World History
A Medieval Castle is a fortress built out of thousands of tons of stone and designed for maximum safety and security yet they were still taken and often by very devious means. Here were some of these simpler and less technological ways that castles were sieged.
Deception: Spies were used to infiltrate the castle. They could, at night, open the castle gates or wreak havoc on the interior defenses of the castle. The most famous case of this tactic is the Trojan Horse.
Treachery: Someone trusted within the power structure of the castle could give misleading information that would bring down the castle. He could for example report that there were many more troops sieging the castle than there actually were. This would induce the castle residents to either revolt or surrender out of fear.
Starvation: This was a method used but it often meant many months, sometimes even a year or more. The sieging army would station itself around the castle and not allow any form of commerce. Eventually the inhabitants would surrender due to imminent starvation.
Biological warfare: Yep that's right. A sieging force could launch the remains of rotting corpses into the castle causing outbreaks of life-threatening illness.
Simple Storm: The sieging force could carry on an all out attack at various points of the castle. This overwhelming would hopefully break through in some places causing a collapse in defenses.
Tunneling: The sieging army would actually dig tunnels under the castle. The hope was not so much for an entry into the castle but for a way to collapse the castle defenses. It was because of this technique that many Medieval Castles had moats around them. A moat would cause the collapse and filling with water of any attempted tunnels.
Because the walls and fortifications of medieval castles were so well built an attacking army would often employ methods that didn?t directly attack them. Instead they found and used a host of other means to either attack the inhabitants or get them to surrender. It is partially due to this process that many medieval castles still stand to this day.
To Learn More about Medieval Castles visit the author's website at: The Medieval Castle Website
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Will_Kalif
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World History
Siege – How to Take a Medieval Castle When You Don't Have a Catapult
I found this informative article at ezinearticles.com. As the site allows for the reproduction of articles by blogs and other websites, I am going to go ahead and reprint it here. The author of the article is Will Kalif.
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In the later centuries of the Middle Ages siege engines were often employed to take down the walls of a medieval castle. But in the early centuries an attacking army often did not have the skill, resources, or time to build and use siege engines so they employed other very ingenious methods including biological warfare.
A Medieval Castle is a fortress built out of thousands of tons of stone and designed for maximum safety and security yet they were still taken and often by very devious means. Here were some of these simpler and less technological ways that castles were sieged.
Deception: Spies were used to infiltrate the castle. They could, at night, open the castle gates or wreak havoc on the interior defenses of the castle. The most famous case of this tactic is the Trojan Horse.
Treachery: Someone trusted within the power structure of the castle could give misleading information that would bring down the castle. He could for example report that there were many more troops sieging the castle than there actually were. This would induce the castle residents to either revolt or surrender out of fear.
Starvation: This was a method used but it often meant many months, sometimes even a year or more. The sieging army would station itself around the castle and not allow any form of commerce. Eventually the inhabitants would surrender due to imminent starvation.
Biological warfare: Yep that's right. A sieging force could launch the remains of rotting corpses into the castle causing outbreaks of life-threatening illness.
Simple Storm: The sieging force could carry on an all out attack at various points of the castle. This overwhelming would hopefully break through in some places causing a collapse in defenses.
Tunneling: The sieging army would actually dig tunnels under the castle. The hope was not so much for an entry into the castle but for a way to collapse the castle defenses. It was because of this technique that many Medieval Castles had moats around them. A moat would cause the collapse and filling with water of any attempted tunnels.
Because the walls and fortifications of medieval castles were so well built an attacking army would often employ methods that didn?t directly attack them. Instead they found and used a host of other means to either attack the inhabitants or get them to surrender. It is partially due to this process that many medieval castles still stand to this day.
To Learn More about Medieval Castles visit the author's website at: The Medieval Castle Website
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Will_Kalif
- Shimabara Rebellion
remain of castle destroyed in shimabara rebellion The Shimabara Rebellion of 1635 was the last major uprising against the Tokugawa Shogunate, which Tokugawa Ieyasu had established after his victory at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600). He was appointed...
- Weapons Of Medieval Destruction
Weapons of Medieval Destruction. Information on medieval siege weapons which were the "wmd" of their time! The site includes a history of siege weapons, an article (with pictures) of places to view siege weapons, tips on building a catapult, and information...
- Topcastles
Topcastles - Robert Rongen presents images and brief details of hundreds of medieval castles, sorted by country, region and castle type. Includes a quick guide to castle types with plans, and a list of the top 100 castles, as rated by surfers. Most of...
- Himeji Castle
Himeji Castle - Detailed, illustrated history and description of this fine early 17th century castle and discussion of the technical orginality of its construction by a Japanese engineering company. From the site: A white castle tower looms high...
- Hwasong Fortress In Suwon
Hwasong Fortress in Suwon Henny Savenije describes the construction of this fortress built (1794-1796) in Suwon, Korea by King Jeongjo. He includes the original drawings for it from the manuscript book Hwasong Seongyeok Uigwe. From the site: The...