Just one correction -at no point in history were all male adult Romans required to serve in the military. Before the Marian reforms it was almost everyone - men with little or no wealth (the proletarii - which is where the Marxist term proletariat comes from) were not allowed to serve. I think the logic behind it was that they had almost no property and so they couldn't be trusted to stand and fight (to defend it). Marian reforms meant a professionalization of the army which in turn became full of poor men. But at the same time conscription was abolished. In the very late period, even non-citizens were allowed serve and most legionaries were in fact "barbarians", mostly from Germanic tribe. This also meant they were even less loyal to the empire (as opposed to whoever was paying them) and this lead to an even greater destabilization and ultimately collapse of (western) Rome.
You read the seven books of the national Treasure Colleen MacCoulough ????? If the Roman republic.....if you are interested ...best historical books ever !!!!!
It starts with Gaius Marius...who was married to Julia, aunt if Gaius Julius Caesar...and goes through Sulla Cornelius...to Ceasars,Campaign in Gaul..ends with Octavianus, who was the adopted son of Julius...and the end of Antonius / Cleopatra.....Cato, Cisero, Bibulous, Brutus, who was at one time promised with Julia, daugther of Ceasar... Pompeius.....etc. Riveting !!!!
Europe under the Roman empire was so safe, they didn't build walls until the late 3rd century AD. You should do a timeline on the evolution of castles from 100 to 1500 ad.
An interesting detail about early wooden castles. Often the builders would cover the wooden walls in layers of plaster. This served two purposes. Firstly plaster's not easily burned and secondly it could be carved or cast to look like stone. People of modern times forget how much people in the medieval period desired nice things. Wooden structures were common. In fact in England there were almost no stone buildings built between the Romans left and the Norman Conquest but we now believe that their woodworking may have been highly decorated
True well possibly plaster depending on the region as cement, gypsum, lime etc wasn't necessarily readily available. Of course it's possible to make alternatives using various combinations of mud, clay, sand, animal dung and whatever other sticky materials that dry hard you have to hand in your local area and your budget I guess.
Heartgear One WRONG!!!!! The Saxon Kingdoms built their palaces and Ministers of stone. We even have a few surviving examples still standing too! Don't forget that England was "on par" with the rest of Europe in the 1000's and was even freer because there were more feeholders than lords with serfs. Look it up.
Great question, I can't answer it definitively, though the largest castle in the world by surface area is Malbork Castle, I just don't know if there were any cities this small, though portchester castle had a small walled community next to it that might have been considered a city (the definition seems to be if a town had a city charter of some kind) and that looks to be smaller than malbork.
FYI : www.marienburg.pl/files/beztytuu_167.jpg The part right of High Castle is actually a city, located on Kulm Law in 1276. 2-in-1. Also Greetings From Malbork :D
maybe the fortified places in America left by the Spanish like Havana or Cartagena, i know Cartagena still has the original district with the walls still standing today, although not medieval it's still a walled city within a city
Ooo! You sir have earned the privilege to have your educational and humorous videos shared with my social studies class! (I'm a middle school social studies instructor)
The historical scope of this video is amazing and the level of detail and even immersion in the way historical details are discussed is awe-inspiring. And so much information is presented in only 15 minutes! Great job, Shad!
Yeah I can only imagine given the amount of information and structure of the video. The complement is nothing if not well-deserved so no thanks are necessary mate, I'm just glad you appreciated my comment! :)
I recently had a part in my D&D campaign where my adventurers had to travel a fortified elevated canal. I found most of the videos on your channel great for making my 1/2 cr skeletons a nearly lethal challenge against the level 6 adventures with the proper placement arrow loops, murder holes, and portcullises. Don't worry, they will meet the machicolations now that they are out of the tunnel.
They had to enter a elven made canal that leads trough an high rock hill and exits into a deadly forest full of colossal monsters. To avoid the insta-kill monsters they had to use the shadow plane. The elvan civilization that made this was long destroyed so the terrible darkness pulled most of tier structures int the plane of shadow. To get into that part they had to enter the first gate that sat flush against the rocky hill. This spot was deserted and the original portcullises were rusted away. they passed on through, under the murder holes and made their way part the no longer reinforced doors to rest in the fortification until nightfall. There they were shifted into the plane of shadow. The went back down to find that in their new plane that the portcullis was actually nearly new. but there was no sign of travel. The adventurers traveled down the underground canal until they noticed some figures up ahead. The ranger scouted and found that they were zombies and one had a rope tied to its neck. The rope led up to a metal hoop and continued along the ceiling into the darkness. They decided to move forward and attack the zombies. The corpses noticed the adventurers and moved to engage as well. The zombie with a rope moved until the rope stopped him. Each time he pulled on the rope to try to get to his prey a feint bell could be heard in the distance. The adventurers decided to shoot an arrow at the rope (rolled a natural 20) and cut the rope free of the zombie. The rope zipped up and away for a moment before a large clang could be heard in the distance. The adventurers killed the zombies and moved on. They passed a upturned chair and a desk on their way. Up ahead they saw dim light glowing through 2 portcullises. The ranger managed to sneak up and see the skeletons and armored undead beyond the bars. The adventurers saw no other way but brute force to lift the heavy iron gate. The group ran forward and tried to tank the arrow fire from the handful of skeletons on the other side. One PC noticed the murder holes between the gates. the cleric used channel energy to try to kill the undead that might be standing above. The others lifted the gate. They finally managed to lift it up as they were slammed with magic missiles from an enemy wizard. Inside the first death trap they continued to bear the assault while they lifted the gate. Unfortunately for them more skeleton archers had moved into the murder hole room above and rained down on them. With much effort and a lot of cure spells they got past the second portcullis. Now they were in the second death trap. The room they were in had another two portcullises guarding the exit path for the canal. on both sides was an open stair case (that was greased) that lead up to reinforced doors. The floor above them was a wall of arrow loops that surrounded them. There was no cover for the adventurers accept the canal path through the center( that would normally be filled with water, The swashbuckler charged the one door to try to pick the lock and the cleric tried to smash open the other. The ranger stayed in the middle and fired at the skeletons on the other side. Arrows and magic missiles rained on them. The ranger ended up falling just as the swashbuckler got through the door. The cleric made use of spiritual weapon as he tried to keep the ranger alive, who at this point became the sole target of the skeletons. Once inside the swashbuckler slaughtered everyone up above. They made their way to the roof to find that they were on the other side of the hill. (this hill is just under mountain size btw) surrounding them was a massive forest of shadow trees that towered like redwoods around them The rest of the canal was elevated like an aqueduct that stretch for miles into the forest. I can't wait for them to get to the other fortifications along the way. What will be waiting inside, he he he.
