Why were castles built?
Posted on 08. Mar, 2010 by Iwind in History
The many castles of the world have fascinated people for hundreds of years, and you may wonder why were castles built? There are actually several reason, but the most important one is for protection and defense. It is pretty obvious that it is easier to defend yourself from on top of castle walls than on the ground. Castles enabled small armies to defend themselves against much larger enemy forces. Even with a large army it was very hard to take a well defended castle without heavy losses.
Some forms of fortifications have been built for thousands of years, one of the oldest being the 3700 year old wall built by the ancient Canaanites, but the first real castles were built only 1000 years ago. Most of the large castles in Europe were built from 1100 to 1500. Initially these castles were built to hold down conquered territory and for defense, as stated earlier, but the lords also noticed that they were an effective way to intimidate and strike fear into local people in the area. The castles became a symbol of wealth and power for the lords controlling them, and a very effective way of keeping control of their territory.
The basic social structure in this time was the Feudalism. All land was held by the king and he gave pieces of this land to various high nobles in return for helping him fighting wars and putting down rebellions. The great castles were the home to these high nobles, and several lesser nobles built castles as well. The high nobles gave land to the lesser nobles in exchange for their help in battle. There are a lot of castles still standing all over Europe and visiting them can be a really interesting experience.
Popularity: 39%
Amina
Nov 30th, 2010
I like castles
ella
Feb 14th, 2011
i think it is useful but i hate castles
puppy
Feb 27th, 2011
me 2
i lv dogs!!!!!!!!
wierd
random
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puppy
Feb 27th, 2011
Good day
I like castles
though prefer dogs
bob
Mar 1st, 2011
wow castles are cool
bob
Mar 1st, 2011
wowwy
jackie
Mar 1st, 2011
i love castels thete so nice i live in 1
Danny
Mar 3rd, 2011
Great!!!!!!!!!!!
helped me with my yr8 history project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
holly
Mar 14th, 2011
hello i love your websire
dansaina
Mar 20th, 2011
I love castles and you website hasnt answered my question
Archie Inventor
Mar 27th, 2011
i love castles! i live in one myself. a pink one to be exact
unknown
Apr 27th, 2011
i dont like castles, this is homework… BORING!
sophie
May 13th, 2011
castles are sexy (:
blank
May 15th, 2011
if the people who say they dont like castles then why are u on a castle website?
chinky chonk
May 16th, 2011
i luv history and castles they are sooo fit!
:P:P:P:P
chingchongchinaman
May 16th, 2011
WE LIKE TO SLEEP ALL DAY, AND PARTY ALL NIGHT! wooop wooppp losers, castles suck
soso
May 19th, 2011
duhhh
ninjarican
May 26th, 2011
castles ar ok if ur not a a ranger if u are u can worry about how chicken and dog taste the same and how ur toes are to small for feet and how they should be on your hands and pants are yummy.
ninjarican
May 26th, 2011
but castles are not as good as turtle soup
claudia
May 31st, 2011
i love castles
claudia
May 31st, 2011
but i hate home wrok
claudia
May 31st, 2011
my name is claudia lewandowski
Hannah
Jun 4th, 2011
Great help for my yr7 history project. THANX!
bridielanajasmineemma
Jun 19th, 2011
i like dogs too, what a quinkidink!!
i live in a blue box, is that like a castle?
lollipop x
Jul 5th, 2011
lol x thanks, i needed info for my project
i HATE homework… my mum told me off for building a car out of a cardboard box…
Eye759
Aug 1st, 2011
Do you know why were castle built
Wilson
Oct 4th, 2011
Thanks, your information is so useful!
Katie
Oct 25th, 2011
Thank you, This is so useful. It helped me with my year 7 castles project. I think I might use this website more often. Thank you for your information
Cait x
Nov 3rd, 2011
Wow you actually like castles as a hobbie? how lame don’t you have anything better to do with your life you saddoes! x <3
Gabby
Nov 8th, 2011
Your website is so useful! Defo will use it again!
Thankyouuuu!
a girl
Nov 14th, 2011
this is good it helped me with my history project! thanks
RyanIanBrown
Nov 22nd, 2011
this is helping me on my history project yr 7!!!
bowles
Nov 30th, 2011
thanks for your help i did my history project
Nobody
Dec 1st, 2011
you guys are dumb, and don’t know anything about castles. I do agree though; Castles are very sexy
you will never know who i am
Dec 1st, 2011
24 days till christnas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Burnzy
Dec 21st, 2011
dis 4 hwork boring