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Position:Home>History> What and who lived in castles in the middle ages?Question:Castles in the Middle Ages here in England were usually manned with a small garrison, which would have included Archers, armourers, black-smiths etc. At the head of the 'household' would have been the Baron [Knight] or in some cases a Lord. Further up the scale in rank might have been an Earl or a Duke. There are plenty of castles here in England which are still lived in, although only two that I know of still have a garrison. Windsor Castle has a garrison of Foot Guards, likewise HM Tower of London still has the Foot Guards and Yeomen Warders to guard it. The one Castle in all England where you are most likely to meet people [re-enactors] is Warwick Castle. Jousting at Warwick Castle [please note keep the volumn down, it's very loud] YouTube - warwick castle jousting 27/5/07 part 1 warwick castle jousting on the 27/5/07. ... Content of this nature is not necessarily prohibited on YouTube, however we will review this video and take ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo7N_zkl3... Here is a very short clip of a Bowman with the English Longbow - demonstration : - YouTube - English Longbow 60 Yards No. 2 Hi there. Im shooting at 60 Yards here. Im trying to improve my loose here. The battery ran out on the camera yet again so only got one longbow vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VfsoEmM-... A bowman could quite easily put 10 arrows into the air in a single minute - a weapon so cheap even a 9 year old boy of the 11th century could own one. In fact all males over the age of about 12 had to do archery practise every single week here in England. Made us a very dangerous lot if you ask me. The Royal Residences > Windsor Castle Introduction to Windsor Castle, one of The Queen's official residences. http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page557.a... One of the nicest castles in England is the home of the Duke of Norfolk: - Arundel England : Sussex Tourist Information, Attractions: UK ... Arundel Sussex: The historic town of Arundel is entirely dominated by its hilltop ... Overlooked By Historic Arundel Castle, home to the Duke of Norfolk, ... http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/content/171.h... YouTube - "Arundel Castle", in Arundel, West Sussex, England Welcome to Arundel Castle, in Arundel, West Sussex, England . . . I love wandering around old castles in Europe. The Arundel Castle was "remodeled" and expa ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7jZ0ggnC... Here below is a list of English and Welsh castles : - Castles and Fortifications of England and Wales English & Welsh Castles, Forts, Pele Towers and Fortifications. Visit the 1000 most important castles and fortifications of England and Wales. http://www.ecastles.co.uk/ - Cached Alphabetical List of Castles in England and Wales English Castles, Welsh Castles, Forts, Towers and Fortifications. Index of the important castles and fortifications of England and Wales. http://www.ecastles.co.uk/castle_am.htm - Cached Castles in England A-Z Castles throughout England and Wales. An AZ gazetteer, including opening times, how to get there, history, what to see. http://www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_g... - Cached English castles, welsh castles - history of medieval castles Castles in England and Wales Trace the history of English and Welsh castles and castle building throughout medieval Britain. ... http://www.britainexpress.com/History/ca... - Cached Castles and Fortifications of England and Wales. ... Castles and Fortifications. of England and Wales. Please note that the site is now at ... http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ctaylo... The most heavily guarded city on Earth is London. London Defence Positions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The London Defence Positions were 19th century earthworks in the south-east of England, designed to protect London from foreign invasion landing on the ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Defe... My own favourite castle is the Roman Anderida Fortress at Pevensey in Sussex - still standing with almost complete Roman walls after all these years : - Pevensey Castle: One of Britain's Oldest Fortresses Pevensey Castle: One of Britain's Oldest Fortresses ... Anderida was unlike most Roman forts in Britain in that it was built as an oval, following the shape ... http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articl... - Cached Pevensey and Pevensey Bay - November 21, 2007 - Eastbourne Today n zone covering Pevensey and the Bay. It means if unwanted and uninvited salesmen or ... To my mind the famous 'swinging tree' in the Anderida fortress, ... http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/pevens... - Cached What to See in England - Pevensey Castle (by Gordon Home) Here the Romans built a town and fortress. Entering Pevensey Castle by the main gateway, you stand on the site of the Roman city of Anderida, of which many ... http://www.authorama.com/what-to-see-in-... - Cached Martello Beach A short history of Pevensey Bay... About 340AD the Romans built the massive fortress of Anderida on what was than an uninhabited peninsula of land (along ... http://www.pevensey-bay-holiday-home.co.... Many of England's castles were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil war. This was done in effect to deny the Royalist Army their use. "One of the ruins Oliver Cromwell knocked about a bit...." Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Castles in the Middle Ages here in England were usually manned with a small garrison, which would have included Archers, armourers, black-smiths etc. At the head of the 'household' would have been the Baron [Knight] or in some cases a Lord. Further up the scale in rank might have been an Earl or a Duke. There are plenty of castles here in England which are still lived in, although only two that I know of still have a garrison. Windsor Castle has a garrison of Foot Guards, likewise HM Tower of London still has the Foot Guards and Yeomen Warders to guard it. The one Castle in all England where you are most likely to meet people [re-enactors] is Warwick Castle. Jousting at Warwick Castle [please note keep the volumn down, it's very loud] YouTube - warwick castle jousting 27/5/07 part 1 warwick castle jousting on the 27/5/07. ... Content of this nature is not necessarily prohibited on YouTube, however we will review this video and take ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo7N_zkl3... Here is a very short clip of a Bowman with the English Longbow - demonstration : - YouTube - English Longbow 60 Yards No. 2 Hi there. Im shooting at 60 Yards here. Im trying to improve my loose here. The battery ran out on the camera yet again so only got one longbow vid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VfsoEmM-... A bowman could quite easily put 10 arrows into the air in a single minute - a weapon so cheap even a 9 year old boy of the 