Shad, I love this video as always, but I want to correct you on one point. Rome **never** required military service or had a draft. In fact, during early Roman history the Romans restricted military service to male landowners who could afford equipment. This changed after the First Barbarian War which sparked the Marian Reforms, but even then service was not required legally or culturally.
I dont think this apply's to the late empire. Rome had made a lot of laws against mutilating your own body so your unable to fight in the army, whitch means the army was a very unpopular job. Rome of that time had a lot of trouble recruiting new soldiers becouse they were all killing each other in the civil wars between the emperor(s) and people that tried to become emperor.
Johnny Part of the problem in the late Empire was that rich patrician familiies were comtrolling all the farms of families who couldn't provide a Legionaire because the previous owner had died serving in t6he Legion. That meant that there were fewer and fewer Roman landholders to actually serve. Since you couldn't join the Legion if you couldn't buy your own basic gear the Empire couldn't field enoug Legions to protect the Empire. Thus beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Check out www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/ for some excellent story telling about the Roman Empire and other periods in history.
Wow this video was gorgeous! The artwork was incredible. You should consider making this a series, and continue to go through the centuries on what castle style replaced the motte and bailey and so on.
Castles were force multipliers that enabled a relatively small garrison to project power over the widest possible space. Which is precisely what was needed after the fall of the Roman Empire and the descent into decentralized governments.
God damn your videos are amazing. And this is so interesting from the perspective of building a fantasy world for my tabletop roleplaying, it gives rise to so many other ideas about how societies might fortify themselves. Fantastic stuff Shad, keeping it up as one of my top youtubers you are :)
Hey Shad, great and really interesting video. I love that people in the historical youtube community are always so quick to add to the conversation, it's always interesting to go through the comment sections of videos like these. Well, aside from the memes lol
No, I don't buy it. This is how castles were invented. Person 1 "Okay, we have a ditch and wall. This should keep us safe, right?" Person 2 "But What About Dragons!?!?" Person 1 "Well I mean that is just a fari..." Person 2 "Castles!" Person 1 "What even is that? Those don't exist!" Person 2 "We need MACHICOLATIOOOONS!!!" Person 1 *sigh* "...okay."
then that means he fiddled with time! and we all know what happens if we fiddle with time! we won't know what time it is and we''d be late for work or school.
That's a very insightful observation, that castles can really only evolve in a feudal government where military and civil government are combined in a hereditary context.
Shad, as someone from Scotland I urge you to look into crannogs, although not a medieval defensive structure, they are extremely interesting. Maybe you could do a video on different styles of defences from different countries
How about a Kickstarter campaign to build a massive, historically accurate castle? In the US, of course. Could be used for fairs reenactments, HEMA and martial arts events, and a studio backlot in the off season. I’m really considering this undertaking, but I estimate it would require between $6M-10M. Who’s with me? Maybe call it “Castle Shad” - it has a ring to it.
I'm thinking much larger than the Guedelon Castle. I think they were onto something there, and they definitely deserve credit for taking the risks first.
This is my life long goal ^_^ but it would be built in Australia, I'm literally making several designs that go up in complexity and price, the first being made out of wood, that if I ever get the land of course.
Another great video Shad! I really enjoy your researched and clear explanations of things historic and fantastic. In his "The Rise of the Castle," Michael Thompson emphasizes the appeal of the feasting hall to the cultures of western Europe that the castle-builders grew out of and the efforts they made to include a great hall in their defensive structures. The Great Hall was the domestic heart of the castle, and I would love to see you do a video on the life that would go on there through a day and through a year. Keep the great videos rolling!
9:25 though this was mostly for england and northern france, as the rest of europe barely heard of them. In southern europe we had 2 main rapers and pillagers: The magyars from the pannonian basin (hungary) but mostly arab piracy in the meditterenean created the need for watchtowers, smaller city with more defenses, tight streets to make any attackers advance difficult, and created the first sea repubblics in italy as cities started to provide their own navy to fight angainst the berber and arab piracy on the coast, wich also developed them as trade hubs. Castles in italy would apper only because of the germanic nobility in the north that maintained the tradition of their homeland and in the south, castles would come with the normans.
well, no historian said all of this at the same time (though also because most historians care very little for medieval italy, which is a shame), but if you want some answers I have a series of good books on medieval italy by an italian historian Indro Montanelli: Dark ages italy (pre year 1000 A.D.) www.amazon.it/LItalia-dei-secoli-Montanelli-Gervaso/dp/B00GY1NVV4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511444633&sr=8-2&keywords=l%27italia+dei+secoli+bui Italy of the communes (circa 1000-1200 A.D) www.amazon.it/LItalia-dei-Comuni-MONTANELLI-GERVASO/dp/B003MR1SKY/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511444666&sr=1-6 Italy of dante (1200-1300 A.D.) www.ibs.it/dante-suo-secolo-libro-indro-montanelli/e/9788817003209 Also most italian history books for schools tell of this, and if you go on vacation in the south and on the coast they'll tell you this.
Andrei Skobtsov If I remember right, the word "castle" comes from Spanish (or Castilan specifically?) and originally refered to the style of fortress built by the Moors after they took over. Not sure if they were already building castle-like fortresses when they got there or if they just put their own spin on a European design.
Huh, I never knew there were structures of this sort back in those days. However upon first seeing the image I was reminded of the "Red Baron's Castle" in TW3, which, apparently was a mott & bailey. Very interesting to know. This is why I love Shad. Great video.
Nice video! It made me remember that before the so called Dark Age the concept for settlements was the city and being a citizen, after that it switched to castles and a different set of social classes more focused on local power. As i understand all the roman military was usually outside (near?) cities in forts and the local power usually lived in villas instead of heavily fortified structures. They have probably a different mindset about how to defend their cities and VIPs :P
Well back then having a legion in your town would probably be inviting trouble, since legions were expensive to maintain, while the legionaries themselves weren’t exactly content with their pay, so they could make some extra cash by extorting city people and local nobles
Hello Shad, it seems that you have forgotten another reason why castles were designed the way they were it wasnt just the VIKINGS!!!, and opposing Lords it was also because of the Muslim raiders in eastern Europe, Byzantium, and surrounding areas that brought up need for castles.
The raiders in Eastern Europe weren't Muslim by that time. Mongols were pretty much shamanistic until the 13th century, Turks until the 8th century. And the Teutonic Knights on their Eastern Crusades were off course Christians all throughout.
Hey Shad, here's a suggestion for you. I really like your "what weapons wound use", but how's about armor? I remember you talking about armor in these videos from time to time, but not that much. And also, an armorquestion: what armor would animal people use? Take, for example, wolf-people/fox-people/dog-people/whatever. They usually got big sticking out ears, tails and snouts, how would they effectively protect them?
