Medieval castle SIEGES in depth
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- Опубликовано: 4 май 2024
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A detailed video about castle sieges in the medieval period.
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John didn't 'become' a Vassal, all the English Kings post Norman conquest were automatically French vassals and this led to a little series of conflicts called the 100 years war. John really gets a bad rap, he wasn't a good king by any measure, but he wasn't as bad as he's made out to be. Mostly he had to deal with the costly adventures of Richard the Lionheart and people didn't want to blame their beloved Richard for his pointless wars so they heaped it onto John
@Shadiversity
Frames 2:14 to 2:18
"Give me ten good men and climbing spikes, I'll impregnate them."
Balls deep on that quote isn't it? LOLZ! >XD
@@corneredfox Yep. As I recall, he grew up in France, visited England for the first time to raid the royal treasury and outfit an army, and left on his little crusade, leaving his brother to restock the coffers in his absence. Returned home from the crusade with some kind of grudge against his old friend Phillip of France, raided the coffers again to fund a new army, went to war in France, and died there. Long live the King.
Almost correct. William the Conqueror used to be a vassal of the French King, who supported his invasion under agreement that Normandy would still remain in vassalage to the French crown. Something William and his successors reneged on, leading to centuries of war. The Hundred Years War wasn't about that though, but a succession conflict over the French crown, which Edward III claimed as the son of the daughter of Philip IV of France.
According to the historical documentary, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, King John was a shitty king and this is why toilets are known as "John's".
@@anderskorsback4104 Pretty much, but that's the wrong Philip. The roots of the war go back much further than Philip IV. As was rightly noted, there was the fact that the Kings of England were vassals to the Kings of France, but kept raiding french lands and disobeying the king. Also, various french nobles married into the English royal family, causing no end of chaos (see Alienor of Aquitaine, who married a king of france and a king of england and roughly doubled the english possessions in France). Much later, King Charles IV of France died with no children. His sister (Isabelle de France) was dowager queen of England, and her son Edward III was King of England, and the closest male relative of Charles IV. the french however, had passed a law that said that inheritance could move only through the male line, invalidating Edward's claim. the throne then passed to Philip IV (the fair or the fortunate), who was descended in direct male line (of younger siblings) from Philip III (grandfather of Charles IV and Isabelle). when the french refused to acknowledge Edward III, he promptly went to war with them, arguing his closer kinship trumped some law on female inheritance.
One correction: quicklime is not a type of acid. It's literally the opposite - it's alkaline.
What you probably meant is that it's highly corrosive.
When in contact with water, it produces a lot of heat. That's the way it used, not by corroding something. Unless it is aluminum. while iron, it protects it.
Edit: This is me being dumb. of course alkaline can dissolve flesh too. I know the feel of Sodium Hydroxide on the skin. It's Slimy, it's burning. Not pleasant
@@advanceringnewholder thanks for correcting my correction =D
Shadiversity: I was Wrong 3
@Wild Fang quicklime is still not an acid, which was my main point. Based on the "like", Shad doesn't seem to mind my nitpicking, anyway. But I'm glad calling me a dumbass brightened your day, mate
Quicklime is also corrosive, it can cause burns and irritations on the skin regardless of the heat produced when adding water to quicklime.
A great piece of sage wisdom, “one of the most important resources was food and resources”
Lol i have read your comment right when he was saying it 😂👌
He’s gets excited 😂
“One of the most important resources was resources” Ah yes, this is true
hmm yes, the floor here is made out of floor
Nooooo really?
Today I learned that the 3 worst things about war are:
1. Crappy food
2. Dysentery
3. French soldiers breaking into your house to steal you silver cross
Medieval war
@@lukeskywalker8543 crappy food and dysentery are kind of timeless, really
@Duncan English soldiers. Henry the 5th was king on England.
And your favourite blanket
@@paavobergmann4920 Well, we came to mitigate these two now.
My favorite example of sapping is the Siege of Vienna, where it literally turned into a battle of the defenders of Vienna actually having a battle under the walls, seeking out sapper tunnels and fighting the fighters digging them, collapsing the tunnels when the attackers retreated. It's almost like submarine warfare, but with explosive payloads crippling defenses if the defenders fail.
You would find similar, non-medieval variants of this in WW1, where IIRC sappers literally shot torpedoes underground at each other and the british piled up one of the largest amount of explosives under a german part of the frontline.
Underground mining warfare is about the worst, most hellish nightmare I can think of. Nothing I ever heard about the tunnels rats was even remotely nice.
Then the Winged Hussars arrived....
The Union actually did something like this in the battle of the Crater. They blew a big hole into confederate defenses and then got their asses kicked because the crater they made really messed them up tactically.
@@handleonafridge6828 Did you hear the team that trained with ladders was not the leading attack? They union advance literally trapped themselves in the crater
Machicolations are so good they put it on a sword and called it a sword breaker.
This is the single best comment I've ever seen.
@Colin Cleveland yes machicolations are at the top of the walls holes in say the killing field are murderholes
😂😂
The best comment on youtube
Best comment of RUclips. Change my mind
Do you mean battlements
Siege: an extensive time period of two armies glaring at each other in an epic contest of endurance, while simultaniously dying from hunger and disease.
Two months later...
Glaring intensifies.
papapok13 [insert clip from Eddsworld’s Staring Contest here]
"Siege: an extensive time period". It seems that sieges were not as long as we think. Most lasted less than a month.
@@brossetthomas8177 Maybe. But they definitely weren't the one-day-affairs the media likes to represent them.
@@papapok13 Some were but not many. 10 to 20 days sieges seems to had been very numerous.
