What did castles use for windows?

Glass was an incredibly expensive material and so was rarely used in castles or homes. Usually these were openings just to let in air and light, covered with wooden shutters. In some castles the window equivalent was shaped like a cross for defensive military purposes, not to provide wide wonderful views.



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Before inventing the window-pane, windows were covered with wooden panels and parchment in order to insulate. Later, the appearance of leaded window-panes raised the comfort level of the castles significantly. They contained round-shaped glasses (quarries), but spread very slowly, because they were too expensive.

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A castle's Arrowslit or Arrow Loops were narrow vertical apertures in a fortification. From them, archers could launch arrows or crossbowmen bolts. The interior walls behind the arrowslits were usually cut away at an oblique angle in order to give the archer a wide field of view and fire.

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Many castle windows were very small and designed to be narrow and tall for defensive purposes, which meant that they let in very little sunlight. This made it difficult to see clearly inside the castle and also made it harder to keep the interiors warm and dry.

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Castles weren't always cold and dark places to live. But, in reality, the great hall of castle had a large open hearth to provide heat and light (at least until the late 12th century) and later it had wall fireplace. The hall would also have had tapestries which would have insulated the room against too much cold.

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Life in a Medieval Castle: Cold, Dark, and Very Smelly! To our modern standards of living, most Medieval castles would have been incredibly cold, cramped, totally lacking privacy, and would have been disgustingly smelly (and likely home to more than a fair share of rats!).

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Castles and manor houses often smelled damp and musty. To counteract this, herbs and rushes were strewn across the floors.

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Early windows were not large, and often were not glazed. They would have wooden shutters or perhaps a kind of waxed paper to let in the light. Early windows often had stone seats built into the castle walls next to them.

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