(Feeling all the silvertoughs staring to type their comments -- no, I am not a furry. Even though nick and profile picture may be a bit... misleading.)
So, if a castle’s functions are to provide a residence AND function as a military base, could a modern fort (like an Air Force Base) be considered a castle? It’s a fortified center of administration that also serves as a place of residence as well as a military center. Or is the difference in architecture the main killer here?
Architecture does play an important difference and when a castle serves as a residence that also generally means it's owned by an individual, not the state, organisation, or the military, though there are exceptions.
Well, ist doesn't have enough protective abilities, of you had some giant underground bunker that is heavily defended, you could call it an castle I think:D
Modern mlitary bases are not particularly fortified, in the case of Army bases name Fort X, it's just part of the Army's naming convention and they are not actually fortified by anything more than a chain link fence, or maybe a cinder block wall in some places. The closest thing that comes to a castle these days would be one of those large FOBs that the US and allies operate in places like Afghanistan, but even they aren't meant to be permanent residences and any civilians living there are generally government contractors and their to do a job.
Depending on the size of the dragon it actually be all that bad of an idea. If you had dragons the size of the ones in the Temeraire series where you had actual crews of several people on their backs machicolations would allow for more ground attack options from a safe height.
1st of course I have to say great video again shad. I want to add that the second part of this is the buildup to the motte containing the lord's house and eventually incorporating or doing away with the bailey as a separate fortified town which has to do with the growth of power of separate regions into lordships, fiefdoms, etc. and the development of knights. You could make a whole nother video. At first, a thriving town protects itself. When the city grows to a certain level, the (sometimes elected) chieftan needs to hire more men to police and protect it. coincidentally, he can do this because of his larger farming and trading base offering him more taxes. Eventually he has enough money to build a castle and train full-time soldiers, and then he doesn't farm anymore himself, and then he lords himself over everyone and separates himself from the commoners he was once a part of. Knights and royalty and the whole pomp and circumstance is actually quite ridiculous and sad at the same time.
First off, I've been watching your channel for a long time now, as well as following the adventures of (It's) Tabletop Time (please come back soon) and I love it. Thank you for producing great content all the time, my favorites are your series on what weapons fantasy creatures should use and the castle reviews obviously. But I was wondering what you think about eastern style castles and their designs. Seeing as they have a completely different philosophy behind them, I thought it might be interesting to examine on your channel.
I've tried reading about this. They say it started with the motte & bailey, but I couldn't get the meaning, connections, etc. So now, I finally have a clue. Thanx to you! Good show. Keep it up.
Great Video again, love those castle-definition videos. I'm so sad, nobody ever asks me about castles and there are none close around, even though I live in Germany..
Built a tiny little 1 bedroom Castle in the middle of a city, even on the hardest difficulty that little thing smoked zombies! They didn't have a chance against the power of MACHICOLATIONS!!! 😁
Mr Shad, there is that one game, where people log in, garther goods for hours nad build bases to protect them - either wne they are online, or when they are offline. This game is called Rust. And people there even tend to build castle-like strutures. What is more, this game, every time when the mechanics are changed, shows a variety of evolutionary process, when it comes to building. I think I oculd recommend this one to you - even if it basically is about (formerly) bald, postapocalyptic psychopats, trying to kill, loot and offline raid each other.
great video, i think mote and bally castles are a bit underrepresentet in Fantasy ... maybe i have found a castle style after all for my fantasy world. Thx Shad, keep up your awesome work :D
Love all the historical architecture content. Thought you were just a sword guy for years so i wasnt too interested cuz i already had one of those lol but this shit is fucking fascinating. When i started finding this stuff i subbed.
My local Castle is Sandal, a Bronze age burial mound and/or Fort, converted by the Normans to an M&B, then later a Royal Castle that oversaw some of the most Historic events in English History.
I'd like to hear you talk about some battles with castles and maybe how those castles succeeded and how they failed or were inadequate. Like maybe a story of how a few defenders fended off a larger force thanks to being in a castle.
Initially, my thoughts were "How? Stones. Lots of stones.Why? Protection from murderous, thieving hoards!". Your thoughts made for more entertaining, and educational, video. Well done!
Srithor , thanks for catching that! I mean that sincerely. I try to make sure that the grammar and spelling of my posts are in order before I elect to send; however, this one escaped.
Hey Shad! Want to make castle model on my channel. Watched several of your videos about the topic, but one question bothers me: Is it important what shape castle and towers have (i mean is castle oval or rectangular and it's towers oval or rectangular)? I have seen both designs, and aesthetically Think Rectangular towers and overall castle shape is more "aggressive" but was there any advantage at that matter?
Rounded towers allowed the defenders to have better angles to shoot the enemy. It also resulted in a stronger structure so it was harder to undermine (Squared towers are weak at the corners) and harder to batter with siege engines.
Are you talking about inner towers or protruding bastions? Round shape for a bastion would help decrease the amount of close blindspots you have multidirectionally and improve it's durability against siege engines because the projectiles will glance off rather than apply full force against a flat wall. In return they're more difficult to build.
its also important to mention that if the walls are circular, the towers have less line of sight potential. Enemies can simply hide in blind spots behind the castles own walls, and even if there is a tower within line of sight, overlapping lines of fire are extremely important, especially in an era where shields blocked ranged attacks quite effectively.
What kinds of changes to castle design do you think would be necessary to defend against aerial threats, such as angels, demons, bird people... and of course, WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?! Would castles even be viable in such a world? I know you've touched a little bit on this before, but I'm wondering if you would be willing to make a dedicated video on the subject.
A video suggestion: Pick a good spot in Australia that you would build a castle and walk us through the castles construction and rebuilding over it's lifetime. It'd be really interesting to see where you would pick to build a castle and how it would evolve as technology (and budget) advances.
Challenge/video topic. Can you review or do play throughs of the various community builder games out there. Perhaps commenting on their ability to protray proper castles.
Thank you for the information mate, it's very fun to go back and see why the people back then do the things they do. I do wonder however, what kind of manpower were required to build all of these castles. But that's something for another day. What I really wanted to ask you is; how does a king/queen was chosen back then, how did the monarch system came to be and is there a record of someone from the outside (of royalty or bloodline) became a king/queen? I really hope you could do a video of this someday.
Very interesting thank you; but i think you made an error when you said roman citizens were required to serve in the legion. Outsiders could gain citizenship by serving in the auxiliary force but the legion was a volunteer army (mainly for the money not for rome btw).