"the war in france that one time"
About 817,000,000 results (1.41 seconds)
That's many wars fought in 1.41 seconds
@@tappajaav you should meet my wife...
@@xdman20005 Not much into 3rd wheel dating, sorry I have to pass this offer
@@tappajaav my attempt on a boomer joke, sry haha
@@xdman20005 b o o m
I think we passed over one thing: A castle is f*cking valuable! Why would you level it unless you absolutely HAVE to?
Say that to Cromwell.
@@lukatomas9465 Oliver?
@@clockworkpotato9892 Yes, the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.
many reasons actually, if you don't trust the locals you would level it so they can't use it again, or if you can't afford to maintain it.
Sometimes you just hate your neighbour *this* much
I was in the library.
I forgot this fact.
I joined in with "MACHICOLATIONS!"
I am no longer in the library.
Acceptable loss.
Shad is still full of shit though....
John Matthews why?
@@theArab__ Because he does not know the difference between acid and alkali!
@@TheMentalblockrock So let me get this straight... You write him off because of ONE mistake? A mistake that almost half of everyone I know of could've just as easily made.. You do realize just how shortsighted that logic is right? So he makes a simple mistake that barely relates to the overall subject. WHO CARES? He researches medieval warfare, not average chemistry. It doesn't discredit him because he made a mistake about something he probably isn't well versed in.
A few extra points:
Trebuchets were not easy to build. It was a subject that recuired specialists. According to the Livonian Chronicle of Henry, when pagans were besieging one of the crusader castles, pagans tried to build a trebuchet, but the first shot went straight up and crashed the machine. During the first crusade crusaders were forced to employ armenian siege engineers for the job.
Traction trebuchets were often very large. The weapon shown in the video was very small. Larger ones required over hundred men to shoot.
Which is why siege cannon became popular in no-time, because every dumbass and their half blind aunt can shove a blackish powder and a big-ass stone ball into a tube, ramming it tight and introduce a lit slow match to the touch hole...
Getting the manufacture of that tube and the ammount and mix of of powder strong enough to launch the ball to the target wall while weak enough to avoid rupturing the barrel and getting the angle of elevation just right.... that's a whole different pile of trouble...
Pekka Mäkelä this is true. I built myself a small (3ft) trebuchet and they can be very complicated. Even the angle of the release hook at the end of the arm can be crucial, sending the projectile straight up etc. My respect to those siege engineers!
They also needed wood and the metal parts (hinges etc). If there's no wood around, good luck. If yes, then if the metal parts aren't on hand the blacksmiths will be busy. I think the English sent siege specialists during the 5th crusade (and not much else).
I actually tried to build a small trebuchet (about 9 feet tall) with Boy Scouts and we could never get it to fire forward. It amazed me how precise they had to be to be able to function properly.
Neat
if only hbo hired this guy...
But what about Dragons?
I think the brutality of sieges as depicted by Cersei in GOT is a reflection of her father, who ordered his man to rape and kill after invading Kingslanding.
If only people watched hbo
GEKOULTIMA666 What?
@@ryangallant1886 he actually covered them in a video
Shad : All castles have one main vulnerability
Me: Canon balls
Shad: ...Starving them out
Jack the Gestapo 2 or 3 meters of stone, while susceptible to cannon fire, can still last quite a while against it.
@Jack the Gestapo Soviet weapons well you are basically better off using a rock lol
I was shocked by that when he said it. I never thought about the before. That and digging under the foundations to make the castle collapse. Very interesting stuff!
@@BattleBladeWarrior jup. you have 200-5000 mouth to feed, you go, pillage 20-30 pigs, slaughter them, cook the meat, but save the bacon fat, pour it over some straw and firewood, put that into the dig, and set it on fire. Lots of calories, the heat will make the mortar crack, there you go.
Shad has got away with stating the obvious so far for over 800,00 subsribing but really this ozzie has no clue about medieval history. i'm now looking for a much better channel.
How was the largest castle in the world taken? It was bought.
After the battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) in 1410 the defeated Teutonic Knights managed to retreat to their capital Marienburg and reinforce it just on time. The siege lasted 3 months but it failed. A few years later during another war, the castle's crew wasn't getting their payments from the Knights, so they parleyed with Polish king and just surrendered the fortress for money.
"Any fortress can be taken provided a donkey laden with gold can make its way there."
-- Philip II of Macedon --
To be fair, how were the Knights supposed to pay the _besieged_ defenders?
@@Xrenegoznaet it might of been a previous transgression on the Knights before the siege began.
As the original comment says, the castle of Marienburg was the Teutonic order's capital and this was a place where the order's treasury was located - the restored castle is actually a tourist attraction and you can tour the castle and the treasury vault. So how could the sworn knights of the Teutonic order in charge of the defence of their capital pay the mercenary force they employed to help with the defence? - By paying them right then and there. @@Xrenegoznaet
Reminds me of Didius Julianus, who literally bought the Roman Empire.
Me: *pleasantly watching video*
Shad: *shows picture of the mother of all machiculations*
Me: *desperately scrambles to lower volume*
Shad: *rips apart space and time breaking through headphones* "MACHICULATIONSSSSSAH"
Not an important channel i
rip you will be remembered unless we forget. 😢😢
LOL - @@cgamejewels
I was fast enough, though! :) I saw it coming :)
F
The Blackfish - "I have enough supplies to last two years. Do you have two years, Kingslayer?"
He had a trebuchet and a Tully baby.
