Castles were built for protection and safety. They had lots of ways for defending themselves. Most castles would have moats and drawbridges but there were many more ways of defense such as the portcullis, (a portcullis is a heavy iron gate that can be lifted to let people in or out.) It would be located on the in side of the drawbridge.

Nowadays walls are made to keep out rain, weather, animals, and also to have privacy, but in the Middle Ages castle walls were for keeping enemies out and were sometimes up to 12 feet thick. Guards would walk along the tops of the walls with bows and arrows in case of an attack. It was a common thing to do, if enemies were climbing the walls, for guards to dump hot oil from the top of the wall to prevent the enemies from climbing any farther.

People lived very differently in the Middle Ages. Nowadays houses are very comfortable and luxurious but castles were a very uncomfortable place to live. They were dark, damp, and cold because they were made out of stone. The reason they were dark was because the only windows they had were slits, this was so that arrows would not come thru the window. The Royal family would live in a large tower called a Keep. The Keep would enclose the Great Hall, bedrooms, and a large family room. Sometimes on cold nights whole families would sleep in one big bed to stay warm. Another method of keeping warm is that they would put elaborate tapestries on the walls. This would work because it kept the warmth in and the cold out.

s were the soldiers of their day. They would train and go to war just like nowadays except that when they fought they didn’t use guns and bombs, instead they used swords, axes, bows and arrows and many other primitive weapons. Knights lived well when they weren’t off at battle or on a quest.

As you can see castles weren’t the most comfortable or luxurious place to live but they served their purpose and this was to keep out enemies. Castles also kept the community safe in times of warfare. Castles were specific to the Middle Ages because that was the only time period

Some topics in this essay:
Middle Ages, Kings Queens, Ages Nowadays, Germany Wales, , middle ages, castles built, enemies climbing, types entertainment, comfortable luxurious, bows arrows, served purpose,