Gotta say this channel is more informative, accurate, and entertaining than the big budget History Channel. Or as I call it these days the "American Pickers/Ancient Aliens" channel.
Thank you for the like Shad! And yeah TheBigBang69 that's right too, they love beating WW2 into the ground. I guess because they have to have SOME actual history on their channel and WW2 is the easiest to cover, since stock footage actually exists so less work for the show staff.
Thank you for information🤓👍I am traveling to castles in United Kingdom and vlogging about them,telling history.Wanted to know more about castles so searched for some videos on youtube.I learned from you video about motte and bailey castles.👍🏰
Could you make a video on painted castles? I have found a number of examples from the bayeux tapestry, maciejowski bible, and other manuscripts through the medieval period, but I haven’t ever heard a modern person mention them. It’s something to look into, I feel it would really benefit the community.
Would a fence around your property be considered a ring fort? I find it fascinating that's something that has carried over and yet are so practical and commonplace.
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey. Shad, could you make a video talking about ancient to early medieval city planning in general? (more than just the defenses) I'd need some information 'bout that to construct plans for the main cities of my novel/short story series' (no international publications yet) with everything from idiosyncrasies and mistakes to perfectly planned blocks. If anyone here knows a podcast about ancient and medieval city planning, I'd love to listen to those!
Well, in fact, in antiquity there were places that corresponded to the two requirements for a castle: Fortified Roman Castra which housed the civilian population of the destroyed surrounding area during the Migration Period, such as castra Bonnensia (Bonn) between 274-353.
The mott and bailey structure should be what all villages in a roleplaying game with ecology destroying roaming monsters should adopt to. A watchtower for someone to look out for approaching monsters and a place to retreat to until the threat is over. The watchtower would need an alarm bell or something else that can make a lot of sound. Well, that is if not too many the monsters are either too big to be repelled by the fortifications or can fly or in other ways can get past fortifications easily.
Norther France and Belgium still have quite a few historical, but in use, walled farm buildings that are basically fortress-farms almost of the bailey type, but are not proper castles.
Very informative and enjoyable to watch! ;) Say, what are the chances for your next fictional castle review to do the Blackstone Fortress from For Honor?
i was helping to repaire some celtic fortification like motte. The vilage was already on hill 5-7 min walking in steep road and the fortification was on top another 7-10 min of 35° incline. Now there are road around so small car can go up. But the shortest is by the woden stares to the first gate. I remember how dangerus it was when it start raining. Cant imagine what happend when defenders pour hot water with some animal fat + falling rocks , logs
Well done. Again. I suggest to you the word "Loyalty" could be used to ascribe the need for castles. With loss of a grand state, like Rome, the loyalty of the wealthy became lose and they needed their own power bases. When a Lord gives a weapon or resources to a warrior he also wants their loyalty. The man at arms living in the castle are really loyal since they, and likely family, live in or around the castle. The loyalty of the outlaying masses, present of an agricultural society, they were limited or prevented from making castles.
Clearly castles were invented so we would have a place to put machicolations.
Man, Shad liked my comment before I even finished watching the video... though that may just be because my laptop froze halfway through...
Nonsense. While castles need machicolations, machicolations don't need castles. All machicolations need are walls and the blood of attackers.
"For the last time, I did not order two hundred machiculations!"
"Well pal, you could have told me that before I set 'em up."
Thanawin Ungkananuchat Don't worry. The VIKINGS will take care of them.
"What are you supposed to do without castles? Carry the machicolations around?"
Just one correction -at no point in history were all male adult Romans required to serve in the military. Before the Marian reforms it was almost everyone - men with little or no wealth (the proletarii - which is where the Marxist term proletariat comes from) were not allowed to serve. I think the logic behind it was that they had almost no property and so they couldn't be trusted to stand and fight (to defend it). Marian reforms meant a professionalization of the army which in turn became full of poor men. But at the same time conscription was abolished. In the very late period, even non-citizens were allowed serve and most legionaries were in fact "barbarians", mostly from Germanic tribe. This also meant they were even less loyal to the empire (as opposed to whoever was paying them) and this lead to an even greater destabilization and ultimately collapse of (western) Rome.
You read the seven books of the national Treasure Colleen MacCoulough ????? If the Roman republic.....if you are interested ...best historical books ever !!!!!
It starts with Gaius Marius...who was married to Julia, aunt if Gaius Julius Caesar...and goes through Sulla Cornelius...to Ceasars,Campaign in Gaul..ends with Octavianus, who was the adopted son of Julius...and the end of Antonius / Cleopatra.....Cato, Cisero, Bibulous, Brutus, who was at one time promised with Julia, daugther of Ceasar... Pompeius.....etc. Riveting !!!!
Motte & Bailey, Attorneys at Law
Friends of Dewey, Shaftem, and Howe.
Europe under the Roman empire was so safe, they didn't build walls until the late 3rd century AD.
You should do a timeline on the evolution of castles from 100 to 1500 ad.
Now THAT'S a Good Idea 💪💪
@@PickleRick65 Yes it is actually he should try a video like this even though it’s a little old
Well, you've gotta have SOMEWHERE to taunt your enemy and launch cows at them from.
GlowstickOfDestiny Only if you are french
your mother was a hamster and your father stank of elderberries!
@@danconrad920 Do elderberries stink though?
@@Likexner Some do
*A HISTORICALLY ACCURATE, PROPERLY DESIGNED, HIGH DETAILED CASTLE WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES*
*WITH MACHICOLATIONS*
I feel like Shad is tooting his own horn a little bit, there. The design on the shirt looks exactly like the main Keep from Shad's Honor Guard.
@@jacksonlynch1731 not exactly but its similar
Why castles were invented? *BECAUSE CASTLES ARE AWESOME*
AGREED
Castles were invented for self-defence. Many also doubled as palaces or even entire capital cities.
An interesting detail about early wooden castles. Often the builders would cover the wooden walls in layers of plaster. This served two purposes. Firstly plaster's not easily burned and secondly it could be carved or cast to look like stone. People of modern times forget how much people in the medieval period desired nice things. Wooden structures were common. In fact in England there were almost no stone buildings built between the Romans left and the Norman Conquest but we now believe that their woodworking may have been highly decorated
True well possibly plaster depending on the region as cement, gypsum, lime etc wasn't necessarily readily available. Of course it's possible to make alternatives using various combinations of mud, clay, sand, animal dung and whatever other sticky materials that dry hard you have to hand in your local area and your budget I guess.
*nods* Often they used clay which they would whitewash in the same way a wattle and daub house.
Chalk, which is plentiful in England, is a form of Gypsum.