Met Clive Russell at Comic-con today. He was a nice guy, with a very long career. Got an autograph. God, I miss good GoT
13:50 "one of the most important resources is...resources"
*mind = blown*
glad other people caught that.
*You don’t say?*
Hmmm yes the floor is made of floor
ruclips.net/video/LLpIMRowndg/видео.html
Oh My Gosh Why Didn't I Think Of That???!!!!!😉😉😉
3:45 boiling oil was used in the defense of the fortified town of Yodfat in 1st-century Holy land...which 43 miles from where i live.
It's not medieval, not a castle, and not European, but it is a historically recorded case of boiling oil used to defend a fortification.
I'd expect a middle eastern town to have more stored olive oil than european castles. I think in europe tar was used more for this purpose.
@@fhmen they lost, and the Romans massacred the towns inhabitants...so it's not a ringing endorsement for the viability of boiling oil as a defensive weapon.
@@gadyariv2456 I'm sure it worked. Josephus writes "oil is quick to heat up but takes long to cool down". They also knew that their oil was useless if the romans were gonna kill everybody anyways so might as well use it.
@@fhmen also, even olive oil burns well with some linnen fabric as a wick...
During peacetime they made lots of deep-fried mars bars
"Castles are not easy to take"
NOT IF YOU'RE A DRAGON!!
@JoeRingo118 what about FlaK 38s? Or Bofors 40/L60?
but if you're a dragon, why would you want to take a castle?
@@Nerobyrne
Why, the GOLD and TREASURE, of course! That, and castles are a good place to stay protected from pesky mortals!
Dalai Ankhbayar
Evem dragons have a maximum carry weight restriction.
@@SonsOfLorgar I am disappointed in you. The Sons of Lorgar dont want to sacrifice offerings to the Gods for every solution? The Sons of Magnus know how to take care of a dragon, plus the castle, and a bit of the surrounding area all at the same time......
9:40 I found it as a rather smart tactic to let the civilians (actually anyone who abandoned the castle) go, because it would make it clear to anyone who held the castle, that they would get to live, if the surrendered. A lot of people choose life over a futile fight and starvation.
Problem with that is: The civilians are more of a liability to the enemy than they are to you, and the troops that remain in the castle have no reason to leave for a much longer time now because of increased access to food, then if they do decide to surrender when the food runs out, and you don't kill them, they would just regroup with another army afterwards, and you wasted a LOT of extra time and resources than if you just didn't let them leave the castle. You don't actually want the peasants to leave the castle in that situation, so the correct "play" is to not make it desirable. Maybe by making the enemy force the peasants to leave it causes a small rebellion inside the castle aswell, would lower morale significantly if the enemy is forced to execute rebelling civillians while being sieged.
14:09 “you don’t want to wage war through winter.”
*laughs in Russian*
Tell that to the Soviet soldiers that had to deal with Simo Häyhä, the White Death.
*laughs in finnish*
The Mongols invaded in the winter........Sits on Russian Nobles.
@@showato the Mongols are always the exception.
*Cries in Napoleon and Hitler*
In this episode, Shad's warcry will echo across the multiverse 21:40
And now... The universe knows we are ready for a higher form of combat....
And they shall come...
@@irrelavant13 Have no fear. Shad will defend us.
He shall ride his Majestic kangaroo into battle!
Music to my ears
@@irrelavant13 Great, now I've got that picture stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Can't stop laughing at the thought of him riding into battle on that animal shouting the M word
"there are ways this castle can be undermined"
Ah ha. I see what you did there.
What did he do?
They mined under the castle.
"let us in" - "no"
"let us in" - "no"
"let us in" - "no"
"let us in or we break your tv" - "okay"
;p]pppp]p]p]]]0 00 00 0endeja 000 años
You talking about being respectful to the people of the conquered castles/cities reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Rider from Fate/Zero:
“To win, but not destroy; to conquer, but not humiliate: That is what true conquest is!”
I'm gonna say the n word
@@DoPrice ThAT's raCIst yOu CaN't SaY THe n-WoRD!!!!!
On the topic of bombardment: during the war of Breton succession Count Charles of Blois employed 9 trebuchets to besiege La Roche-Derrien. But unfortunately for him the civilians liked the English occupants because of trade and they disliked him because of the bombardment of the town so it was a sally of commoners as well as the less than 100 English defenders that won the battle in the end.
And he refused any attempt to negotiate from the besieged which contributed to make him unpopular. However the sally also worked because Blois was expecting to have won already as he had just destroyed the Breton-English relief force, and his men weren't ready to fight :)
seccond fun fact : In this war, both leaders got captured by the other side, and their wives ended up fighting the war in their place XD
He likes big machicolations and he cannot lie,
You other lords and ladies can't deny,
When a castle walks in with an itty-bitty gate,
And those big gaps in your face,
You get sprung...
You sir, just made my day. Thanks.
Thank you for this gift good sir
...my, they got gaps..
The English tried to take a Welsh castle but after trying to starve them for 4 months but the whole time the defenders had made a tunnel to get food under the ground so the English gave up and left.
And than Edward Longshanks came and slaughter them all.
Which castle was that?
@@jakublulek3261 then he died and the kingdom of England went back to making stupid decisions and eventually having a Scottish king...
Coming back to this comment after 4 months. Pretty stupid comment I made but yknow
@@kilted_scottish_laddie864 Are you referencing King James VI and I? The guy who wrote Daemonologie?
@@thoughtlesspenny5793 ofc haha
"Defenders can use trebuchet too"
Me : yeah of course, anyone have seen the battle of Minas Tirith ?"
What ? This isn't a valuable historical reference ? Ow....
