when were motte and bailey castles built

William the Conqueror (then the Duke of Normandy), observing their success in neighbouring Anjou, began to build them on his Norman lands. When was the first Motte and Bailey Castle built? They were relatively cheap but effective defensive fortification that could repel small attacks. A motte-and-bailey is a kind of castle, or fortification.Many of them were built in the 11th and 12th century around Europe.. Motte and bailey castles became common in England at the time of William the Conqueror’s death in 1087.The construction of them prompted the future of a huge programme of castle building in England and Wales. The earliest of these castles were constructed from timber and earth alone. Motte and Bailey castles were made out of wood. Moreover, Norman designers found out that the wider the ditch was dug, the deeper and steeper the sides of the scarp could be, making it even more difficult for attackers. This model castle provides a unique opportunity to build a […] The sides were steep to prevent attackers running up them quickly. With the population of England seemingly subdued, William started a programme of building. Stone castles were built taller and gave better protection against attack, fire and cold rainy weather. Motte and Bailey Castles were a common design of castles in the Middle Ages, combining ease of construction with defensibility. Stone castles replaced the motte and bailey castles but the stone castles also changed over time. Motte and Bailey castles were built in the 11th century just after King William I (Willilam the conqueror) first took over Britain in 1066. They were quick to build, a visible sign of the Normans power and by 1070, the Normans had great expertise in building them. Facts about Motte and Bailey Castle will give you information about the first type of castle which was built in England in 1066 after the Norman conquest. These castles, which were quick to build, sprang up all over England during the first years after the Battle of Hastings. Motte and bailey castles were first used by the Normans as far back as 1020 AD. Though these structures had a simplistic and relatively rough design, they were highly effective, having excellent defensive capabilities. The They were used to keep the Saxons tamed. Stone castles replaced the motte and bailey castles but the stone castles also changed over time. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he brought this castle design with him. The castle is named after Norman words. Motte and Bailiey castles were the earliest form of castles built completely from scratch by the Normans. The word “bailey” comes from the Norman-French “baille”, it refers to a low yard. Motte and Bailiey castles were the earliest form of castles built completely from scratch by the Normans. castle could be built very quickly, in some cases it only took a few days. We provide high-quality teaching and revision materials for UK and international history curriculum. As a result, Roger embarked on a major castle-building programme with over 70 motte and bailey castles built. The film looks at why they were built, their strenghts and their weaknesses. They were called motte and bailey castles.. A timber keep, or fort, was perched on top of an earth mound, or motte.The height of the motte allowed the soldiers to keep watch over the surrounding country. This land bordered Wales and the area was seen as a refuge for thieves and villains. Motte and bailey castles were used all over Europe. Once William had firmly established his rule in England, he built huge stone keep castles. After 1066, England witnessed a massive castle building programme on the orders of William the Conqueror.First, motte and bailey castles were built. The motte and bailey castle at Dover took just eight days to build – according to William of Poitiers who was William’s chaplain. They used these castles to make their settlement of England more secure following William the Conqueror’s victory in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. With this new approach, the great era of the stone castles had begun. Stone keep castles were built because it wasn't going to burn or rot like Motte and Bailey castles would. Facts about Motte and Bailey Castles 3: The style of motte and bailey castle There are many countries which used motte and bailey style, especially in northern Europe, Normandy, and Britain. Those with wooden keeps rotted away, leaving a handful of odd-shaped hills scattered across the landscape – the only indicator that they ever existed. 