Heartgear One WRONG!!!!! The Saxon Kingdoms built their palaces and Ministers of stone. We even have a few surviving examples still standing too! Don't forget that England was "on par" with the rest of Europe in the 1000's and was even freer because there were more feeholders than lords with serfs. Look it up.
I'm curious, at what is the size difference is between a walled city and a castle. Like what's the biggest castle vs. the smallest walled city.
Great question, I can't answer it definitively, though the largest castle in the world by surface area is Malbork Castle, I just don't know if there were any cities this small, though portchester castle had a small walled community next to it that might have been considered a city (the definition seems to be if a town had a city charter of some kind) and that looks to be smaller than malbork.
St Davids is pretty tiny. It is a city with a population of less than 2000 even today- smallest city in the UK.
I thought the smallest city was Wells? Wait a sec...
Just Googled it. Turns out Wells is the 4th smallest. I WAS LIED TO THIS WHOLE TIME.
FYI : www.marienburg.pl/files/beztytuu_167.jpg The part right of High Castle is actually a city, located on Kulm Law in 1276. 2-in-1. Also Greetings From Malbork :D
maybe the fortified places in America left by the Spanish like Havana or Cartagena, i know Cartagena still has the original district with the walls still standing today, although not medieval it's still a walled city within a city
Ooo! You sir have earned the privilege to have your educational and humorous videos shared with my social studies class! (I'm a middle school social studies instructor)
The historical scope of this video is amazing and the level of detail and even immersion in the way historical details are discussed is awe-inspiring. And so much information is presented in only 15 minutes!
Great job, Shad!
Thanks so much mate, this video was a hard one to condense and make so your appreciation is truly gratifying.
Yeah I can only imagine given the amount of information and structure of the video.
The complement is nothing if not well-deserved so no thanks are necessary mate, I'm just glad you appreciated my comment! :)
I recently had a part in my D&D campaign where my adventurers had to travel a fortified elevated canal. I found most of the videos on your channel great for making my 1/2 cr skeletons a nearly lethal challenge against the level 6 adventures with the proper placement arrow loops, murder holes, and portcullises. Don't worry, they will meet the machicolations now that they are out of the tunnel.
They had to enter a elven made canal that leads trough an high rock hill and exits into a deadly forest full of colossal monsters. To avoid the insta-kill monsters they had to use the shadow plane. The elvan civilization that made this was long destroyed so the terrible darkness pulled most of tier structures int the plane of shadow.
To get into that part they had to enter the first gate that sat flush against the rocky hill. This spot was deserted and the original portcullises were rusted away. they passed on through, under the murder holes and made their way part the no longer reinforced doors to rest in the fortification until nightfall. There they were shifted into the plane of shadow.
The went back down to find that in their new plane that the portcullis was actually nearly new. but there was no sign of travel. The adventurers traveled down the underground canal until they noticed some figures up ahead. The ranger scouted and found that they were zombies and one had a rope tied to its neck. The rope led up to a metal hoop and continued along the ceiling into the darkness. They decided to move forward and attack the zombies. The corpses noticed the adventurers and moved to engage as well. The zombie with a rope moved until the rope stopped him. Each time he pulled on the rope to try to get to his prey a feint bell could be heard in the distance. The adventurers decided to shoot an arrow at the rope (rolled a natural 20) and cut the rope free of the zombie. The rope zipped up and away for a moment before a large clang could be heard in the distance. The adventurers killed the zombies and moved on.
They passed a upturned chair and a desk on their way. Up ahead they saw dim light glowing through 2 portcullises. The ranger managed to sneak up and see the skeletons and armored undead beyond the bars. The adventurers saw no other way but brute force to lift the heavy iron gate. The group ran forward and tried to tank the arrow fire from the handful of skeletons on the other side. One PC noticed the murder holes between the gates. the cleric used channel energy to try to kill the undead that might be standing above. The others lifted the gate. They finally managed to lift it up as they were slammed with magic missiles from an enemy wizard. Inside the first death trap they continued to bear the assault while they lifted the gate. Unfortunately for them more skeleton archers had moved into the murder hole room above and rained down on them. With much effort and a lot of cure spells they got past the second portcullis.
Now they were in the second death trap. The room they were in had another two portcullises guarding the exit path for the canal. on both sides was an open stair case (that was greased) that lead up to reinforced doors. The floor above them was a wall of arrow loops that surrounded them. There was no cover for the adventurers accept the canal path through the center( that would normally be filled with water, The swashbuckler charged the one door to try to pick the lock and the cleric tried to smash open the other. The ranger stayed in the middle and fired at the skeletons on the other side. Arrows and magic missiles rained on them. The ranger ended up falling just as the swashbuckler got through the door. The cleric made use of spiritual weapon as he tried to keep the ranger alive, who at this point became the sole target of the skeletons. Once inside the swashbuckler slaughtered everyone up above.
They made their way to the roof to find that they were on the other side of the hill. (this hill is just under mountain size btw) surrounding them was a massive forest of shadow trees that towered like redwoods around them The rest of the canal was elevated like an aqueduct that stretch for miles into the forest.
I can't wait for them to get to the other fortifications along the way. What will be waiting inside, he he he.
That sounds like a pretty interesting campaign.
The moral? Bring a tough-as-nails dorf well armored and educated in fortifications so he can make the proper knowledge rolls! :P XD
1/2 CR skeletons being a serious threat to level 6 adventurers? That's definitely some serious force multiplication going on there.
Shad, I love this video as always, but I want to correct you on one point. Rome **never** required military service or had a draft. In fact, during early Roman history the Romans restricted military service to male landowners who could afford equipment. This changed after the First Barbarian War which sparked the Marian Reforms, but even then service was not required legally or culturally.
Thanks heaps for the correction ^_^
Of course. No problem :)
I dont think this apply's to the late empire. Rome had made a lot of laws against mutilating your own body so your unable to fight in the army, whitch means the army was a very unpopular job. Rome of that time had a lot of trouble recruiting new soldiers becouse they were all killing each other in the civil wars between the emperor(s) and people that tried to become emperor.
Johnny
Part of the problem in the late Empire was that rich patrician familiies were comtrolling all the farms of families who couldn't provide a Legionaire because the previous owner had died serving in t6he Legion. That meant that there were fewer and fewer Roman landholders to actually serve. Since you couldn't join the Legion if you couldn't buy your own basic gear the Empire couldn't field enoug Legions to protect the Empire. Thus beginning of the end of the Roman Empire. Check out www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/ for some excellent story telling about the Roman Empire and other periods in history.
Also dchhaddendum.libsyn.com/rome-through-duncans-eyes
Fun video. Can you do a video on the differences between castles, palaces, and citadels? I'd love that.
