A Brief History of Castles in Europe

ChaoticanWriter

ChaoticanWriter

Greetings all,

I'll call this a bit of a debut posting in this forum. As a fellow worldbuilding enthusiast, I also host and write for a site where I occasionally put up world building articles (alongside TTRPG stuff). One in particular focused on how fortifications evolved from ancient times to modernity, specifically centered on castles and castle-like structures.

This is likely a very basic resource compared to a bunch of the content I've seen on Sufficient Velocity, but I figure share it.
www.chaoticanwriter.com

Worldbuilding: A Brief History of Castles in Europe - Chaotican Writer

Castles hold a majestic place in history! Check out a brief history of castles from the Roman Empire, to the Crusades, to Today!
www.chaoticanwriter.com www.chaoticanwriter.com

(Don't be too harsh!)
 
Lol! ... Dont disagree. It may also be an audience disparity.

Not necessarily that it is fantasy/medieval versus science fiction, but more that a lot of the content I write for this site in particular is geared for explaining high level concepts for world-building newbies, as there's broader appeal for reading, versus a granular, nuanced discussion on theory or statistics.

If you have words to share, do. I'm keen on learning from readers how to better detail, contextualize, and deliver information so its more effective or valuable.
 
ChaoticanWriter said:
Lol! ... Dont disagree. It may also be an audience disparity.

Not necessarily that it is fantasy/medieval versus science fiction, but more that a lot of the content I write for this site in particular is geared for explaining high level concepts for world-building newbies, as there's broader appeal for reading, versus a granular, nuanced discussion on theory or statistics.

If you have words to share, do. I'm keen on learning from readers how to better detail, contextualize, and deliver information so its more effective or valuable.
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OK, starting from one point...
While the idea of using mounds of earth and walls of timber was practiced for centuries, the world post-Rome had seen an explosion in what were known as "Motte and Bailey" forts.
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No.
In the period after Rome, 5th to 10th century AD Europe - and world outside Rome, Germany, Scandinavia, Scotland, Ireland - forts had occurred on and off. Several periods had no forts at all. Several periods actually had abandonment of forts... without coming of peace.
Castles spread from France, later 10th...early 11th century.
And the invention and spread of the much more numerous motte-and-bailey castles was simultaneous with the invention and spread of the less numerous but more prominent stone donjons.
The ringforts that had been around at times before spread of motte-and-bailey castles had been effectively just a bailey, without a motte. It was adding a motte to the bailey that was the innovation... parallel to adding a donjon to the castle.
For a difference of what a castle made to Roman fortification, see the example of Portchester:

PORTCHESTER CASTLE

eCastles : Castles and Fortifications of England and Wales
www.ecastles.co.uk
Compare the outer bailey (Roman) with the inner bailey in one corner (a castle).
The Roman wall is a stone wall, but it is relatively low and encloses a large area. It has towers, but they do not rise high above the wall - in Portchester, are on the wall level but stand ahead of wall, some other Roman towers did stand above the wall but only by one story. The towers are also small in area - defenders fit inside but no housing inside tower. In case of Portchester, the accommodation is demolished, but it was freestanding, unfortified houses inside the fort wall. The Roman fort looked like a small town.
And now compare the castle in one corner. The total area is much smaller, but the walls are taller than the Roman walls. And there is the donjon rising far above the already high castle wall. The donjon is also big inside compared to the small Roman towers. The rest of accommodations is in wings built against the castle walls.
 
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