Types of Castles in Medieval Europe

Medieval Castles

• Medieval castles were strong, protected areas that kept the enemy out and the people inside safe.
• Castles underwent many changes during the Middle Ages, which was a period of European history from the 5th to the 15th centuries.
• The first simple castles (motte and bailey) were eventually transformed with shell keeps.
• Castles were then built of stone for more protection.
• Gothic castles were characterized by their tallness, grand arching ceilings, and detailed stone work, bringing comfort into castle living.
• Concentric castles were made with a low stone outer wall that surrounded a taller inner wall, making them almost invincible.

The Manorial System

• The manorial system was the central feature of feudalism, the main form of government and social structure during the Middle Ages.
• The medieval manor was a large estate granted to a lord by the king.
• The manor house served as the communal center of the manor and the residence of the lord and his family.
• Peasants lived on the manor in exchange for working the land reserved for the lord, known as the demesne.
• Peasants worked six days a week, spending three days tending to the demesne and three days working their own small piece of land.
• Peasant houses were constructed of wattle and daub, a mixture of wood, mud, manure, and straw.
• The lord of the manor was a member of the nobility who made a promise of military service to the king in return for being granted the manorial estate.
• The lord was responsible for protecting the peasants that lived on his manor.
• The size of a manor reflected the lord's wealth and status, with defensive fortifications such as protective walls and moats.
• The manor house typically consisted of various structures or rooms, including the great hall, a kitchen, a buttery, a food storage area, and the solar.
• A central feature of the manor was the church.
• Other components of a manor estate might include a river or stream, barns, a mill, and an area of woodland for hunting game.

Knights

• Knights were soldiers who were often born into nobility, which included kings, queens, wealthy landowners, and powerful lords and ladies of estates.
• Knights participated in a training process and engaged in jousts, a contest where two knights faced off against each other on horseback, to prepare for battle.
• The Code of Chivalry was a strict set of rules that knights had to follow.

The Crusades

• The Crusades were a series of holy wars fought between Christian Europeans and Islamic Arabs between 900 and 750 years ago.
• The Pope, the religious leader of Christianity in Europe, called for Christians to retake the Holy Land in the Middle East.
• The Crusades were thought to be a pilgrimage and a holy duty, but only the first Crusade was successful.
• Although the later Crusades failed, they brought back new ideas, inventions, and interest in exploration to Europe.

King Henry II

• King Henry II became the English monarch, succeeding his cousin Stephen, in 1154.
• He married Eleanor of Aquitaine to get access to her French lands, which angered her first husband, the King of France.
• Henry's first step after gaining power was to become the ruler of Anjou and Normandy.
• His accomplishments included improving the English judicial system.
• King Henry II wrongly hoped that Thomas Becket, his chancellor or senior official, would help him get control over the Catholic Church's legal system too.
• Their long-running feud eventually led to Thomas Becket's death.

The Constitutions of Clarendon

• The king wanted to preserve his power, so he created the Constitutions of Clarendon, which said that the Church would be limited in excommunication, that the king got to choose religious leaders, and that the government should punish lawbreakers, not the church.
• When the king created the constitutions, he angered Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury.
• This disagreement eventually led to Thomas' death in the year 1170.

The Magna Carta

• The Magna Carta established rights and freedoms in England that the king couldn't take away.
• It has influenced many important ideas about government throughout history, including the United States Constitution.
• It provided protection for the English by putting restrictions, or limits, on the king's power.
• It was signed by King John in 1215 after the English barons succeeded in negotiating for their rights.