Wow this video was gorgeous! The artwork was incredible. You should consider making this a series, and continue to go through the centuries on what castle style replaced the motte and bailey and so on.
Fucking great video. I already knew a bit about Motte and Baileys, but this video was super informative. Shad, you're doing great things, dude.
Castles were force multipliers that enabled a relatively small garrison to project power over the widest possible space. Which is precisely what was needed after the fall of the Roman Empire and the descent into decentralized governments.
God damn your videos are amazing. And this is so interesting from the perspective of building a fantasy world for my tabletop roleplaying, it gives rise to so many other ideas about how societies might fortify themselves. Fantastic stuff Shad, keeping it up as one of my top youtubers you are :)
Hey Shad, great and really interesting video. I love that people in the historical youtube community are always so quick to add to the conversation, it's always interesting to go through the comment sections of videos like these. Well, aside from the memes lol
THE MEMES WILL NEVER DIE!
^_^
No, I don't buy it. This is how castles were invented.
Person 1 "Okay, we have a ditch and wall. This should keep us safe, right?"
Person 2 "But What About Dragons!?!?"
Person 1 "Well I mean that is just a fari..."
Person 2 "Castles!"
Person 1 "What even is that? Those don't exist!"
Person 2 "We need MACHICOLATIOOOONS!!!"
Person 1 *sigh* "...okay."
Trithis So you're saying that Shad went back in time and invented castles so that he could put up his machicolations?
then that means he fiddled with time! and we all know what happens if we fiddle with time!
we won't know what time it is and we''d be late for work or school.
That's a very insightful observation, that castles can really only evolve in a feudal government where military and civil government are combined in a hereditary context.
Shad, as someone from Scotland I urge you to look into crannogs, although not a medieval defensive structure, they are extremely interesting.
Maybe you could do a video on different styles of defences from different countries
I would love to see some kind of DVD/Netflix release of a medieval architecture mini series narrated by you, I think it would go well!
Fantastic video. The history and love for castles really shines through, shad. This is why i subbed to your channel.
How about a Kickstarter campaign to build a massive, historically accurate castle? In the US, of course. Could be used for fairs reenactments, HEMA and martial arts events, and a studio backlot in the off season. I’m really considering this undertaking, but I estimate it would require between $6M-10M. Who’s with me? Maybe call it “Castle Shad” - it has a ring to it.
I'm thinking much larger than the Guedelon Castle. I think they were onto something there, and they definitely deserve credit for taking the risks first.
Well if you are going to call it Castle Shad, you should probably build it in Austrailia or New Zealand.
I follow the development since my childhood :P Always great to hear from them.
But murica is the world though.
This is my life long goal ^_^ but it would be built in Australia, I'm literally making several designs that go up in complexity and price, the first being made out of wood, that if I ever get the land of course.
Your channel is annoyingly good! I just keep adding more and more of your videos to my queue! 🤣
Another great video Shad! I really enjoy your researched and clear explanations of things historic and fantastic.
In his "The Rise of the Castle," Michael Thompson emphasizes the appeal of the feasting hall to the cultures of western Europe that the castle-builders grew out of and the efforts they made to include a great hall in their defensive structures. The Great Hall was the domestic heart of the castle, and I would love to see you do a video on the life that would go on there through a day and through a year.
Keep the great videos rolling!
Love from Poland for including some awesome Biskupin photos. cheers
5:00
I NEED that in my life.
I have a Mot
I have a Baley
UGH
Mot and Baley!
Makes sense ^_^
Intentional Bes hahaha
9:25 though this was mostly for england and northern france, as the rest of europe barely heard of them. In southern europe we had 2 main rapers and pillagers: The magyars from the pannonian basin (hungary) but mostly arab piracy in the meditterenean created the need for watchtowers, smaller city with more defenses, tight streets to make any attackers advance difficult, and created the first sea repubblics in italy as cities started to provide their own navy to fight angainst the berber and arab piracy on the coast, wich also developed them as trade hubs. Castles in italy would apper only because of the germanic nobility in the north that maintained the tradition of their homeland and in the south, castles would come with the normans.
How interesting! Citation though?
well, no historian said all of this at the same time (though also because most historians care very little for medieval italy, which is a shame), but if you want some answers I have a series of good books on medieval italy by an italian historian Indro Montanelli:
Dark ages italy (pre year 1000 A.D.)
www.amazon.it/LItalia-dei-secoli-Montanelli-Gervaso/dp/B00GY1NVV4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1511444633&sr=8-2&keywords=l%27italia+dei+secoli+bui
Italy of the communes (circa 1000-1200 A.D)
www.amazon.it/LItalia-dei-Comuni-MONTANELLI-GERVASO/dp/B003MR1SKY/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1511444666&sr=1-6
Italy of dante (1200-1300 A.D.)
www.ibs.it/dante-suo-secolo-libro-indro-montanelli/e/9788817003209
Also most italian history books for schools tell of this, and if you go on vacation in the south and on the coast they'll tell you this.
morrish and berber raiders i believe, in fact there was a sort of guerilla war all the time there
Vikings went all over europe tho. Even eastern europe. Arabia and fought for byzants
Andrei Skobtsov
If I remember right, the word "castle" comes from Spanish (or Castilan specifically?) and originally refered to the style of fortress built by the Moors after they took over.
Not sure if they were already building castle-like fortresses when they got there or if they just put their own spin on a European design.
Yay it's up. I'm always excited for your content.
Why were castles invented?
Because we needed MMAAAACCCCCHHHHHHIIIIICCCCCCCUUUUUUUULLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAATTTTTTTIIIIIIIIIOOOOOOOONNNNNNNSSSS
You illuminated me about the moat cailin in game of thrones.... THANK YOU SHADIVERSITY, CASTLES ARE AWESOME
Huh, I never knew there were structures of this sort back in those days. However upon first seeing the image I was reminded of the "Red Baron's Castle" in TW3, which, apparently was a mott & bailey. Very interesting to know. This is why I love Shad. Great video.
Nice video! It made me remember that before the so called Dark Age the concept for settlements was the city and being a citizen, after that it switched to castles and a different set of social classes more focused on local power. As i understand all the roman military was usually outside (near?) cities in forts and the local power usually lived in villas instead of heavily fortified structures. They have probably a different mindset about how to defend their cities and VIPs :P
Think of Rome as being like the US before a zombie outbreak, and the Medieval period as being like the US during/after a zombie outbreak.