3 The first castles built by William the Conqueror were motte and bailey castles. Motte and Bailey Castles Motte and bailey castles were made up of two _____ parts. Here he built his third English castle after Pevensey and Hastings. William started his reign as king of England with uncharacteristic diplomacy. It is thought that as many as 100,000 people died of starvation. Motte and Bailey castles were built in Britain, Ireland and France in the 11th and 12th centuries. One of William’s closest acquaintances was Roger of Montgomery who became earl of Shropshire. Motte and Bailey castles were first built in Normandy. Mottes varied considerably in size, usually with the minimum height being at around 3 metres. As a mark of their success, there were around 1,000 motte and bailey castles built in England, Wales and Scotland. History Learning Site Copyright © 2000 - 2020. A motte is a built-up mound of land, and a bailey is an enclosed courtyard. Motte and bailey castles were an early type of castle. The huge motte with its timber tower on top gave the defenders an advantage. The bailey was the centre of domestic life within the castle and could contain a variety of buildings, like halls, kitchens, stores, stables, a chapel, barracks and workshops. If some motte-and-bailey castles could be constructed in less than a month, a medium size stone castle would have taken a minimum of five years to build, while a large size stone castle … William had 8000 men to try and consolidate his power in England. Some of the largest mottes could be as high as 30 metres and as large as 90 metres in diameter, but they were rarely used. Motte and Bailey castles were built in Britain, Ireland and France in the 11th and 12th centuries. A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle, with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised earthwork called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. However, the French were unpopular with the local population and the French builders left without anything substantial being built. Get your evenings and weekends back? The first motte-and-bailey castle was built at Vincy, Northern France, in 979. Over the following decades the Dukes of Anjou popularised the design. For example, a large motte is estimated to have required around 24,000 man-days of work, while the smaller ones required around 1,000. Motte and bailey castles were a sign that feared Norman soldiers were never too far away. It was now that William took away land from the Saxon nobles and gave it to his own nobility. The term bailey typically refers to the yard formed by the flattening of an area alongside the motte. While the concept of ditches, ramparts and stone walls as defensive measures is ancient, raising a motte is a medieval innovation. Our worksheet bundle includes a fact file and printable worksheets and student activities. See more ideas about motte and bailey castle, castle, oakham. In the bailey, people and animals lived in relative safety in times of peace as they were surrounded by a large wooden fence that kept out attackers and wild animals. Motte and bailey castles were adopted in Scotland, Ireland, the Low Countries and Denmark in the 12th and 13th centuries. Building motte and bailey castles were … However, for two years up to 1068, he was faced with rebellions throughout his new kingdom. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he brought this castle design with him. Often, the ditch of the motte and the bailey joined, forming a figure of eight around the castle. Why was this so? The Normans were master castle builders. Small and medium mottes could not sustain a large keep, and this meant that living quarters were essentially small and cramped. A short film about Motte and Bailey Castles. These castles were built across northern Europe from the 10th century onwards, spreading from Normandy and Anjou in France, into the Holy Roman Empire in the 11th century. The motte and bailey castle was an early form of medieval fortification especially popular with the Normans in northern France and Britain during the 11th century CE. The Normans achieved great fame for their castle building. The buildings were made on a raised mound (motte) which is accompanied by an enclosed courtyard (bailey). Motte and Bailey castles were first built in Normandy. Motte and Bailey castles were first built in Normandy. Castles were built throughout much of England after the ‘Harrying of the North. It was now, after the “Harrying of the North”, that castles were built across a great deal of England. Alternatively, some other castles were designed with a single bailey and two mottes, such as Lincoln Castle. Up until that point, there was little or no castle building in England. The largest towers were often equipped with cellars and granaries, more living rooms and rooms for the watchmen, and the servants appointed there. These facts, alongside others, forced the noble class to forego the simple motte and bailey design and turn to more complex design principles to build the large castles that their status and people needed for economics, politics, and defense. Motte and Bailey Castle Facts. As a mark of their success, there were around 1,000 motte and bailey castles built in England, Wales and Scotland. He allowed the Saxon nobles to keep their land and he tried to learn English. The first, in 1066, was a temporary earth and timber motte and bailey castle on the site of an older fortification at Dane John, the mound still visible today within Dane John Gardens. Stone castles were extremely expensive and took a great deal of time to build. Many motte and bailey castles were abandoned or allowed to lapse into disrepair. When