medieval castles

[abbie10]

hi im doin a school project on the 3 medieval castles Motte and Bailey, Stone Keep and Concentric anybody know any interesting facts about these???? TIA p.s: I need them as soon as possible thx

[Octavius]

Not really sure what you mean by interesting facts�..

Windsor Castle started out as a motte and bailey which are generally considered one of the earliest forms of �castle�.

The White Tower at the Tower of London is an example of a Stone Keep, which was a progression from motte and bailey. Most stone keeps are square towered as opposed to the�.

Concentric castles, which were the next development in castle construction since they expanded the stone keep and the motte and bailey by building a castle to encapsulate the castle (castle within a castle). A good example is Caernarfon Castle.

[4GS]

Motte & Bailey:
http://www.castlewales.com/motte.html


Stone Keep:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/stone_kee p_castles.htm


Concentric:
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/concentri c_castles.htm

Happy research!!

[jno]

as people have said, they were not so much three styles to choose between but a development of styles. Earliest ones would be just a hill with a fence round it; then they'd develop into hills with a stone tower on the top; eventually you'd have several rings of walls round them. Old ones could be refortified to the latest standards. Eventually though, the use of gunpowder and cannons meant it became virtually impossible to build an impregnable castle.

[Clanad]

I found this an interesting fact:

Pre-built Norman castles were loaded on to the Norman invasion fleet in 1066. The first pre-built Norman Wooden Castle was erected at Pevensey Bay in 1066. The temporary wooden Motte and Bailey castles were quickly replaced by the permanent stone Norman castles which were dominated by their tower Keeps. The Tower of London is strongly associated with William the Conqueror who invaded England in 1066. William the Conqueror initially built a wooden Motte and Bailey castle and the famous, fortified, stone White Tower, which replaced the original Motte and Bailey castle, was completed in 1097. There were no castles in England prior to 1066. (Source: Norman Castles)

[jno]

also, I think the art of castle building developed a lot once the crusades began and Europeans went off to the holy land and saw how Muslims did it - Islamic society was generally more advanced than Christian society in that era.

[abbie10]

thanks for your help its helped me with my project ....
love abbie10