Well back then having a legion in your town would probably be inviting trouble, since legions were expensive to maintain, while the legionaries themselves weren’t exactly content with their pay, so they could make some extra cash by extorting city people and local nobles
Shad, I really enjoy listening to your videos whilst I grind on mmos, ever thought about making a podcast? I could listen to you for hours
Hello Shad, it seems that you have forgotten another reason why castles were designed the way they were it wasnt just the VIKINGS!!!, and opposing Lords it was also because of the Muslim raiders in eastern Europe, Byzantium, and surrounding areas that brought up need for castles.
Very true!
Shadiversity Thank you fine sir, I loved the video though and I will always expect amazing videos from you. Please have an amazing day Shad.
The raiders in Eastern Europe weren't Muslim by that time. Mongols were pretty much shamanistic until the 13th century, Turks until the 8th century. And the Teutonic Knights on their Eastern Crusades were off course Christians all throughout.
And in southern Germany/Austria the threat were the magyars/hungarians
also in italy: both arabs and magyars, though it actually turned out better for us in the long term
Hey Shad, here's a suggestion for you. I really like your "what weapons wound use", but how's about armor? I remember you talking about armor in these videos from time to time, but not that much.
And also, an armorquestion: what armor would animal people use? Take, for example, wolf-people/fox-people/dog-people/whatever. They usually got big sticking out ears, tails and snouts, how would they effectively protect them?
(Feeling all the silvertoughs staring to type their comments -- no, I am not a furry. Even though nick and profile picture may be a bit... misleading.)
subscribing was well worth it. Fuels my own medieval story
Thanks for the video. Very informative and entertaining.
So, if a castle’s functions are to provide a residence AND function as a military base, could a modern fort (like an Air Force Base) be considered a castle? It’s a fortified center of administration that also serves as a place of residence as well as a military center. Or is the difference in architecture the main killer here?
Architecture does play an important difference and when a castle serves as a residence that also generally means it's owned by an individual, not the state, organisation, or the military, though there are exceptions.
300K air force personal just had their dreams of living in a castle crushed.
Well, ist doesn't have enough protective abilities, of you had some giant underground bunker that is heavily defended, you could call it an castle I think:D
nope it's a fort not a castle
Modern mlitary bases are not particularly fortified, in the case of Army bases name Fort X, it's just part of the Army's naming convention and they are not actually fortified by anything more than a chain link fence, or maybe a cinder block wall in some places. The closest thing that comes to a castle these days would be one of those large FOBs that the US and allies operate in places like Afghanistan, but even they aren't meant to be permanent residences and any civilians living there are generally government contractors and their to do a job.
Hi Shad!
Would it be wise to install MACHICULAATIOOOONS on my dragon?
Now I will Google the MATICULATIONS mod for Skyrim:D
Depending on the size of the dragon it actually be all that bad of an idea. If you had dragons the size of the ones in the Temeraire series where you had actual crews of several people on their backs machicolations would allow for more ground attack options from a safe height.
Great information, great video!!! Cheers
Muy bueno Shad. Excelente explicación!
I v learned something thx for that. Very nice video. great job as always shad
1st of course I have to say great video again shad. I want to add that the second part of this is the buildup to the motte containing the lord's house and eventually incorporating or doing away with the bailey as a separate fortified town which has to do with the growth of power of separate regions into lordships, fiefdoms, etc. and the development of knights. You could make a whole nother video. At first, a thriving town protects itself. When the city grows to a certain level, the (sometimes elected) chieftan needs to hire more men to police and protect it. coincidentally, he can do this because of his larger farming and trading base offering him more taxes. Eventually he has enough money to build a castle and train full-time soldiers, and then he doesn't farm anymore himself, and then he lords himself over everyone and separates himself from the commoners he was once a part of. Knights and royalty and the whole pomp and circumstance is actually quite ridiculous and sad at the same time.
I love finding random awesome videos!!
First off, I've been watching your channel for a long time now, as well as following the adventures of (It's) Tabletop Time (please come back soon) and I love it. Thank you for producing great content all the time, my favorites are your series on what weapons fantasy creatures should use and the castle reviews obviously. But I was wondering what you think about eastern style castles and their designs. Seeing as they have a completely different philosophy behind them, I thought it might be interesting to examine on your channel.
I've tried reading about this. They say it started with the
motte & bailey, but I couldn't get the meaning, connections,
etc. So now, I finally have a clue. Thanx to you!
Good show. Keep it up.
Great Video again, love those castle-definition videos. I'm so sad, nobody ever asks me about castles and there are none close around, even though I live in Germany..
A very good video. Detailed research. Thumb up
Love the art in this video
Yet another great video Shad, this is really good History revision.
Yay a heart! This is better than when my Dad told me he was not completely disappointed in me!! /s
You should do a video on the best shield designs and best military formations to use such shields
Watching this while designing my own castle
Love the illustrations!
And the photos. The ring forts are great! I would pay to "camp" in one those places. I'll bring the mead!
Your videos are amazing for thinking up new zombie defense bases in 7 Days to Die!
Built a tiny little 1 bedroom Castle in the middle of a city, even on the hardest difficulty that little thing smoked zombies! They didn't have a chance against the power of MACHICOLATIONS!!! 😁
Don't forget the spike moat of death! No zombie defense base is complete without the spike moat of death.!
Throttle Kitty
I swear I see your comments everywhere, and on the most random unrelated videos.
Maybe we just have similar tastes! XD
Mr Shad, there is that one game, where people log in, garther goods for hours nad build bases to protect them - either wne they are online, or when they are offline. This game is called Rust. And people there even tend to build castle-like strutures. What is more, this game, every time when the mechanics are changed, shows a variety of evolutionary process, when it comes to building. I think I oculd recommend this one to you - even if it basically is about (formerly) bald, postapocalyptic psychopats, trying to kill, loot and offline raid each other.
great video, i think mote and bally castles are a bit underrepresentet in Fantasy ... maybe i have found a castle style after all for my fantasy world.
Thx Shad, keep up your awesome work :D
Love all the historical architecture content. Thought you were just a sword guy for years so i wasnt too interested cuz i already had one of those lol but this shit is fucking fascinating. When i started finding this stuff i subbed.
Shadiversity, my way to start the day
dude, these videos are awesome!!
My local Castle is Sandal, a Bronze age burial mound and/or Fort, converted by the Normans to an M&B, then later a Royal Castle that oversaw some of the most Historic events in English History.
I'd like to hear you talk about some battles with castles and maybe how those castles succeeded and how they failed or were inadequate. Like maybe a story of how a few defenders fended off a larger force thanks to being in a castle.
Just found this Channel today. I've already learned a few things.
Initially, my thoughts were "How? Stones. Lots of stones.Why? Protection from murderous, thieving hoards!". Your thoughts made for more entertaining, and educational, video. Well done!
