What was the main purpose of castles?

Castles were common in Europe during the Middle Ages and were often the homes of royal families or other powerful people. The main purpose of castles was to protect the people who lived there from invasions. They were also a status symbol to show other people how important a family was.



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Castles were common in Europe during the Middle Ages and were often the homes of royal families or other powerful people. The main purpose of castles was to protect the people who lived there from invasions. They were also a status symbol to show other people how important a family was.

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Medieval Castle s were built from the 11th century CE for rulers to demonstrate their wealth and power to the local populace, to provide a place of defence and safe retreat in the case of attack, defend strategically important sites like river crossings, passages through hills, mountains, and frontiers, and as a place ...

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One of the most important features in a castle was its walls. Whether made of wood, stone or brick, they provided a barrier to enemy attackers. They typically included wall walks, which were used by the defenders to resist attempts to scale the walls or to shoot missiles at the besiegers.

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Traditionally keeps were built as a type of fortified tower built by European nobility. Keep's were built within castles during the Middle Ages and they were used as a refuge or last resort should the rest of the castle fall to enemies.

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Some castles were surrounded by deep ditches called moats to stop attackers getting in. Some moats were filled with water, like Caerlaverock Castle near Dumfries (above). Attackers would have to swim or row across the moats to get to the castle.

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Castles were great defences against the enemy. However, when gunpowder was invented the castles stopped being an effective form of defence. By the end of the 1300s gunpowder was widely in use. The medieval castle with its high vertical walls was no longer the invincible fortification it had been.

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This brings us to the question of who owned the castles? The castles can generally be split into several categories, royal and baronial either being built and owned by the king or built by a baron with or sometimes without the permission of the king.

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The three main types of castles are the motte and bailey castle, the stone keep castle, and the concentric castle.

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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.

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Castles are usually built on high ground with clear views of the surrounding lands – and both of these things make them difficult to attack.

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The word 'castle' derives from the old English word 'castel', which meant village. Villages were often fortified, but in peaceful times the villages expanded, leaving only the central part fortified.

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On its website, you'll find more than 1,000 castle listings that range from 250,000 euros to 5 million euros and beyond. In USD, that's about $300,000 to $6 million plus. Sotheby's Realty. Catering to high-net-worth individuals, Sotheby's lists castles and chateaus online, most of which cost millions of dollars.

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