How to Lay Siege to a Fortress in the High Middle Ages (1000-1300)

Throughout the Middle Ages warfare in western Europe revolved around fortified places. Castles and walled towns controlled large parts of their surroundings. The garrisons, especially the cavalry, had a large operational range within which they could protect, enforce, attack, ravage, and forage. If an invading force was seriously looking for victory, these fortified centers of resistance needed to be dealt with first. Castles and walled towns, however, were designed not to be taken easily. So, as an attacker, how should you deal with them? While there are several ways to conquer a medieval fortress, in this video we will focus on sieges. Here is a nine-step guide on how to lay siege to a medieval Fortress.

Chapters:
Intro: 00:00-00:49
Step 1: Be Quick 00:49-04:51
Step 2: Hasty Assault 04:51-09:17
Step 3: Secure Your Position 09:17-16:46
Step 4: Wear Them Down 16:46-24:41
Step 5: Negotiate 24:41-27:10
Step 6: Advance 27:10-31:34
Step 7: Breach 31:34-34:07
Step 8: Let Them Hunger 34:07-37:34
Step 9: Seize Your Price 37:34-40:36

Bibliography
Barker, J., Conquest. The English Kingdom of France 1417–1450, Cambridge 2012.
Bradbury, J., Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare, London/New York 2004.
DeVries, K./ Smith, R. D., Medieval Military Technology, Toronto 2012.
France, J., Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade, Cambridge 1994
McGlynn, S., s. v. “Siege Warfare” in: Clifford J. Rogers (ed), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology, 2010.
Purton, P., A History of the Early Medieval Siege, C. 450-1220, Woodbridge 2009.
Purton, P., A History of the Late Medieval Siege, 1200-1500, Woodbridge 2010.
Rogers, C. J., Soldiers Soldiers’ Lives Through History. The Middle Ages, Westport 2007.
Soldevilla, F. (ed.), Les quatre grans croniques, Barcelona 1971.
Warner, Philipp, Sieges of the Middle Ages, Barnsley 2004, pp 192f.

[SandRhomanHistory]

Hey all, this was quite a bit of work. Such videos require a lot of reading, research, animation, artwork etc., and - unfortunately - we can only keep producing videos like this one if they make enough clicks. So, if you liked the video, please consider leaving a like and a comment to signal to YouTube that this is a relevant video, so their algorithm shows it to other potential viewers.
Besides this technical aspect, receiving comments really is quite rewarding for content creators, which sometimes gets just convoluted with us fishing for attention, I guess. But imagine having worked on this video for a few months all on your own: Beginning with an extensive planning phase, researching, and writing the script, recording the voiceover, looking through hundreds of images on various stock sites to find out what we can illustrate in which way, then photoshop everything to look medieval, hire artists to create those things we can't photoshop ourselves, animate dozens of characters, add effects and the right color to make each scene look good - and then finally you upload the video and people are enjoying it. It's a pretty rewarding thing but you only know when people leave a comment!

edit: We will hang around the comment section for a bit to answer possible questions.

[dna]

Was about to besiege a medieval fortress when this came into my recommendations. Very helpful!

[Wolf]

I know that as a "content creator" you don't want to be pigeonholed into a single theme, but I really think your siege videos are the best.

[michaelweir]

On the hot water/oil debate, what I was told from books was that the most common strategy, especially during the crusades, was to pour hot sand instead of either of the former. Sand retained heat longer than water, was far far cheaper than oil, and on top of it all was very difficult for the soldier on the receiving end to protect against, as sand would find its way into the nooks and hard to reach places of their armor and cause immense pain.

[MrBigCookieCrumble]

*"Use this info wisely, please, only plunder peasants if absolutely necessary"* - SandRhoman History 2022

[edi]

Something that really blew my mind about medieval castles was the logistics and costs involved. Most people think of a standard castle as a keep, and four towers and a gatehouse, plus a few other buildings. However, most castles were not much more than one tower and most parts were made of wood (we've got a massive survivor bias here).
Now, let's take the stereotypical castle and consider how many men it takes to actually defend it. An archer on every tower and at least two patrolling the walls, plus a few other guards. We easily end up with 12 guards and that's hardly enough to keep an army with siege ladders at bay, and once one of the guards falls, an entire sector is unguarded! In addition, you need 3x as many to get a minimal rotation to prevent exhaustion. Then, you must consider that every guard has a family somewhere and half are likely female and 2/3rds are either too young or too old to fight. This already gives us well over 200 people that are likely to seek shelter within the castle walls! In addition, there are further civilians that work in the region protected by the castle and supply it. Just imagine how fast such a castle would get cramped in a siege! Plus, how much land it takes to supply them all with crops, and then there's the wood and pasture required for them. That's a lot of land!
So, we end up with multiple villages or a town whose fate is directly linked to the castle.

[BaronVonMott]

Defenders: "Your mothers were hamsters! And your fathers smelt of elderberries!"

Attackers: * *furiously builds giant Wooden Rabbit* *

[Holsp]

I must say I really love these siege videos. Be it this one or the fortress, it really educates me and gives insight on how the sieges went, which all tactics could be used and gives me some great ideas for worldbuilding in my own stories. Thanks SandRhoman! :D

[kamilszadkowski]

Ok, I finished watching the video and it was a treat. Nice job. Well researched too. The only small caveat I could add to the "First Step: Be Quick!", the cavalry raids were also conducted to catch informants as well as to take hostages, preferably the relatives of the besieged garrison. If lucky, that could force the garrison to surrender under a threat their children, wives and other relatives would be killed.

[kamilszadkowski]

Jesus, the production value of this video is simply outstanding. Incredible job SandRhoman.

[propelent]

Thank you, I planned to lay siege to a medieval fortress this morning but all other guides I found were too complicated. Now with these nine easy steps I am confident in my sieging skills, I will be sure to give it a go tommorow

[the.pandamonium]

Thank you for this very detailed and in-depth guide on how to successfully lay siege to a medieval fortress. I can now finally achieve my dream of becoming a Duke. 👍

[michaelt.]

About the "boiling oil vs. boiling water" thing: Another version I've heard was hot (possibly glowing hot) sand. Which would have been just as easily available as water or rocks, but probably wouldn't have had the issue of rapidly cooling down once dropped as a mass. Or at least, could have been heated to far higher temperatures than water.
And we all know that stuff gets everywhere.

[ExperiencePlayers]

I love the length and detail of your videos, also the artstyle of the animations is perfect.

[Nog]

This will come in very handy when the post-modern dark age arrives!

[clintmoor]

The ever brilliant content creator returns to give the masses what they want. Keep the sieges coming.

[Timey]

I wonder: are there cases where a siege camp has grown so organized it basically BECAME the city itself? Grown from a temporary to a permanent location? So the besieged city more or less stopped existing and the (former) siege camp now took it's name and replaced it and incorporated whatever was left of the original settlement.

[tf-ok]

Imagine laying siege and not watching this video

[sleepdeprived]

Thank you, I’ve been stuck outside an enemy fort for months this tutorial really helped

[MCDLXXXVIII]

She: I bet he's thinking about other girls
He: "How to Lay Siege to a Medieval Fortress in 9 Easy Steps"