That idea actually occurred to me when visiting Caerphilly. It had some siege engines on display and I figured oh right, you can use them to shoot out too.
Guyllian Robin * pushes up glasses* it’s actually called the battle of pleinor fields
Zach Young Isn't it The Battle go Pelenor Fields?
Monarch Solutions ?
@@Zac_Craig-Claveau my b im bad at spelling
Shad Fact: Shad saved 3 orphanages from an evil Sorcerer attempting to start a zombie apocalypse. Our on staff necromancers and seance teams are still sifting through his "remains". To try to figure out why he needed 3 orphanages worth of children. We may never know after his encounter with shad.
Best strategies for a medieval necromancer video (because they don't really use weapons themselves).
1.: People will hesitate more when they have to kill children.
@@theblancmange1265 I always found this aspect of the necromancer fascinating.
Raising your friends and family to fight you is a whole new angle of psychological warfare.
Never change, Shad Facts.
Never change.
But you see, slaughtering undead children is childs play. Hardly worth the effort of a necromancer to start with. I think that is proof of it being a dead end.....
Shad fact:
At 15:45 Shad actually shows an image of Nilfgaardian siege weapons. Is this the kind of king you serve? Giving up the Northern Realms for Nilfgaardian scum?
You forgot to mention that during a siege, the attacker is just as likely to starve. It depends on how good the logistics of the attackers are. The attacker have a massive army that need shelter and food. If the attacker starves out before the defender, the siege fails.
In one of MHV's videos he mentions how important a field army is in conjunction to a castle. Not only as a relief force, even a small field army can do raids on enemy logistic train, sneak supplies in to the castle etc. And in a case with Julius Caesar, he was sieging Vercingetorix but he himself was surrounded by the enemy relief force. That forced him to create a palisade around himself to fend off the relief force.
"The war in France that one time"
Enough said, I'm subscribed
When? There have been many wars in France.
@@holdencross5904 Exactly!
@@Tobiasxdful it’s like saying who was Napoleon at war with?
@@holdencross5904 You must be fun at parties... The joke went totally over your head
@@Tobiasxdful I mean you did get a laugh out of me... but I am a bit clueless at times. Sorry.
"the worst situation in war is a siege"
-Sun Tzu said that
I think he knows a little more about it than you do pal, because he invented it!
And then he perfected it so that no living man could best him in the ring of honor!
@@Mr_Fish10 AAAAAUUUGGGGH!!!
@@alejandrojoserodriguezarre45 And then he used his fight money to buy two of every animal on Earth, and then he herded them onto a boat, and then he beat the crap outta every single one.
cultured people here i see
That almost-last point, about massacres being reprisal for not surrendering when the defenders can no longer repel an assault but still kill men trying to do so, is important in understanding battles well into the 19th Century. This was permitted under the laws of war: once the attackers are over the wall, they are no longer obligated to accept surrenders.
13:30 - Did they forget to skill on inventory? Mount and Blade players can relate... Great video! So much information, I'll probably watch it some more times to remember all of it.
I heard that throwing diseased body parts inside and the poisoning of water was also employed as tactics in some instances to take a castle.
the Mongols did womething like that, but noble warfare conduct wouldn't allow it amongst feudal lords.
@@larrote6467 and I'm sure even people back then realized that if they want to have the city for themselves afterwards, infecting it with the plague is a bad idea
@@Ghost-vi8qm Mongols were not muslim you twat, educate yourself!
This was used as a plot point in the 1985 Rutger Hauer movie "Flesh & Blood".
@@Ghost-vi8qm Then edit your faulty comment
Imagine a stealth game where you play that spy in the week leading up to the taking of the castle, where you have to fit in with the rest of the army, explore the castle in the night to find out how you're gonna get to the gates from the barracks without getting caught, and plan the whole thing out like a heist, while also avoiding suspicions from the other soldiers, and also find a way to communicate with the attackers to let them know when to sneak in, all building up to the last night where you have to carry the mission out... Damn, that'd be my ideal videogame: sneaking and hiding, night missions, social stealth and subterfuge, beautiful massive castle to explore, swordfighting combat, intel gathering, meticulous planning and preparation, schemes and plots everywhere, like, say the defenders at some point realise that there's a spy in their ranks and secretly hire another soldier as a counter-spy to sniff you out, so now you have to find him first and try to pin it on him... oh man, now I'm just sad that it's all in my imagination :(
Hey buddy your not alone with ideas like that.
I think this deserves a part 2. or even 3
There is so much more to tell about sieges. Stories of specific castles, epic last stands, lucky easy take-overs, rediculously stupid game or movie sieges, what kind of weapons are best used to defend or attack a castle.
This is what Shad does best
YES YES YES
Not to mention sieging a castle vs sieging a city.
(Edit) I take that back...
I second (well, forth) the motion. I'd love to hear more about these epic sieges
And talk about good fictional sieges, I think the one in Kingdom Come is pretty cool. That trebuchet
Ridiculous ways to take over a castle number 1: emerge from the toilets.
21:40 Holy shit, Shad! You nearly killed the X-Men!
Honestly, the most famous example of a castle surviving a siege after a section of the wall had fallen is Helm's Deep...
2:13 I love that line from Bronn in GOT, but man, based on the book description... 10 good men and some climbing spikes is no bloody match for The Eyrie, that castle is hardcore lol.
