Medieval Castle Medieval Castle Description

1. Are European medieval castles really as romantic as fairy tales? The internal filth is beyond your imagination2, What is life like in a medieval castle? Do you know?3, what are the medieval castles?4, the world's most famous European medieval castles which 5, the role of the European medieval castles European medieval castles are really as romantic as a fairy tale? Inside dirty beyond your imagination

As soon as we mention the Middle Ages, a few key words will flash in our minds, such as castles, princes, princesses, kings, knights, manors and so on.

Those beautiful castles, the marvelous fairyland hidden in the mountains and forests, were the lighted dance halls, staging a fairy tale of love between the prince and the princess.

However, such castles only exist in movies and TV shows and Disneyland, and the real aristocrats who lived in medieval castles were not as comfortable as we imagined.

First, the daily life of the castle is equivalent to a barracks

Castle is a product of the European Middle Ages, when the nobility for the competition for land, food, livestock, population and the constant outbreak of war. The intensive wars led the nobles to build more and more and bigger castles to guard their territories.

So, in essence, castles were really military fortresses, not luxurious palaces to show off.

Many people, after watching Game of Thrones, always feel that the Starks' Winterfell, the king of the North, is a bit shabby, and in fact, the castles of the European medieval nobles were almost like this, even more shabby and shabby.

In the Middle Ages, the European continent was in a state of flames, and in order to effectively defend against the enemy, most castles were built on steep terrain, such as cliffs, mountaintops, and small islands in the center of rivers.

The outside of the castles are in a terrible state, and the inside of the castles are in a horrible state.

Before the 11th century, castles were divided into wooden and masonry castles. Most of the castles that survive today are masonry castles. Wooden castles did exist historically, but they were a bit shabbier than masonry castles, but they served the same purpose.

Because they were military installations, castles abandoned the concept of comfort in civilian installations.

The kind of castles in Disney animation didn't exist in the Middle Ages.

Because it was a military facility, the living rooms were very simple, and basically all the rooms were connected.

And the command of the command of the battle, it is designed to be as complex as possible, as much as possible to delay the enemy troops to work into the interior, so layer upon layer of kill rooms and multiple gates are very important.

In order to prevent the enemy from climbing into the castle interior through the window, so the outer wall rarely hit the window hole. This makes the interior poorly lit and dark even in broad daylight.

The room does not have a rich carpet, most of the time it is just some abandoned straw. There is almost everything in this hay, including, spit, vomit, urine, spilled beer, leftovers, and other unspeakable filth.

And in the darkness of the high walls, the smell of rotting straw mixed with the stench of livestock feces made the whole castle look like a giant incinerator.

In addition, the construction level was relatively poor, and when it rained heavily, there was serious rainwater leakage inside the castle.

The dark and humid environment naturally led to poor hygiene in the castle, with rats, cockroaches, mosquitoes and fleas everywhere. The good thing is that the Europeans at that time also did not care about the hygiene situation, even the nobles, but also long years are not bathed.

Second, the stink of the Middle Ages

The Middle Ages has a black history, modern people listen to the male silent female tears. That is, medieval Europeans did not bathe.

Put to the present, if a person said I have not bathed for decades. Er, seems to smell an indescribable flavor.

However, in the eyes of the people of the time, not bathing was considered normal behavior.

In ancient Rome, not only was there an underground piped water supply system, but there were also public **** bathhouses everywhere, and people were very clean at that time, and bathing was not a luxury.

Since the fall of the Western Roman Empire, bathhouses and underground pipelines are often not repaired and abandoned, so the bath gradually became a luxury, people do not bathe for many years, the body has accumulated a thick layer of flea nests, sweat, oil and other mixtures.

Some people find it difficult to accept the smell of their own body, began to buy spices, making perfume, when the perfume industry step by step on the development.

Until now, Europe's perfume are the world's civilization, but who would have thought that the original purpose of perfume is to cover up the unpleasant body odor.

However, a statistician pointed out a surprising fact: until today, one in five people in London basically do not bathe. As for the rule of washing hands before meals, they follow it better, purely because before the emergence of knives and forks, Europeans are directly with their hands to grasp the meal. Well, Europe's culture does have a long and continuous history!

Third, the shabby castle banquet

Due to the location of the castle, all are remote areas. All kinds of living materials, are to be transported through a large number of manpower, can supply the castle in the daily needs of everyone even good, but also what "bike"?

Until the 12th century, Europeans did not know what coffee, tea and spices, the castle did not have a wide range of land and water with a grand feast, the daily meal is like a dog swine's food, knights and noblemen directly with a short sword to cut the meat and eat, crumbs and bones thrown all over the floor, full of pigs and dogs to steal each other's food.

