motte & bailey castles

• | features

  • motte: mound of earth, not very high, less than 5 metres
  • wooden keep (tower): wood to speed up building as there was usually a ready supply of timber
  • bailey: fences area around motte, buildings where soldiers lived & stored weapons
  • palisade: fence for protection from attacks
• | psychological impact of castles

  • sent out message that normans had taken control & rebellion was pointless
• • normans built castles as soon as they arrived
  • part of intimdation factor was that normans commanded local people to build castles even if it meant demolishing their own homes
• | summary

  • castles were crucial to william's control
  • enabled normans to dominate millions with a few thousands of normans
  • used as bases to control local areas
  • protect war horses, store weapons & food
  • intimidated local people & protect from threat of attack