the timber Motte and Bailey Castles were completed many were covered in white plaster - which made them look as if they were made of stone. These castles, which were quick to build, sprang up all over England during the first years after the Battle of Hastings. This served as a final fighting place where soldiers would retreat if the rest of the castle had been breached. The keep on top of the motte was also the castle’s last line of defence and it was placed where the lord of the castle, and most likely his family, resided. Managed by Caboodle UX design studio in London, Citation: C N Trueman "Motte and Bailey Castles", Motte and bailey castles appeared in England after the, French kings had gained a reputation for building castles. Do you want to save dozens of hours in time? Building Motte and Bailey castles were a great way of securing the towns that had submitted to his power. In these castles, there was a fortified building (the castle) on top of a man-made hill called a motte. This was their way of coping with the constant attacks by Vikings from Scandinavia. Motte and bailey castles were a common feature in England by the death of William the Conqueror in 1087. They were quick to build, a visible sign of the Normans power and by 1070, the Normans had great expertise in building them. Some mottes were built over older artificial structures, such as Bronze Age barrows. How have stone castles improved over the years, and why? Also, it would keep it the castle standing for a long amount of time. Some castles had more than one bailey, and a good example of this is Windsor Castle in England, where several baileys flank the motte. Building castles then was very labour intensive. Motte and bailey castles became a less popular design in the mid-medieval period. Sophisticated fire-launching techniques were designed to burn down the castles and they were used with great success. As a marker of their success, almost 1,000 motte-and-bailey castles were built in England, Wales, and Scotland. (this was … The motte was often artificial and on top, a wooden or stone tower was built. This land bordered Wales and the area was seen as a refuge for thieves and villains. Why were Motte and Bailey Castles Important? When William landed at … The motte was a _____ hill, which would normally be man-made. When William of Normandy invaded England in 1066, he built two wooden castles in two weeks! Windsor Castle, in England, is an example of a motte and bailey castle. The first recorded motte in England was in 1051 when French castle builders were building one for the English king in Hereford. Such defensive structures were Stone buildings could be much larger and grander than simple wooden designs, providing more luxurious accommodation for nobles It was always surrounded by a protective wall, be it from wood or stone. By digging a deep circular ditch, and piling up the earth taken from the ditch into the centre. A motte-and-bailey is a form of castle situated on a raised earthwork and surrounded by a protective fence. New motte and bailey castles stopped being built by the late 1200s. 4 The motte was usually round. This was the factor that allowed the Normans to consolidate their power very quickly, as they moved on to conquer each region. Motte and bailey castles were first used in England by the Normans. The fortification consisted of a wooden keep that was placed on a raised earthwork called a motte, overlooking an enclosed courtyard called the bailey. This motte took fifty men eighty days to build. The reason for this was that it took an enormous effort to pile up such a huge volume of earth. The stone layers were needed to strengthen the motte and to assist drainage. Stone castles were stronger and did not rot like wood, but they were expensive and took many years to build. It is possible that local towns people were coerced into working extremely hard to complete the task. A motte-and-bailey is a kind of castle, or fortification. The castles had to be built in a hurry, so they were originally built of timber on an earth mound (a motte). After his victory at Hastings in 1066, William moved around the south coast to Dover. In France, motte-and-bailey castles were not built after the start of the 12th century, and mottes ceased to be built in most of England after around This castle was not heavily defended and the Normans soldiers there were beaten and the castle was burnt to the ground. Most of these were motte-and-bailey castles, built using forced Anglo-Saxon workers: the motte was a high mound on which a wooden tower was constructed; the bailey was the courtyard at the bottom of the mound with: living quarters, stables, workshops and perhaps a chapel. There would be a layer of soil that was capped with a layer of stones that was capped with a layer of soil and so on. They were relatively cheap but effective defensive fortification that could repel small attacks. Motte-and-Bailey Castles In 1067, William started building the Tower of London to show everyone how powerful he was. A motte is a built-up mound of land, and a bailey is an enclosed courtyard. The bailey was an outer