Table of Contents
What was the disadvantage of using a ladder to attack a castle?
However, ladders had the disadvantage of leaving the man climbing the ladder subject to attack by arrow, boiling water or oil, or by being thrown to the ground if the ladder was pushed away from the wall. To prevent this type of attack the Belfry or Siege Tower was developed.
How would a Motte and Bailey castle be defended?
Motte & Bailey castles. A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle situated on a raised earthwork and surrounded by a ditch and protective fence. The bailey was an outer enclosure, which was also defended by a fence and sometimes a ditch, providing a first, outer line of defence for the motte.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of motte and bailey castles?
Motte and Bailey Castles
| Advantages quick to build protected by the soldiers | Disadvantages made of wood temporary |
| Evaluation A motte and bailey castle was a way that William the Conqueror could control his land that he had just won. This was only temporary solution though so that is why stone castles started to be built |
What is the main weaknesses of the stone keep castle?
However there still remained a number of weaknesses within the design of these castles. Stone keeps are square and an attacker could, if they were fortunate enough to get close enough, mine underneath a corner and wait for the weight of the castle to bring the walls caving in.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of motte & bailey castle?
How was life hard living in a medieval castle?
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!). Firstly, why were these castles so dark and cold? Well, most Medieval castles were made of stone.
How tall was a motte and bailey castle?
The diagram above (taken from Schoolhistory.co.uk) shows the basic design of an early Motte and bailey Castle. The Motte is hard to attack, as its sides are quite steep. On average a Motte was no higher than 5 metres. There are some examples of Motte’s that were much higher than this though, Clifford’s Tower at York for example.
How did the attackers destroy the motte and bailey castle?
The Attackers of Motte and Bailey Castles would have had to negotiate the following defensive obstacles under constant fire from the arrows of the soldiers in their attempts to destroy a Motte and Bailey castle: The perimeter ditch, which surrounded the Motte and Bailey castle complex.
What are the disadvantages of a bailey castle?
At a glance: disadvantages of Motte and Bailey castles 1 Timber burns easily -and attackers quickly learned that firing flaming arrows could defeat the castle 2 Timber rots, to0 – castles quickly ran into disrepair, and often became abandoned by their owners 3 Mottes often had a broad base.
Is it hard to build a motte castle?
Building a large Motte was a disproportionately difficult task – larger hills require much more piled earth than smaller hills – it’s disproportionately hard to build a large castle Although the base of the hill may have been large, the bailey at the top was often quite small.