Fear was often a key factor in accomplishing surrender. I can think of two cases where noise alone resulted in surrender:
Warwick Castle in England was taken only once: JUST at the advent of gunpowder. A mortar was brought into the field of seige and fired a few (2? 3?) times. NONE of the ordinance hit, but the sound was so far beyond anything the defenders had experienced, they believed it represented a force (possibly supernatural) so far beyond them, they surrendered. (This story is oral tradition maintained by Warwick Castle's trustees)
Another similar case during the English civil war: The beseiging force managed to start a sapping operation. The defenders could hear the picks and hammers digging through the bedrock beneath the wall con tinuing every night, knowing that someday it would strop, and a huge gunpowder charge would be set off. Like water torture, the omnipresent sound of picks and hammers raised the fear of the upcoming explosion to such a level that the defenders surrender.
PROTIP: Making a siege tower takes 66 hours if you have Artimenner in your party.
Akshat Sahay mount and blade boi
M&b references always get a thumb up for me
Who is Artimenner
@@partnermammoth2562 he is the only engineer in calradia
Ahahaha nice 1
"My grandpa used to talk about how crappy dysentery was..."
I hope that pun was intended.
In terms of boiling oil, the Siege of Eger is the first thing I thought of when you mentioned no one really doing that. It was one of my favourite histories growing up, there are several famous paintings of it as well. It was an Ottoman siege on the Kingdom of Hungary that was defended and eventually defeated, due in part to women who poured boiling and flaming oil down on the attackers.
My all-time favorite siege is the siege of Masada. The fortress was on the top of a 100m high cliff, and the defenders had ample supplies. So what did the Romans do? Build a friggin' ramp up the hill. Using Jewish slaves, just to add insult to injury. Yes, the Romans may not have been the heroes of the story, but their military engineering is definitely awe-inspiring.
They may *have* been the heroes of the story tho
JaMeshuggah they did use slaves to accomplish the task, though. So the defenders would have to have been pretty terrible to top that. Unless you’re speaking from a «history is written by the victor» perspective, that is, in which case disregard this comment in its entirety.
@@Gormathius well you tell me. Were they buddies and chums with the besieged? The Romans used slaves to fart and cough and everything in between so any of those actions were potentially quite morally destitute as well hmm. I choose not to anarchronistically judge either way.
JaMeshuggah you’re missing the point here. I was replying to your statement that «they may have been the heroes of the story» which only really applies in two types of situations: A) their enemy has done something that gives the romans the moral high ground, or B) because history is written by the victor, and so they’re automatically the heroes just by virtue of being the ones to write the story.
Whether or not they’re the *villains* of the story is an entirely different matter depending on how you judge ancient cultures, but outright being the *heroes* of the story does require certain qualifiers.
@@Gormathius History was written by the victors in this case, at least partially. Josephus was Jewish, but at the time of Masada, he was working for the Romans.
When you mentioned an English archer who looted the blanket and silver cross, I immediately went, "Hey, John Leveridge!" You never can tell who's name will live on through history.
Thanks to this, I learned about William Thornton as well.
I feel obligated to point out that quicklime is a base, the exact opposite of an acid. It will still cause chemical burns, though.
Good video, but I think it misses one essential thing, about the starving-out of defenders. The video did say correctly that the strategic situation sometimes meant the attackers didn't have the time to do that. However, it neglected to mention one of the most common reasons for it: Attackers have to eat too, and while they have the logistical advantage of being on the outside, they have way more mouths to feed, and living off the land only goes so far for an army that needs to stay in the same place.
Feeding besiegers has been a strategic issue that has mattered. The Ottoman army that finally captured Constantinople in 1453 was only able to besiege for a month and a half until its supply situation required it to go for all-in for a final assault, which it succeeded at. The Siege of Orleans during the Hundred Years War was significant because the capture of the city by the English would have opened up the Loire river for supply transportation, enabling further sieges farther to the south and the final subjugation of France.
Well said, you beat me to the point.
One thing which the Imperial Romans excel compare to other ancient/medival powers. The Romans constructed roads, bridges, and forts while marching towards the enemy or even in the middle of battles. It allows not only the supplies/reinforcements to move faster but greatly hinders enemy raids.
@@Normacly Not only that, their legions were capable of repairing and even producing weapons and other tools on their own. This means that as long as it received the necessary food (and even that could be produced by a Legion if they had to) and men a legion could last for years before the attrition suffered by it started impacting it negatively
Great video. About Sapping, the fire is just to burn away the support timbers of the tunnel. If you imagine what is holding up the wall it goes like this:
1. Wall is held up by dirt and rock
2. Sappers carefully remove the dirt and rock and replace it with tunnel support timbers
3. Wall is now partially supported by tunnel timbers
4. Timbers are set alight, causing them to fail.
5. The wall that was supported by the timbers gives way as they fail, causing a local collapse
6. The local failure propagates throughout the wall, causing secondary failing.
7. A breach is made.
The takeaway, its not the fire that hurts the wall, its the loss of structural support from the burnt away beams.
Stones can crack if the fire is hot enough. Look here : ruclips.net/video/pslnI0IPEc8/видео.html
@Edd
It is even possible to partially melt stones. This however wasn't used to destroy walls but to glue stones together and remove mortar joints.
@@eddgrs9193 That requires a large temperature shift, VERY RAPIDILY to induce the necessary thermal stress. Hannibal used it in the alps but lighting a large bonfire under the stone then quinching it using ice cold wine (its the alps, its cold).
Simply lighting a fire under stone in normal conditions really wont do anything.
@@tando6266 thanks professor obvious
@@decem_sagittae Your welcome, Glad you could speak on behalf of everyone in proclaiming what is obvious and what isn't.
As a side note if its so obvious then what kind of timber would you use for the supports, and what kind of timber would you place around the base of the supports for the best effect?
