Although their military origins are often emphasised in castle studies, the structures also served as centres of administration and symbols of power. These nobles built castles to control the area immediately surrounding them and the castles were both offensive and defensive structures: they provided a base from which raids could be launched as well as offered protection from enemies. Over the Middle Ages, when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace.Įuropean-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Use of the term has varied over time and, sometimes, has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th- and 20th-century homes built to resemble castles. This is distinct from a mansion, palace and villa, whose main purpose was exclusively for pleasance and are not primarily fortresses but may be fortified. Scholars usually consider a castle to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Built in 1385, Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, England, is surrounded by a water-filled moat.Ī castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders.
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