In the Middle Ages, people often ate food is birds, including eagles, herons, peacocks, sparrows, larks, swallows, swans and so on, as long as the things that can fly, are the table food.

Not because these bird foods were tastier, but because there was no other meat to eat. For more than 1,000 years, people never ate beef or mutton because these animals were so valuable that people needed their wool, cheese, and strength from the cows, and because the dung from those animals was good fertilizer, so they couldn't be slaughtered.

Fourth, the unattractive medieval city

In the Middle Ages, if you wanted to find a civilized city, it was unrealistic.

As soon as you entered the city gates, someone would stop you and tell you that you'd be better off looking elsewhere for poetry and distance.

It's under lockdown because a great plague has just struck this place and the lords have decided to execute everyone here.

Even if you are lucky enough to enter the big city, however, you may be greeted by a bubble of feces falling from the sky. You dodge and get drenched, falling down on the shit-strewn streets.

Don't be surprised, the flush toilet was probably invented in the 19th century, and before that there were no pumping facilities in castles, so public urination and defecation were the norm in the Middle Ages.

This was the harsh reality of medieval European castles, rife with poverty, war and squalor.

Some might say that Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany is gorgeous and cozy, and not at all as sad as the above.

You have to realize that Neuschwanstein was built in the late 19th century as the palace of Ludwig II, the king of Bavaria, which was a far cry from the medieval castles where the aristocrats lived.

There is no such thing as a fairy tale, and behind fairy tales there is blood, darkness, and filth.

What was life like in a medieval castle? You know what I mean?

1. Only the nobility could live in castles in the Middle Ages. Despite their different appearances, castles had one **** in common: they were built on high ground with rivers and water nearby. Their appearance looked eerie, as if they were thousands of miles away. High walls and iron walls keep people away. But many castles are warm inside, with fireplaces to keep them warm, thick blankets on the walls, and curtains hanging over the beds of noble ladies.

2. Because of their structure, castles were often damp, cold, and moldy. To solve this problem, some herbs and plants were used to remove odors. For example, scented lavender, thyme and other plants were spread on the floor to purify the odor. A castle could accommodate a large number of people, and if the owner of the castle employed a large number of servants, the population could be up to 200.

3. Although a castle was a home, it was not a permanent residence. Masters, ladies and their servants - ranging in number from 30 to 150 - would move from castle to castle with their beds, linens, tapestries, crockery, candlesticks and chests, which meant that most of the rooms in the castle were closed all the time! of the house.

4. How busy a castle is depends on the time of year. Festivals like Easter and Christmas mean that guests flock to the castle and they may stay there for months. Other times, like when a woman is about to give birth or has just had a baby, she is less busy. Different castles naturally had different numbers of rooms. Early medieval castles and smaller castles throughout the period usually consisted of a tower containing one room per floor.

5. Large castles and manor houses usually had halls, bedrooms, solariums (parlors), bathrooms and gardens, porter's and guard's rooms, kitchens, pantries, storerooms and dressing rooms, chapels, cupboards (libraries) and boudoirs (dressing rooms), storerooms and cellars, igloos, attics, apartments, and sometimes even dungeons. The Great Hall was the center of the castle. It was usually the warmest room in the castle, one of the most ornately decorated, and the center of hospitality and celebrations such as dances, plays, or poetry readings.

6. Typically, the owner of a castle had a private apartment or bathroom with an attached toilet and a room where guests could sleep. They may also have a private chapel. Usually, the palace and the lady's room were the safest places in the castle and were so well guarded that no one could enter. Some castles even had their own nobles' and ladies' rooms in a completely separate building that protected the main body even if the rest of the castle collapsed.

7. Although early castles had small windows, so they could be dark and cold, later castles had larger windows that allowed more light in. Fireplaces were not invented until the Middle Ages. Until then, all fires were open, producing a lot of smoke and not spreading heat efficiently. Castle halls usually had a large open fireplace to provide heat and light. Tapestries also provided some insulation.

8. More private rooms in a castle, such as bedrooms, would be equipped with beds with curtains and fireplaces, or removable mantelpieces. They also had square notches in the walls, called lamp bases, which could be used for lamps or candles. Servants' rooms were usually over the kitchen. While they are small and lack privacy, they can be quite warm and certainly smell better than the rest of the castle.

9. Children played in the castle, which would have been full of upper-class children. Although the social norms for children were different to today, children were loved and educated then and there is plenty of evidence that they had toys, such as miniature furniture, which may have been used to educate them for the future. They **** used a feather bed. There were even children who worked as servants: children from wealthy families were sent to live in castles as a way of learning manners and court work.