enclosure, which was also defended by a fence and sometimes a ditch, providing a first, outer line of defence for the motte. In order for a large tower to be built, that would accommodate the lord and his servants, castles needed bigger mottes. The steep embankment on the side of the motte was known as a scarp. Motte-and-bailey castles also began to appear in Denmark at this time, although in fewer numbers, perhaps because feudalism was less widespread there. In England and Wales, only 7% of mottes were taller than 10 metres, around 24% were between 5 and 10 metres, and 69% were less than 5 metres in height. This meant that he did not have to fight for London – and the people of London were spared their city being torched. One of William’s closest acquaintances was Roger of Montgomery who became earl of Shropshire. Mottes were made out of earth and flattened on top. Motte and Bailey castles were first built in Normandy. To avoid the perils of fire, improve durability, and increase the castle’s defence, the obvious solution was to replace timber with stone as much as possible. Click any of the example images below to view a larger version. The Motte was a steep-sided artificial mound, built in much the same way as a sand-castles are built. Motte and bailey castles were very popular for almost 200 years. Although the motte-and-bailey design is a particularly northern European phenomenon (most castles of this type can be found in Normandy and Britain), we can also see such structures in other parts of Europe, such as Denmark, Germany, Southern Italy and occasionally beyond. They had been impressed with the French castellans and adopted them; the most popular design was the motte and bailey. It is believed that over 1000 motte and bailey castles were built in England by the Normans. Sometimes the ditches were filled with water by damming or diverting nearby streams forming water-filled moats. By the time of Edward I, concentric castles were being built. Why were Motte and Bailey Castles Important? Raiders would usually use this to their advantage and would often surprise the defenders inside the keep. William was furious and decided to lay waste the north of England – the so-called “Harrying of the North”. The design of each castle basically adapted to its natural surroundings. Castles began to emerge in Europe as early as the 9 th century, but the first structures that we can truly call ‘castles’ were motte-and-bailey fortifications. They used motte-and-bailey castles after winning the Battle of Hastings in … The motte and bailey design gradually became less popular in the mid-medieval period, and from the end of the 12th century, a new scientific approach in castle design had emerged. Was such a feat possible? Castles were built in Exeter, Warwick, Nottingham, Lincoln, Huntingdon, Cambridge and York. The motte was often artificial and on top, a wooden or stone tower was built. Also, the broad base of the mottes meant that attacks could come from any direction. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he brought this castle design with him. By the end of the 13th century, the design was largely superseded by alternative forms of fortification, but the earthworks remain a prominent feature in many countries. Why Were Castles Built in Norman Times? After he invaded England in 1066, William needed to construct castles in large numbers. Up until that point, there was little or no castle building in England. The motte was flattened on top in order for the keep to be constructed. So exactly how were they built? The film looks at why they were built, their strenghts and their weaknesses. Even shooting firing arrows at the castle could have devastating effects. French kings had gained a reputation for building castles. For these re… William accepted the surrender of the Anglo-Saxon nobles at Berkhamsted Castle, north-west of London – arguably his finest motte and bailey castle. They were a true European innovation. They were abandoned because they required extensive and often costly repairs and ongoing maintenance. Once the people of England had been tamed, William moved onto grander castles. The motte was a big earthen mound with a ditch surrounding its base. These castles, which were quick to build, sprang up all over England during the first years after the Battle of Hastings. This meant that a motte and bailey castle could be built quite quickly using just local manpower, earth and timber. It was built by digging a ditch around a circle and piling up all of the dirt in the middle. This meant that there was little space to house soldiers and peasants, let alone the stature yearned for by many nobles. Many of them were used as the foundations for the newly designed stone castles, and such, the motte and bailey castles morphed, and endured, for a couple of hundred years more. How have stone castles improved over the years, and why? In medieval sources, the Latin term “castellum” was used to describe the bailey complex within these castles. William was a highly skilled and feared soldier who had learned his military skills in northern France. They were relatively cheap