor Yorke 2018

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

      stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic,

      mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior

      written permission of the copyright holder and publishers.

      The right of Trevor Yorke to be identified as the author of this work

      has been asserted by him in accordance with the

      Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988.

      COUNTRYSIDE BOOKS

      3 Catherine Road

      Newbury, Berkshire

      To view our complete range of books,

      please visit us at

      www.countrysidebooks.co.uk

      ISBN 978 1 84674 366 5

      Illustrations and modern photographs by Trevor Yorke

      Designed and Typeset by KT Designs, St Helens

      Produced through The Letterworks Ltd., Reading

      Printed by The Holywell Press, Oxford

      Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1

      MEDIEVAL SIEGE WARFARE

      Kings, Knights and Castles

      Chapter 2

      MOTTE AND BAILEY CASTLES

      Timber, Fire and Arrows

      Chapter 3

      THE GREAT STONE KEEPS

      Battlements, Mining and Mangonels

      Chapter 4

      CURTAIN WALLED CASTLES

      Towers, Moats and Trebuchets

      Chapter 5

      CONCENTRIC WALLED CASTLES

      Ballista and Machicolations

      Chapter 6

      TOWER HOUSES AND COASTAL FORTS

      Gatehouses, Gunpowder and Cannon

      Chapter 7

      THE CASTLE REFORTIFIED

      The English Civil War

      Places to Visit

      Glossary

      Index

      Introduction

      Mighty battlements exploding as projectiles flung from huge timber catapults send masonry flying. Balls of fire leaving arced trails of smoke through the air until they crash into buildings, setting them alight. Colossal tree trunks hung under wheeled shelters with iron caps shaped like a beast smashing through the towering wooden gates. Brave armour-clad knights valiantly fighting back the enemy to prevent them from taking their castle. These exciting images of battles between the attackers and defenders of the mighty stone fortifications are familiar to us from books, films and television. From Tolkien to Game of Thrones they have helped fire a passion for a fantasy medieval world. However the reality of warfare in the period could be very different and the way in which castles were forced into submission or resisted an enemy were more varied and interesting than just a show of brute force.

      In this book I set out to introduce you to the real medieval castle and the machines, weapons and tactics used by both attackers and defenders. It will outline the nature of siege warfare in Britain during different periods, taking you on a journey through time from the earliest motte and bailey castles erected by the conquering Normans to those built by Edward I to try to suppress the Welsh. Along the way I will show you the new methods and inventions used by attackers to try and break through walls or frighten those inside the castle into surrender, at the same time explaining how the defenders adapted the fortifications to counter any new threat. There will also be short accounts of real-life sieges, from the dramatic to the humorous, which help to illustrate how human factors played a large part in the success or not of an attack.

      The book uses many of my own photographs, illustrations and diagrams, not only to explain the reality of siege warfare but also to enhance your visits to the many wonderful castles which still exist in our country. Some remain almost complete, often turned into magnificent museums; some have been shorn of their defences – mostly by Oliver Cromwell after the Civil War; others are in ruins with only a wall to show where they once stood. But all of them have a story to tell, and after reading this book I hope you will be able to recognise parts of each of them through the crumbling walls and grassy mounds that conceal defensive features, built when military necessity or ambition and power dictated it.

      Whether you are young or old the world of castles is full of excitement, wonder and surprise, with hundreds of mighty buildings just waiting to be explored.

      Trevor Yorke

      Follow me on Facebook at

      trevoryorke-author

      Or visit my website:

      www.trevoryorke.co.uk

      FIG 0.1: A castle under siege with labels highlighting some of the key features.

      In the medieval world kingdoms were won, monarchs toppled and nobles gained new lands through the successful attack upon, or defence of, a castle. Those who tried to capture the fortification could launch a surprise attack or besiege it for weeks and sometimes even months, often resorting to extraordinary actions in order to break through the defences. They used siege engines to pound the walls, archers to pick men off the tops of the walls, and sent incendiary devices over the battlements to set fire to the buildings within. Tunnels were dug under the walls; sappers sent up to pick at the masonry in order to create a breach; siege towers and ladders were used for an assault over the top. Some attackers even fired contaminated corpses into the castle to spread disease, or they had prisoners executed in front of horrified defenders to try and induce surrender.

      Medieval commanders were not afraid to employ deception and intrigue with devious tricks used to try and enter the castle gates or have spies planted inside to find out vital information. If a direct attack failed then the defenders, cut off from gaining fresh supplies, could eventually have to surrender through starvation or lack of water. Medieval siege warfare was not a rapid process and much of a medieval king’s, baron’s and knight’s time and money was spent attacking an enemy’s castles or defending their own.

      Those trapped within did not just sit down and wait for the inevitable end. Sieges were two-way battles and the defenders were just as likely to go onto the offensive. They too had siege engines which could take out enemy weapons and personnel. They had giant crossbows which could pierce armour and shields and they used fire to destroy the attackers’ machinery. Most castles had a discreet rear exit so soldiers could slip out at night and raid the enemy camp, take hostages, or get a message out to send for a relieving force. Defenders upon the battlements had the advantage of height so heavy objects and red hot substances could be dropped around the walls or gates while archers had a good line of sight to shoot unwary attackers below. King Richard I, idealised as one of our great monarchs despite spending only a few months of his ten-year reign in this country, was inspecting progress on the siege of a small French castle when he was shot by a crossbow bolt fired from the battlements by a boy and he died a few weeks later from the wound. So although attackers would seem to have the upper hand with their wide range of weapons and tactics, in most cases defenders still had a few countermeasures available, and in some cases they could even turn the situation to their advantage. From the Norman invasion in 1066 through to the early 14th century castles were the centre point of military activity in Britain and through them the fate of a king, prince or noble could be decided.

      FIG 1.1: The moment in late November 1215 when, after nearly two months of besieging Rochester Castle, Kent, military miners working for King John finally brought down the corner of the mighty stone keep. This unpopular monarch had broken his promises made in the Magna Carta, so rebel barons rose up against him, capturing a number of key castles including Rochester. The king’s forces had attacked the defences with crossbows and missiles, and bombarded its walls with siege engines. But, it was only when they undermined its fortifications by digging tunnels beneath the structure that they finally broke through. Despite this, the defenders held on within one half of the keep for a further few days before surrendering when their supplies ran out.

      Why were castles so important?

      Why did medieval commanders go to great lengths to capture or disable castles? Part of the reason was that most medieval kings were wary about major battles, which they saw as unpredictable and dangerous events in which an army could be wiped out in a matter of hours. A war could be fought with the forces split across a number of sieges so that if one failed all was not lost. Many early castles were positioned to guard a key route or a river crossing so an invading army would have to pass by thus making them vulnerable to attack. Some castle ruins can be found today at the head of a lonely valley or by a seemingly minor bridge because when they were founded these were either important routes or the only crossing in the area. If an army tried to bypass these strategically placed fortifications then it could add days onto a march, which would give the enemy time to prepare. It could also cause

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