“The most important resources is food and resources” wait
"Coming Soon" : *speakers blow out*
"To Own On DVD" : *viewers scramble to adjust volume*
"And Video Cassette" : *atomic bomb explodes*
"MACHICOLATIONS!!!!!!"
4:03 Shad, Quicklime is A BASE, not ACID. It works by releasing a large amount of heat when in contact with water. After that, it produces Slaked Lime
And that process is highly corrosive on living tissue as it's more than 70%water... and most proteins and fats are acidic...
Ehm, no. What Shad means is not quicklime, it is Calcium carbide, CaC2. Technically speaking, it is salt. And I don't see any OH here. This substance cause burns because it like water so much, so it literally absorbs it from living tissue very gladly, and releases acetylene (C2H2) which in its turn likes to burn very much.
I love sciencetific descussions
@Golden Eagle Yes, I missed Shad's 'quicklime'.. but then again, CaO is not an acid at all, and will not behave like acid. Nevertheless, I do not think quicklime that violent as Shad explains/expects. I used to work with quicklime bare hands (because was stupid), yes, it is kind of uncomfortable, kind of burns, especially scratches and wounds, but it is nothing I could no tolerate at all. In our topic: attacker usually protected some how, I do not thing such trap will be significant enough obstacle.
@@yaroslavpanych2067 True, unless it gets in your eyes.
Another excellent video!
"But father, I don't want to marry her."
"What?! Why not? She's got huge... *cups hands in front of his chest* MACHICOLATIONS!"
I dated a girl with a huge machicolation one time. It was like throwing a hotdog down a murder hole.
never knew this was a metric 😳😳
A really good example of what you talked about at 8:00 regarding effective leaders preventing a victorious attacking army from plundering a city was the siege of damascus in 634 AD. Essentially because the Roman city had to be taken by storm and didn't surrender, the Rashidun Caliphate soldiers under General Khalid's command expected to be allowed to sack the city, however one of the other commanders Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah had already accepted a peace treaty from the garrison General Thomas. So this meant that Khalid and al-Jarrah, through employing strict discipline essentially had to prevent their own soldiers from looting the city which they expected to be allowed to do.
“Machiculatioooooooooooooooooooooooons”
Another galaxy
Alien child: “Mum, what is that noise?”
Alien mother: “ go to the cellars, you’ll be safe there”
Edit: Oh my gosh thanks for all the likes everybody! 😊
“Machiculatiooooooooooooooooooooons”
*Death Star Explodes*
I'll let shad take the credit on that one
This is Mando’s backstory
Machicolations. Not Machiculations.
WRONG YOU ALL.....
MACHICIOLATIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSZAH
21:37
"MACHICULATIOOOOOOOOOOOONS!"
It was at this Moment, that Thanos cr***ed his pants ^^
this is EXACTLY why I subscribed! you have taught me a lot of new stuff! probably my favorite part is where you explained how the Lady of the Castle impressed the army sieging the castle and they let her keep her land.
10 Hours of Darth Vader Breathing
I see you are also a man of culture
16:03 The "Große Frankfurter Büchse" was a cannon that shot rocks weighting 170 kg at you and was used in leveling the Burg Tannenberg (some of those ammo rocks are still there). On several occasions, just the mere sight of this cannon made defenders surrender to save their city or castle walls. 20 horses were needed to pull the cannon. This was during the end of the middle ages when black powder was already in use, of course.
Nothing better than some Shad on a Tuesday morning.
15:45 nothing better than an image of Nilfgaardians in a Shad vid on sieges
Well Shad is a very delicious fish. Especially if you fry it.
I asked a British girl "Would you like to Shad with me?" but she slapped me instead.
hey - i found the video still fresh and interesting on this Thursday morning too... =P
Wake up, miss my 8 am, rush to my next class to wait, and what do I find? A thirty minute video from Shad. Truly I am blessed!
Hey Shad! Just stumbled onto the channel and fell in love immediately. The dedication you put into modeling things on sketchup, the sheer detail you go into, and your obvious passion and comedic approach is infectious! Please keep up the good work sparking passion for history and how humans developed during these tumultuous times you cover. Cheers from Canada!
I like the engagement with which you are talking and the detail of this and other videos.
I love your videos.
This'll no doubt go unnoticed by I wanted to say thank you. I've been working on an online RPG for 7 odd months now and I've referred to your content a lot.
Whats it called?
Dank Bilzerian deez nuts
Ha got em
By the way I’m also curious
Same except for the rpg part.
You forgot that bonbardment sorta goes against the point of sieging on the first place which is to acquire another command center and outpost for your men in which to fall back on or launch another attack. If you turn it to rubble, you have to devote men to rebuilding that for it to be any use to you.
I learned that the hard way in Total War lol
This video is amazing Shadiversity. I'm actually editing my book now to fix a siege in the story so that it makes more sense and you've helped me understand how to design castles even in a fantasy setting.
I haven't even finished the video yet, and I feel the need to comment... I LOVE how passionate you are about the subject at hand! The way you're able to explain with excitement and understanding is amazing.... Sir you are a good teacher and I comend you for it! Thank you.
That is the video I needed for a story I'm writing now.
Glory to Arstotska!
Soldier: "My lord, the men are weak and beginning to perish from thirst. This desert is harsh and unwavering to those without drink, and if we do not surrender the castle soon I fear we will all suffer a horrible death."
Lord Doofenfartz: "Nonsense- I would certainly negotiate a surrender before I myself actually perished. You may very well be right about everyone else though- why has your commander not provided any drink to quench this devilish thirst?!"