What were the medieval castles?

Romanian Castle of Dracula

Located in west-central Romania, this castle, also known as Castle Brown, was begun in 1377 and completed in 1382. The whole castle is like a tight fighting fortress. The most distinctive feature of the castle is his four corner towers, these corner towers or storage of gunpowder or installed a movable floor, designed specifically for the enemy want to besiege the castle to pour hot water. 4 corner towers are connected to the corridor, the corridor outside the wall of the shooting holes. Today, Dracula Castle is a museum of history and art. Glamis Castle, Scotland

Scotland's most haunted castle, located in Glamis, Scotland, was built in 1372. It is a mixture of French and Scottish architectural styles, with Norman corner towers enclosing classical Scottish towers. Outside the castle are the splendid Italian and Dutch gardens, which are beautifully landscaped.

Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle, a symbol of Edinburgh's, and indeed Scotland's, spirit, was built in 1571. Perched on the top of a dead volcano overlooking Edinburgh city, it is the site of the annual Military Tattoo in August, which brings out the majesty of Edinburgh Castle.

Chambord, Loire, France

The perfect combination of aristocratic splendor and Renaissance art. The most artistic chateau, "with a true king's style". Honestly a villa. Castle of Mont St. Michel

Located near the bay of St. Malo in Normandy, France, it was founded in 708 AD. The island is built with the Abbey and Church of St. Michel. The abbey has an ancient and dignified appearance, with walls one meter thick and a triangular roof. The church of St. Michael among them is supported by huge wall stacks, with every arch line and every pattern rising upwards into spires, giving the impression of an upward soaring synergy. On the spire of the highest church bell tower is the golden statue of St. Michael the Archangel.

What are the world's most famous European medieval castles

1 Romania Dracula Castle

Located in west-central Romania, also known as Brown Castle. 1377 was built in 1382. The whole castle is like a tight medieval castle fighting fortress. The most distinctive feature of the castle is the medieval castle with its four corner towers, which either stored gunpowder or contained medieval castles with movable floors, specially designed to pour hot water on enemies trying to besiege the castle. The four corner towers were connected by corridors, which were equipped with shooting holes in the outer walls. Today, Chateau Dracula is a museum of history and art.

Legendary The famous Prince Volodya III of Romania, Prince Volodya Dracula, who came to the throne, ruled with an iron fist, practiced torture, and punished countless prisoners of war, corrupt officials, spies, and criminals, and he used to crucify the prisoners on stakes without mercy. In the eyes of the people, he gradually became a vampire, and the Dracula Castle where he lived became a vampire's lair. Furthermore, the history of Dracula's castle has been marred by several great battles, in which many valiant warriors died inside and outside the castle. Throughout the centuries, the castle has been haunted by ghostly legends.

2 Glamis Castle, Scotland

The most haunted castle in Scotland is located in Glamis, Scotland, built in 1372. Built in 1372, the castle is a mixture of French and Scottish architectural styles, with a Norman corner tower enclosing a classical Scottish tower. Outside the castle are splendid Italian and Dutch gardens, beautifully landscaped.

Legend Legend The Duke of Crawford, nicknamed The Tiger, was once the owner of Glamis Castle, and is said to have enjoyed playing cards with the devil at Saturday night's witch-hunts. Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, inspired by the ghostly legends of the place.

3 Edinburgh Castle

Edinburgh Castle, the spiritual symbol of Edinburgh and indeed Scotland, was built in 1571. Perched on the summit of a dead volcano overlooking the city of Edinburgh, it is the site of the annual Military Tattoo held every August, which reveals the majesty of Edinburgh Castle.

It sits atop the granite summit of an extinct volcano and can be seen from all corners of the city center. Edinburgh Castle became a royal fortress in the 6th century, and when Queen Margaret died there in 1093, Edinburgh Castle became an important royal residence and center of state administration, and continued to be one of the most important royal castles in Britain through the Middle Ages, until the early 16th century when Holyrood Palace was completed, replacing Edinburgh Castle as the main residence of the royal family, but Edinburgh Castle is still an important symbol of Scotland. . Edinburgh Castle is divided into Lower Ward, Middle Ward, Upper Ward and other areas along the slopes, **** dozens of points of visit, the more important, including St. Margaret's Chapel, is said to be the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh, and the Castle's military prison, once imprisoned Napoleon's troops, the wall is still retained in the wall of the French troops scratching the fingerprints.