but effective defensive fortification that could repel small attacks. Thanks to the Norman influence in southern Italy and Sicily, a small number of castles were also built there. A motte was protected by a ditch that surrounded the area, and this would have been the source of the earth and soil for constructing the mound itself. Using this as a guide, the motte at Dover would have needed 500 men to complete in eight days. However, a large motte was very difficult to build as it took disproportionately more effort to pile up earth than in the case of smaller hills. They were relatively cheap but effective defensive fortification that could repel small attacks. The castle survives as a large steep-sided circular mound or motte with an oval stone-built shell keep on the summit. Stone castles were built taller and gave better protection against attack, fire and cold rainy weather. Motte and Bailey Castles What Is a Motte and Bailey Castle? School History is the largest library of history teaching and study resources on the internet. The yard was usually surrounded by a wooden fence called a “palisade” and then a ditch. The bailey was the living area for the soldiers. William responded by marching his feared army to a trouble spot and re-asserting his authority. How were these castles built? The vast majority of Motte and Bailey castles were built in the Norman times, and so are constrained to the lands the Normans successfully conquered. The Normans constructed these sites as administrative centres for their Each Norman nobleman who received land was expected to build a castle there. These castles were motte-and-bailey castles, which were quick and cheep to build and required no skilled labor. York Castle was also rebuilt. The bailey was usually kidney-shaped to fit against a circular motte, but frequently, the terrain dictated its shape. Each Norman knight was an invader and building a motte and bailey castle for himself and his soldiers was basic commonsense as they were highly unpopular with the Saxons. French noblemen took to protecting themselves in fortified buildings that were known as castellans – these served as private fortifications in which people and animals were protected from these feared invaderseval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'historylearningsite_co_uk-medrectangle-4','ezslot_3',114,'0','0'])); Some of the Vikings eventually stayed in northern France and the Norsemen became the Normans. After William defeated Harold Godwinson at the Battle of Hastings, he struggled for five years winning battles against rebels in the north of England and building Norman motte and bailey castles everywhere, which consolidated his new realm. With the population of England seemingly subdued, William started a programme of building stone castles. Many were built in Britain, Ireland and France in the 11th and 12th centuries, favoured as a relatively cheap but effective defensive fortification that could repel most small attacks. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he brought this castle design with him. Motte and bailey castles appeared in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Relatively quick to build, the height of the mound made the tower difficult to attack while the wall offered a place of refuge from opportunist raiders. In England, the first proper castles were the motte and bailey castles. It is thought that as many as 1000 Motte and Bailey castles were built in England by the Normans in the Middle Ages. The sides were steep to make it difficult to _____.The keep (the castle) would sit at the top of the motte and was the building where the owners of the castle would live. Fortified settlements first appeared over 2,000 years ago, where fortified towns started to appear in the Indus Valley in Egypt and also in China, where settlements were often protected by large earthen walls. By the end of the 11th century, these structures, especially the ones made out of earth and timber, began to fall from favour for various reasons. An oval bailey adjoining the motte to the south west is defined by a rampart topped with a curtain wall and includes a gatehouse, all surrounded by an outer ditch preserved as a … This was their way of coping with the constant attacks by Vikings from Scandinavia. Motte and bailey castles were only temporary features (though many mottes exist to this day) while stone keep castles were built to last. Motte and Bailey castles were built in Britain, Ireland and France in the 11th and 12th centuries. Motte and bailey castles were quick and cheap to erect - - some only took a couple of weeks! The first record of a motte and bailey castle in France appeared at the start of the 11th Century. When William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066, he brought this castle design with him. Motte and bailey castles were fortifications that had a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by an enclosed courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Attackers would often find out that the keep on top of the motte was extremely hard to capture as the height of the motte and the ditch surrounding it gave its defenders significant advantages. The bailey … The kings of France had little idea on how to defeat the Vikings. The kings of France had little idea on how to defeat the Vikings. He then had a castle built there – a very visible sign of the Norman’s power. Many of them were built in the 11th and 12th century around Europe. Perfect for both the classroom and homeschooling! They were cheap and easy to build and didn’t require any special design. The Bailey was a court-yard at the foot of the mound, surrounded by a bank and ditch. 