Soldier: "Uhrm- well you ordered us to boil all of it and dump it onto the heathens during their assault last week...."
Lord Doofenfartz: "Ah- you are quite right. I knew that- I was just testing you. How long do you think we have?"
Soldier: "That's the thing sir- we don't rightly know. You ordered us to heat all the sand and dump that on the heathens too. We even included the sand from those hourglasses that the wise, old, bearded man made for us a few years ago. Without a working hourglass, we have lost all concept of time and some of the men are starting to go insane over it. Just this morning we had a man intentionally jump through the machicolations to his death because he thought he had been on duty for a week straight but it was really only five minutes."
[In the distance, a severely dehydrated soldier on the brink of insanity in a black gambeson with dark hair and glasses appears to have miraculously overheard the mention of machicolations and begins yelling MACHICOLATIONNNNSSSS from the battlements]
Soldier: (continues) "I have tried turning the glass over several times my lord, but it doesn't seem to do anything without the sand in it. I think the bearded guy was a wizard or somethi-"
Lord Doofenfartz: "Enough! I grow weary of this discussion and your inability to conjure resources at will. Do something about these corpses, they are starting to stink!"
Soldier: "Erm, right, just one more thing sir- you actually ordered us to heat the quick lime and dump it on the heathens as well so we have no way to quickly dispose of these bodies anymo-"
Lord Doofenfartz: "Shutup soldier! Your excuses are tiresome and I will have no more of it! Go fetch some oil and prepare for my daily massage! Surely you didn't boil THAT and dump it on the heathens! And someone please execute that insane man who is STILL yelling the last syllable from the word machicolations!"
Soldier: "Oh heavens no my lord- the oil is much too precious of a resource. I will fetch it right away!"
your a hero.
I don't think any medieval architect was stupid enough to make machicolations large enough for a man to fall through. Just saying,
@@DZ-1987 Yeah, Shad mentioned that in one his past videos I think. I will chalk it up to 1) Lord Doofenfartz' ancestors influenced the design of the castle in spite of the architect's pleas and 2) Lazy storywriting to force Shad into the plot somehow.
Thanks for pointing it out though! I think you just Shadiversity'd my little mini-story. For that sir- you get a like!
I see. Well, i do basically live by his teachings, so i'll take your like and give you one yourself.
That was good!
This was such an instructive, deep and yet enjoyable video! Thank you Shad
This is so useful for DMs. I'm so glad I found this channel
Every single battle tactic mentioned in the video demands a video dedicated to it, there is just so much complexity in all of them
SHAD! Stop reading my mind! This video is an instant like, instant comment, because it's the very thing I was looking for for the past week! For the purpose of writing one of the most accurate sieges I've ever attempted.
Hope you'll add some little dragoons. :3
@@Eldariur Little? How little we talking here? Handheld? Horse sized?
xtremetuberVII , handheld. They're so cute. ^_^
@@xtremetuberVII Yes
@@Eldariur Follow up! I'm thinking that wings are going to be a recessive trait for one specifies of "dragon" as it were, and that way tons of variation can be had, like, adorable tiny winged hatchlings, or comedically, but still functional, massive winged tiny "dragons" and such. A few hundred years of mixed breeding and I can see some smaller shoulder dragons happening! Woo! Hard Magic! I've got to start fleshing that out, speaking of....
It's amazing how the psychology of soldiery has changed with the supremacy of projectile weapons - in the US Civil War you have accounts of combatants being mere feet from each other, even inside the same building, and still taking potshots at each other rather than resorting to the bayonet or the club or the knife. Back in this time, the club, axe, polearm, knife - that's the default. How do you get soldiers to kill? Psychologically, I mean - when you lack the framing device of something like Nationalism with its them/us dynamic in terms of warfare - when you're conscripting men off their farms.
The experiences of the early 20th century taught military academicians that generally, it's difficult to get the average person to fire their weapon with the intent of hitting the enemy. In the Second World War we discovered that generally it was something around 2/5 - maybe even less - that were doing so with the intent of killing. We took multiple approaches, one of which was to just increase the rate of fire of an infantry unit. Put so much lead in the air that eventually SOMETHING is going to get hit - but we also changed the training - we use operant conditioning to make killing an act of muscle memory rather than something which is thought about or considered by a soldier. The weight of the act is only coming after the deed is done and so the 'effectiveness' of the individual goes up dramatically.
How do you get the Medieval or Ancient soldier to do their job, and do it well? When you have more inferior training, when combat is so much more intimate, often very ghastly in this intimacy, and when medicine is scientifically not up to par with the carnage, so that getting injured will result in death quite often. How do you convince them to fight?
very good question.
I thought some more about this. I think, the group dynamic, and the we/them psychology is very powerful and universal in humans, Nationalism is only a modern, generalised variety.
Also, I think, everyday life was more brutal, ppl were more used to physical violence, and killing or hurting someone, especially in battle, was not so deeply engrained as something fundamentally wrong.
On the other hands, I tend to believe that the majority of medieval wars were per number of combatants on average less bloody than modern conflicts, although the actual carnage was close, personal and gruesome. It was more sieges than battles, every warlord would try to avoid battles if he wasn't sure he would win, and the majority of battles were a lot less deadly than the ones we read about in history books. Once one side was outmanuevered, and the victor was obvious, the fighting would often stop. And up to then, it would often be units pushing each other around, rarely all-out havoc. Several dozen casualties would be considered a bloody day. The few instances with thousands of dead I believe were in instances when things went horribly wrong for some reason.