The castle's famous Mons Meg cannon was built in Belgium in 1449, and after 200 years of battle, it returned to Edinburgh in 1829, and is now housed in the castle cellar (Castle Vaults) in the castle's Palace, where there are a number of Scottish treasures, such as the 1540 design of the Crown Jewels of Scotland, along with the royal scepter, the sword, and other artifacts placed in the Crown Room. The Crown Jewels are located in the Crown Room. Edinburgh Castle is also the Scottish National War Museum, the Scottish United Services Museum of the location.

4 Chateau de Chambord, Loire, France

The perfect combination of aristocratic splendor and Renaissance art. The most artistic chateau of all, "with a real king's touch". To be honest, it's a villa.

5 Mont Saint-Michel

Located near the bay of St. Malo in Normandy, France, it was founded in 708 AD. The island is home to the Abbey and Church of St. Michel. The abbey has an ancient and dignified fa?ade, with one meter thick walls and triangular roofs. The church of St. Michael is supported by huge stacks, with every arch line and every pattern rising upwards to a peak, giving the impression of an upward thrust. On the highest bell-tower spire is the golden statue of St. Michael the Archangel.

During the Hundred Years' War between England and France, which lasted from 1337 to 1453, 119 French knights hid in the abbey and fought against the English for 24 years, relying on its walls and turrets. During this long war, the island was the only military fortress in the region that did not fall

The role of medieval castles in Europe

The medieval castles in Europe were a kind of both military and civilian functions of the building. It was a fortress used to defend against enemy attacks Medieval Castle, but also the living quarters of nobles and knights.

Medieval Europe was a savage land of conflict, robbery, confrontation and killing. In this chaos Medieval Castle , people need to escape the storm of war harbor, resistance to the strong enemy attack tools, to maintain the peace of the land of a sharp weapon. Thus, the castle was born.

Then, the establishment of the castle is the most reliable defense in the war, at least the weaker party can retreat to the castle. Castles made of mainly earth and stone materials were strong enough to withstand the rapid attacks of cavalry, transforming raiding quick-fire battles into wars of attrition. Therefore, the purpose of castles was to defuse enemy attacks, especially in medieval Europe, where lords at all levels made maintaining the safety of personal property in their territories their core mission, bringing castles into a golden age.

Expanded Information

Historical Evolution

The early type of castle was known as the "mound and slab". A mound is an embankment of earth, built of clay, of a certain breadth and height, usually fifty feet high. The mound and slab was like an island, surrounded by dug-out, water-filled trenches, and interconnected by a bridge and narrow, steep paths. In times of danger, the force of the defense retreated into the arroyo if it could not hold the slab.

In the eleventh century A.D., castles began to be built of stone instead of clay and wood. Wooden archery towers constructed on top of earthen embankments were instead built of large blocks of stone, and this type of fortification was known as a hollow-shell fortress, which later developed into an archery tower or fortress.

The Crusades brought back new defense techniques and siege engineers that led to improved castle designs. Concentric castles expanded from a central point and were surrounded by two or more circular walls. The defense of the walls was initially strengthened with square archery towers, but was later changed to circular towers, which were more resistant. More battlements could be added to the tops of the walls and archery towers to make them more capable of attacking downwards.

While artillery appeared in Europe in the early fourteenth century, no warlike siege cannons were used until the mid-fifteenth century. As the power of artillery increased, people began to change the design of their castles in response. The high, steep walls of the past were replaced by low, sloping walls.

By the middle of the fifteenth century, castles began to decline due to the expansion of royal power. In the eleventh century, William the Conqueror claimed ownership of all the castles in England and reclaimed them from the nobility. By the thirteenth century, castles had to be built or strengthened with the king's consent. The purpose was to abolish castles so that they could not be relied upon for rebellion. Castles were abolished, a quarter remained in the possession of the nobility, and medieval castles others fell into ruin.

Castles can take less than a year to build, or they can take up to twenty years. For centuries, castle building was an important industry, with renowned master masons in high demand and groups of castle builders moving from place to place. Towns wanted to hire skilled laborers to build cathedrals, and lords wanted to hire them to build castles.

Bowmaris Castle, in North Wales, has been under construction since 1295. It has a symmetrical design with no weak points. At its peak when it was built, thirty blacksmiths, four hundred stonemasons and two thousand workmen were needed. The workers were mostly engaged in cutting, carrying, lifting, excavating and splitting stones. This rigorously designed castle was never completed. Instead, Cornwell's great castle, built by Edward I of England in Wells, took forty months to build.

The walls of the castle were of stone construction, and the interior of the stone walls were filled with rubble and flint, which was mixed by a mortar and pestle machine. The breadth of the walls generally varied from six to sixteen feet.

Reference source Medieval Castle: Baidu Encyclopedia - Castles