Srithor , thanks for catching that! I mean that sincerely. I try to make sure that the grammar and spelling of my posts are in order before I elect to send; however, this one escaped.
The shirt promotion in this video makes a lot of sense.
1:25 this exact design exists in York, England. The castle atop a mound is still there.
Hey Shad! Want to make castle model on my channel. Watched several of your videos about the topic, but one question bothers me: Is it important what shape castle and towers have (i mean is castle oval or rectangular and it's towers oval or rectangular)? I have seen both designs, and aesthetically Think Rectangular towers and overall castle shape is more "aggressive" but was there any advantage at that matter?
Rounded towers allowed the defenders to have better angles to shoot the enemy. It also resulted in a stronger structure so it was harder to undermine (Squared towers are weak at the corners) and harder to batter with siege engines.
so basically round is better?
Are you talking about inner towers or protruding bastions? Round shape for a bastion would help decrease the amount of close blindspots you have multidirectionally and improve it's durability against siege engines because the projectiles will glance off rather than apply full force against a flat wall. In return they're more difficult to build.
its also important to mention that if the walls are circular, the towers have less line of sight potential. Enemies can simply hide in blind spots behind the castles own walls, and even if there is a tower within line of sight, overlapping lines of fire are extremely important, especially in an era where shields blocked ranged attacks quite effectively.
Round towers, polygonal castle footprint. You can make it a triangle or 6gon if you like, but the castle-walls should be straight if possible.
What kinds of changes to castle design do you think would be necessary to defend against aerial threats, such as angels, demons, bird people... and of course, WHAT ABOUT DRAGONS?! Would castles even be viable in such a world?
I know you've touched a little bit on this before, but I'm wondering if you would be willing to make a dedicated video on the subject.
A video suggestion: Pick a good spot in Australia that you would build a castle and walk us through the castles construction and rebuilding over it's lifetime. It'd be really interesting to see where you would pick to build a castle and how it would evolve as technology (and budget) advances.
Shad, you have to do a realism video on the villages, towns, castles and cities of the total war series I.e Rome or medieval 2 would love to see this!
Challenge/video topic. Can you review or do play throughs of the various community builder games out there. Perhaps commenting on their ability to protray proper castles.
Thank you for the information mate, it's very fun to go back and see why the people back then do the things they do. I do wonder however, what kind of manpower were required to build all of these castles. But that's something for another day. What I really wanted to ask you is; how does a king/queen was chosen back then, how did the monarch system came to be and is there a record of someone from the outside (of royalty or bloodline) became a king/queen? I really hope you could do a video of this someday.
shad, you are just a treat
Very interesting thank you; but i think you made an error when you said roman citizens were required to serve in the legion. Outsiders could gain citizenship by serving in the auxiliary force but the legion was a volunteer army (mainly for the money not for rome btw).
Gotta say this channel is more informative, accurate, and entertaining than the big budget History Channel. Or as I call it these days the "American Pickers/Ancient Aliens" channel.
You forgot they're refreshing the same 10-15 WW2 stories every two years. Stalingrad, the battle for Berlin, V day ....
Thank you for the like Shad!
And yeah TheBigBang69 that's right too, they love beating WW2 into the ground. I guess because they have to have SOME actual history on their channel and WW2 is the easiest to cover, since stock footage actually exists so less work for the show staff.
Another great video, Shad. Can you do one about fortified churches ?
good video Shad
Thank you for information🤓👍I am traveling to castles in United Kingdom and vlogging about them,telling history.Wanted to know more about castles so searched for some videos on youtube.I learned from you video about motte and bailey castles.👍🏰
Expected this video tomorrow! Talk about nice surprise to make my Tuesday!
Ha ha, lol yes well there is that pesky time difference. It's Wednesday here in Australia.
Shadiversity I thought it might be. Nice early start to the day!
Could you make a video on painted castles? I have found a number of examples from the bayeux tapestry, maciejowski bible, and other manuscripts through the medieval period, but I haven’t ever heard a modern person mention them. It’s something to look into, I feel it would really benefit the community.
Love your videos!!
Would a fence around your property be considered a ring fort? I find it fascinating that's something that has carried over and yet are so practical and commonplace.
Totally just asked my missus to buy me a castle's shirt for Christmas.
Cmoooon Santa!
would be cool/interesting if you could do a video on your favorite real life castle's? and your reasoning (if any) behind this.
0:17 Thanks for the shoutout!
That is amazingly funny nice one
Hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey.
Shad, could you make a video talking about ancient to early medieval city planning in general? (more than just the defenses) I'd need some information 'bout that to construct plans for the main cities of my novel/short story series' (no international publications yet) with everything from idiosyncrasies and mistakes to perfectly planned blocks.
If anyone here knows a podcast about ancient and medieval city planning, I'd love to listen to those!
Well, in fact, in antiquity there were places that corresponded to the two requirements for a castle: Fortified Roman Castra which housed the civilian population of the destroyed surrounding area during the Migration Period, such as castra Bonnensia (Bonn) between 274-353.
The mott and bailey structure should be what all villages in a roleplaying game with ecology destroying roaming monsters should adopt to. A watchtower for someone to look out for approaching monsters and a place to retreat to until the threat is over. The watchtower would need an alarm bell or something else that can make a lot of sound. Well, that is if not too many the monsters are either too big to be repelled by the fortifications or can fly or in other ways can get past fortifications easily.
Amazing video!
I'd love to go back in time and visit a castle in it's time period.
Norther France and Belgium still have quite a few historical, but in use, walled farm buildings that are basically fortress-farms almost of the bailey type, but are not proper castles.
13:24 Perfect castle location!!
Hey Shad, here is a request for a topic. Who, when and where raided in Europe between the Fall of Rome and the Renaissance?
Very informative and enjoyable to watch! ;) Say, what are the chances for your next fictional castle review to do the Blackstone Fortress from For Honor?
i was helping to repaire some celtic fortification like motte. The vilage was already on hill 5-7 min walking in steep road and the fortification was on top another 7-10 min of 35° incline. Now there are road around so small car can go up. But the shortest is by the woden stares to the first gate. I remember how dangerus it was when it start raining. Cant imagine what happend when defenders pour hot water with some animal fat + falling rocks , logs
Well done. Again.
I suggest to you the word "Loyalty" could be used to ascribe the need for castles. With loss of a grand state, like Rome, the loyalty of the wealthy became lose and they needed their own power bases. When a Lord gives a weapon or resources to a warrior he also wants their loyalty. The man at arms living in the castle are really loyal since they, and likely family, live in or around the castle. The loyalty of the outlaying masses, present of an agricultural society, they were limited or prevented from making castles.
Do a video about your ideal castle design