As for actually making enemy contact in the middle of a field battle, I think group dynamics, people thrusting steel into your face and adrenaline rush can carry you a long way.
You tell them its for glory/God/your noble.
Pure self interest. Consider your local lord as the school principal and that your local community is only the size of a school. Shad mentions the libertarian aspect of feudalism - if your lord is a reasonable bloke then he’s really doing something valuable to directly help protect your family. Humans choose to be peaceful and you need to support the structure that’s giving you peace. Shad mentions the peaceful resolution of sieges. I would suggest the swords didn’t come out too much and our observation of boxing and MMA and fencing or kendo implies that fighting was necessarily nonlethal and fairly short, so perhaps it wasn’t as bad as you’d think. It’s worth noting that WW1 and WW2 appear to be dramatically worse with much higher casualties. Napoleon wasn’t THAT ancient of history at the time.
We are in the goldfish bowl of nationalism. Times have changed a lot. Gotta be unlucky to die now. I suspect it was the same as long as you didn’t apply naked berserker tactics.
A video of yours I actually already knew all about other than all the specific details of your historical examples. Thank you Total War video game series!
Love your channel. Huge ancient history and Medieval history lover. I love how alien it is even though it was part of our world.
And ...>.> A fantasy fan....
So basically your channel is gold for me.
BarkFish right??
Thing is they did not have smart phones back then to video the flying saucers
Funny how a lot of our preconceptions of the middle ages stem from early modern history. Like brutal witch hunts, castle bombardments and vicious looting and pillaging. Some of the worst instances (in the case of Germany) took place in the aftermath of the reformation. Especially the Sack of Magdeburg during the Thirty Years War is still present in collective memory. Here we have a misconception that is at least partially derived from the way we construct history. The shift from the medieval to the modern era was originally thought up by renaissance scholars who considered their times to be more educated and civilized than the "dark" middle ages, which they considered to be an interval of decay that was now overcome. As a result, we are still more likely today to attribute brutality to the medieval era. (Not that there weren't horrible things done in that period).
Shad I genuinely love your videos. Please keep making more
17:48
I live near that castle! It is called Trosky (Ruins). And I must say, AWESOME video, your content is so informative.
Funny to think we have a castle literally named Ruins XD
21:40 I hate shit like that. I was just listening to the video on one tab, while I was playing darts on another tab.
I had a heart attack and now I'm going to sue you, my expensive lawyer will be in touch.
A day with a Shadiversity video.... is a good day. 👍
4.06 ''quicklime is a kind of acid''
Quicklime isn't an acid...it is Calcium oxide...an alkaline caustic..it is a base, the opposite of an acid.
you possibly missed the important part of the quote you picked, i think he said 'kind of' because it will still ruin skin and material in a manner which is commonly associated with acid despite not being an acid
@@Willingtons
Here is the exact quote, he is really under the impression that it is an acid..and you didn't even check the part despite me time stamping it.
''What they did throw down was boiling water, hot sand.()..and even quicklime, quicklime is a type of acid alright''
Was wondering if I was the only one to notice
@@Arkangel630 I’m happy I’m with you on this! 😀 It is basic (literally) chemistry😆.
@@g.thomashart9368 nobody remembers chemistry or at least that chemistry unless its relevant to your job or something
You love this stuff.. I love that you love this stuff. It makes watching your videos a pure joy.
It is said that when seeing machicolations, Shad's power grows to rival that of Shaggy himself
Maybe shaggy would have to use 2 percent of his power
@@kellynolen498 and Shad wouldn't even use 1%
7 dislikes from people who suffered a crappy experience of dysentery caused by SUMRM (Shad's Ultimate Machiculations Roar Montage)
The most famous case of sapping was obviously the Battle of helms deep.
Machiculatiooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooons
I listened to that with my headphones turned up, it was glorious.
21:45 Our shields can't repel maticulations of that magnitude!
1:17 "...but even then, there are ways a castle can be undermined" for example: quite literally undermining. Shad really missed a good opportunity for reconciliation.
Awesome video, I really enjoy learning about castles from you! 10/10
Ahh this has proved to be helpful for my fantasy novel. Thank you.
Remember, the superior siege engine is a weapon that can throw a 90kg projectile over 300 meters.
Justin Y. I don't remember
Jeez, you really are everywhere aren't you?
I bet youtube's algorithm doesn't even notify you about replies anymore.
I am 3rd to reply to this bot
thats a trebuchet
@@davidsnoek8686 or a Soviet B4 203mm howitzer...
Aw, man. I missed the class that covered "the war in france that one time"... xD
Thanks for covering! :D
Definitely a yes to this older content.
So much fun XD
Thanks Shad definitely using the quick lyme, sand and boiling water in the siege scene in my fantasy novel now ahah you the man!
Anakin Skywalker never attacked a castle because of the hot sand.
Lmao 😂😂😂
It’s coarse, rough, irritating, and it gets everywhere.
Leave me alone!
and it always has the high ground
Northern Crusades
Novgorod: It's over Teutons! I have the high ground!
Livonian Order: You underestimate my power!
Novgorod: Don't try it...
21:40 Shad has become death, the destroyer of worlds. . .
Reminds me of a story I heard of some Vikings who had heard stories of Constantinople's wealth and sailed there to raid it. They saw the layered walls, massive forts and towers, and the fortified harbor and they left not long after. They realized it would take years, maybe DECADES to starve them out and even the mightiest viking army with even the horniest helmets couldnt break through the walls.
Thanks Shad, me and my men have been laying siege to a castle for 1 year now with no luck, I’ll try the tips