1066–1500 This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in … The castles the Normans built were of a type new to England. It wasn’t uncommon for the tower to be built and then partially buried within the mound, with the buried part forming a cellar. As they were largely made of wood, motte and bailey castles were susceptible to fire during an attack, as can be seen in various scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the 11th-century CE Norman conquest of Britain and events leading up to it. These castles, which were quick to build, sprang up all over England during the first years after the Battle of Hastings. Timber also tends to rot easily, and many of these early castles ran into disrepair and were abandoned. A Motte and Bailey castle could be erected very quickly, and some of them took anywhere between a few days and a few weeks to build. The Castle was defended by palisades, fences of tree-trunks or roughly cut plank, which ran round the Motte top and the Bailey … See more ideas about Motte and bailey castle, Castle project, Norman castle. The construction itself didn’t require special materials, and the work could usually be carried out by unskilled men. The smaller mottes could only support a simple tower but the larger ones could support more complex structures that often contain multiple rooms. The Normans then quickly ordered the construction of many other castles to show the English that they were now in control. In many senses, it was seen as bandit-country then. The designers could use an existing mound or hill for the foundation and this would often save significant construction time. These structures consist of a hill (the motte) and a courtyard (the bailey). Research on one of William’s motte and bailey castles at Hampstead Marshall shows that the motte contains 22,000 tons of soil. Motte and bailey castles were a common feature in England by the death of William the Conqueror in 1087. Motte and bailey castles were built by the Norman invaders after they invaded in 1066. No original complete motte and bailey castles exist in England, but the huge stone fortifications William started certainly are. They can be found primarily in Northern France, England, Wales and Scotland – but the influence of these designs spread too to Denmark, Germany, Belgium, and other spots in Northern Europe. The bailey was designed so that any point on its circumference (outer edge) would be within bowshot of the tower. 4 The motte was usually round. After the Normans victory at the Battle of Hastings, the Normans decided that they would settle in England. Oct 23, 2017 - Just like our very own Norman Oakham Castle (1180 -1190). , William’s troops were an invading force and not exactly secure in all of. Of wooden fence called a “ palisade ” and then a ditch that... 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It only took a few days worksheet bundle includes a fact file and printable Worksheets and activities... Retreat if the rest of the Norman’s power that attacks could come from any direction the... That attacks could come from any direction acquaintances was Roger of Montgomery who earl... Is man-made or natural without excavation simply too scared to rebel kidney-shaped fit! Great era of the mound, or fortification.Many of them were built because it was to build – according William... Motte is a form of castles were abandoned or allowed to lapse into disrepair and were abandoned a refuge thieves. England, he brought this castle design with him and stone walls as defensive is! Brought the design was faced with rebellions throughout his new kingdom a Low yard had gained a for... Castle ’ s primary defensive element 22,000 tons of soil the steep embankment on the.... Keep their land and he tried to learn English invaded England in 1066, he brought this was. Were now in control where soldiers would retreat if the rest of the motte bailey!, fire and cold rainy weather years after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 the construction itself didn ’ require. Near it repairs and ongoing maintenance an invading force and not exactly secure in parts. Medium mottes could not sustain a large motte is a form of,... Largest library of history teaching and revision materials for UK and international history curriculum resources on the Continent older. Extremely expensive and took a great deal of time to build design England! Structures that often contain multiple rooms great fame for their castle building programme on the summit was n't to...

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