Castle Natural Defences and Water Defences Employing multiple layers of defence in a castle had several advantages for the garrison.Īside from slowing down attackers and prolonging a siege, staged defences often allowed the different layers to support each other: for example, concentric castles typically had inner walls that were higher than the outer walls, allowing archers or crossbowmen on both walls to engage attacking besiegers simultaneously.įurthermore, multiple layers of defence gave the garrison the option to retreat back to the next stage in the face of overwhelming odds. This concept can also be called ‘defence in depth’ – it aims to slow down an attacker and cause as many casualties as possible, buying more time for the defenders so that a friendly army can arrive to relieve them. Some of the strongest medieval castles made use of several layers of defence, particularly concentric castles which made use of multiple layers of curtains walls (such as the city of Carcassonne in France). Multiple layers of strong defensive architecture made attempts at assaulting the castle costly, forcing besiegers into long sieges, and giving relief armies more time to reach the castle.ġ.5 Castle Towers A Guide to Castle Defence Layers of Castle Defence
CASTLE DEFENSE 2 SERIES
Instead, most medieval wars were decided through a series of sieges, in which the attacking side would generally try to gain as much territory as possible.Ĭastles were strategic military locations, and by capturing them an attacking army could better control an enemy country – disrupting its economy, forcing its armies to retreat, and encouraging its leadership to surrender.Īs a result, castles were meticulously designed to be able to resist siege for as long as possible. As a result, battles were generally avoided and only used as a last resort. Set-piece field battles were not only incredibly bloody but were also highly risky for both sides involved – even a winning army could sustain so many casualties that they would be unable to continue fighting a war and be forced to disband.
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