11th century could own one. In fact all males over the age of about 12 had to do archery practise every single week here in England. Made us a very dangerous lot if you ask me. The Royal Residences > Windsor Castle Introduction to Windsor Castle, one of The Queen's official residences. http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page557.a... One of the nicest castles in England is the home of the Duke of Norfolk: - Arundel England : Sussex Tourist Information, Attractions: UK ... Arundel Sussex: The historic town of Arundel is entirely dominated by its hilltop ... Overlooked By Historic Arundel Castle, home to the Duke of Norfolk, ... http://www.itraveluk.co.uk/content/171.h... YouTube - "Arundel Castle", in Arundel, West Sussex, England Welcome to Arundel Castle, in Arundel, West Sussex, England . . . I love wandering around old castles in Europe. The Arundel Castle was "remodeled" and expa ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7jZ0ggnC... Here below is a list of English and Welsh castles : - Castles and Fortifications of England and Wales English & Welsh Castles, Forts, Pele Towers and Fortifications. Visit the 1000 most important castles and fortifications of England and Wales. http://www.ecastles.co.uk/ - Cached Alphabetical List of Castles in England and Wales English Castles, Welsh Castles, Forts, Towers and Fortifications. Index of the important castles and fortifications of England and Wales. http://www.ecastles.co.uk/castle_am.htm - Cached Castles in England A-Z Castles throughout England and Wales. An AZ gazetteer, including opening times, how to get there, history, what to see. http://www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_g... - Cached English castles, welsh castles - history of medieval castles Castles in England and Wales Trace the history of English and Welsh castles and castle building throughout medieval Britain. ... http://www.britainexpress.com/History/ca... - Cached Castles and Fortifications of England and Wales. ... Castles and Fortifications. of England and Wales. Please note that the site is now at ... http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ctaylo... The most heavily guarded city on Earth is London. London Defence Positions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The London Defence Positions were 19th century earthworks in the south-east of England, designed to protect London from foreign invasion landing on the ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Defe... My own favourite castle is the Roman Anderida Fortress at Pevensey in Sussex - still standing with almost complete Roman walls after all these years : - Pevensey Castle: One of Britain's Oldest Fortresses Pevensey Castle: One of Britain's Oldest Fortresses ... Anderida was unlike most Roman forts in Britain in that it was built as an oval, following the shape ... http://www.timetravel-britain.com/articl... - Cached Pevensey and Pevensey Bay - November 21, 2007 - Eastbourne Today n zone covering Pevensey and the Bay. It means if unwanted and uninvited salesmen or ... To my mind the famous 'swinging tree' in the Anderida fortress, ... http://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/pevens... - Cached What to See in England - Pevensey Castle (by Gordon Home) Here the Romans built a town and fortress. Entering Pevensey Castle by the main gateway, you stand on the site of the Roman city of Anderida, of which many ... http://www.authorama.com/what-to-see-in-... - Cached Martello Beach A short history of Pevensey Bay... About 340AD the Romans built the massive fortress of Anderida on what was than an uninhabited peninsula of land (along ... http://www.pevensey-bay-holiday-home.co.... Many of England's castles were destroyed by Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil war. This was done in effect to deny the Royalist Army their use. "One of the ruins Oliver Cromwell knocked about a bit...." Monks and preists Rich people. monks, kings and queens. servents of the kings and queens. you get the point Castles were primarily used as forts during war. The Castle's primary resident was the area lord of the land, or Feudal Lord. Feudal Lord's used Castles as fortifications against attack by other Feudal Lords. Often, if it was large enough, a castle could house an entire town if the township came under attack. Over time and as peace became more of a possibility in Eruope, castles would transform into palaces where the aristocratic lord would live and administer his estate. Some of the answers show very little understanding of medieval society. Monks lived in monasteries and were confined to them by strict rules, only being permitted to leave on a short errand with the authority of the abbot or prior. Finding a monk in castle would be like finding a zebra in a nunnery. Where castles included a chapel, a chaplain or priest would be present - but these were certainly not monks. In times of peace almost nobody lived in a castle: guard duty was a part of the feudal system and was universally hated. Knights and freemen were required to do 40 days of service per year, which was often spent as part of a castle guard on a rota system. Windsor castle in the 12th century had only 8 knights present on duty at any time out of a total of 73 who owed garrison duty. The garrison of Richmond castle was drawn from 187 local knights, meaning only 31 on duty at any time. Even large castles might have just 4 knights, 10 serjants and a doorkeeper and night-watchman as the peacetime establishment. These acted more as caretakers than anything else - hence the hatred of being called upon to staff castles. Knights lived in manor houses on their estates around the country - these were effectively administration centres for vast agricultural holdings. Castles (at least up to the 14th century) were not designed to be residences, but military strongholds in time of war. When less wars afflicted the country, castles became less military in character and more like posh houses with battlements. Although termed "castles", like the French chateaux they became more stately home than defensive structure. In part it depended on the size of the castle. Most were not very large and contained only the commander (from a single knight to a major noble) and his garrison (men at arms). Every castle had to have a water source (usually a well) as well as storage for supplies and places for the garrison to sleep. Which meant there were also some people with them who took care of specialized tasks - cooking being one. For larger castles, serving as an administrative and justice center as well as a military garrison, there would be administrative staff (clerks) and craftsmen such as farriers living inside the walls as well as their families. However most people that would service the castle or seek its protection would live outside. A castle was a military stronghold, therefore distinguished from a fortified town encircled by a city wall. For a short answer, I suspect you are looking for "Nobility, men at arms, their animals, and supporting staff." |