What is the most important feature of a castle?
What is the most important feature of a castle? The drawbridge is one of the most important parts of a castle and one you've probably heard of before! A drawbridge was a type of bridge between the gatehouse and the opposite side of the moat. During raids, the drawbridge would be raised to keep invaders out.
What type of structure is a castle?
A castle is a fortified residence for a medieval noble. Castles come in all shapes and sizes, but knowing a few general terms will help you understand them. The Keep (or Donjon): A high, strong stone tower in the center of the castle complex that was the lord's home and refuge of last resort.
Who controls a castle?
Castles were not only built and used by the crown. In fact, the majority of castles were granted by the king to his loyal lords and nobles along with large areas of land. In return for these grants, the king expected his nobles to control and administer these lands on his behalf.
What are the top of castle walls called?
Battlements were the square-shaped part of the walls around the top of the castle. They usually had a walkway behind them so that soldiers could stand there when looking out for potential threats. They were also useful for soldiers who were defending the castle during an attack.
What is the strongest point in a castle?
Particularly large towers are often the strongest point of the castle: the keep or the bergfried. As the gate is always a vulnerable point of a castle, towers may be built near it to strengthen the defences at this point.
What should a castle have?
A typical European castle was like a little village inside, with kitchens, workshops, gardens, stables, and a chapel. This castle is built of stone, but many early castles were wooden.
What makes a castle a castle?
A castle is fundamentally two things, a residence for a laird, and a place that offers significant protection. If it's only one or the other, that's problematic. A grand building with no defensive features would be a palace, chateau or country house.
What is the safest part of a castle?
What other rooms were there in a Medieval castle? At the time of Chr tien de Troyes, the rooms where the lord of a castle, his family and his knights lived and ate and slept were in the Keep (called the Donjon), the rectangular tower inside the walls of a castle. This was meant to be the strongest and safest place.