Why were castles built?

The medieval castle spotted the landscape of the middle ages and are probably the most iconic and recognisable feature of this period, but why were they built in the first place?

[ruedelta]

This is precisely why castles are everywhere in Japan but completely absent in China. The closest thing to a Chinese medieval castle was the Buddhist monastery, which trained its own fighters. During the Sui dynasty collapse, one particular monastery notably protected a prince of the Tang kingdom from a vastly larger fighting force (120 monks + 1k rear guard vs ~10k troops). Later, that prince became Tang Taizong, arguably China's best emperor of all time, and the monastery was given the right to eat meat by order of the emperor.

That was Shaolin Monastery.

[larrylewis]

I have a topic request. What happened after the battle? Where the dead left there? Was the armor scavenged? And if so by whom? Was this an organized effort? I thought this might be ( even if it is a bit morbid) a good group topic for you, Medatron and Lindybiege. Each with his perspective areas of study.

[shadiversity]

For anyone wondering, of course I'm still continuing my 'best weapons for fantasy creatures' series. Orcs will be out next week ^_^

[BewareTheCarpenter]

There's a lot more you could have gone into. For instance:

Looking impressive. While this may seem vain it was pragmatically very important. Having a big looming keep that can be seen for miles around helps establish mental authority over your people. Presenting security means merchants feel safe moving large amounts of goods through your land, generating tax. Being able to awe visiting dignitaries is helps in negotiations, and having the appearance of strength can avoid a war entirely by making the enemy think it's not worth the effort of trying to take you.

[sulphuric_glue]

One other drawback you left out of just raiding around the castle rather than conquering it: If you do eventually end up conquering the land, it's doubtful that the people living there will like you at all and will want to go back to their old lord who didn't burn and pillage and rape their homeland

[Schneeregen_]

Shad, I just wanted to say this, I am trying to make a fantasy world and your videos are helping me make an accurate world, on top of being overall good videos.

Thank you for your indirect help

[Werrf]

I don't recall which TV program it was, but some years ago I heard the perfect metaphor for a castle on a TV series. Castles were medieval aircraft carriers.

A carrier without its air wing is basically just a big boat. A castle without its cavalry is basically just a big wall. The idea isn't for the castle itself to do most of the fighting, but for the castle to send out parties of horsemen to patrol, attack the enemy, oppress some peasants, etc, and for the castle to provide a secure base where the soldiers can rest, resupply, and coordinate. And like a carrier, if your castle is actually being attacked, something's gone horribly wrong.

[rgerodriguez]

so that princesses can be imprisoned duh....

[grinningchicken]

I never really though about the hit and run raid by the Castles defenders as a key portion of how it worked before.
its also makes the idea angry peasants could get rid of lords almost impossible. He can go back to the castle send to one of his cousins for help while whittling away at their strength with raids by his heavily armored knights.

[kjartanberg]

how did people combat different parts of castles? how did they deal with murder holes, drawbridges, portcullises, etc.?

[AppleBoomDrop]

Love your new intro shad! And the music adds SO MUCH of an atmosphere!

[Coratus]

Another excellent video, Shad! I love listening to your videos in the background as I preform other tasks throughout the day. Always have been a massive fan of history and enjoy listening those who share that interest.

[comradeglogi]

Shad, this video also reminded me of one old castle in Serbia I saw few times. It is near the city of Uzice, and was important medieval stronghold, and it is said that control of that castle brought huge power to the local lord after the kingdom/empire collapsed, so much that Bosnian king had to ally with smaller Serbian lords to kill him. And this is as I later understood due to the position of the castle. It is on top of the hill and lowest tower is leveled with the main road that was used by traders from Ragusa (Dubrovnik) to reach Belgrade and it is obvious how easy it was for owners of the castle to rain arrows on someone on the road and there was no protection, so they had to pay the toll for pass or be destroyed. So this is just one more reason many castles were built, to control trade on main rivers and roads.

[leorlev]

Glad I came across your channel! A nice mix of real and fantasy medieval works is awesome!

[xXibeix]

I find your videos about castles really interesting and entertaining! I never knew I had any interest in them until I stumbled upon your channel ^^

[Linck]

Whenever I read a title of your videos that contains the word "castle", I can't help but to say it in my mind in that strong way that you do when you say it.

[CJLloyd]

Thank you so much! As one of the people that commented about this, I'm absolutely satisfied by this video. The one thing I'll say is that I'd like to learn a little more about the interplay between topography and function - not with regard to the defensibility of the castle, but with regard to its usefulness as an instrument of government and power. Like, why a castle on an island off the coast doesn't help you control the population of the mainland unless you also have a powerful navy - at which point you've probably turned the island itself into a powerful port town which takes economic precedence over the nearby mainland. On why castles aren't commonly on the top of huge mountains tens of miles from large cities. I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.

Also, one thing I've been wondering is if you could list any sources where you got this information? If you're anything like me you don't always remember where you read everything you know, but if, when making your videos, you know of a good source for the information you're giving, it would be great to be able to dig a bit further.

As always, thanks for the great content, Shad, and keep it up.

[blacktemplar]

also when you raid the lands around the castle... YOU RUIN THE LANDS YOU WANT TO TAKE

[TheCsel]

You don't want to attack a castle in winter, and Winter is Coming. It's interesting looking at the few sieges in Game of Thrones, Theon loses Winterfell, Stannis tries to take it but fails, Ramsey is confident they can hold the castle for the winter, but thenJon just smashes the gate with a giant. In other scenario Blackfish Tully holds Riverrun, saying they have food for two years. Which is a big puzzle to me in Game of Thrones. It's amazing sieges work at all, their Winters last years and years, they must have massive food supplies somewhere.

[iafozzac]

Now, this is the kind of video you're good at. Good analysis. Awesome video.