As a table come up with as many ways to defend a castle as possible!

WallsADMTBFGS

STARTER

L4: Describe a number of ways to attack a castle.L5: Explain why each was eff ective or not eff ective.

WALT: ATTACK AND DEFEND A CASTLE.

CASTLE DEVELOPMENT

CASTLE DEVELOPMENT

Complete your table of diff erent ways to attack & defend a Castle. …

You will need to write a number from 1-5 & a comment at the end.

TASK

Siege Weapon        

How easy to use?

How easy to build?

What sort of damage can they do?

How mobile are they?

Are they quick to build / carry out?

Are they risky for your own army?  

What is the main advantage of this siege weapon? What is the main disadvantage of this siege weapon?

Besieging 

 5  2 2   3  2  2  

Battering Ram

 3  1 4  5  4  1  

Catapult /Trebuchet

 2  1  5  2  4  4  

Siege Tower

 

 1  4  4  2  2  2  

Undermining

 2  3  5  3  1  1  

This was an extra gatehouse at the front of the castle, it was the fi rst place attackers might hit, so it was hard to attack.

It had a PORTCULLIS – Strong oak or metal gate that

It had murder holes, that soldiers could poor down onto the heads of the attackers.

BARBICAN

Battlements stuck out of the walls so that soldiers could drop heavy stones and pour boiling tar onto the enemy below.

They also had Arrow Loops to allow archers to fi re on the attackers.

BATTLEMENTS

ROUND TOWERS

Most castles had round towers in their walls.

They had very thick walls to defend and very narrow staircases.

This was so soldiers could fire in all directions along the front walls.

These siege towers had a drawbridge at the top. The soldiers would climb up and rush across the drawbridge onto the castle.

It took a lot of time to get to the top and wheel it into place. They were often wooden.

SIEGE TOWER

Castles were very strong, sometimes the only method was to wait. This was called laying siege.

You basically waited till they ran out of food.

BESIEGING

THINK! What do the attackers need to have lots of for this to succeed?

The attackers would ram a wooden log against the castle wall or door to try and break a hole into the castle.

BATTERING RAM

THINK! How easy is this to move if you are being hit with arrows?

This would rely on a heavy weight to fall and launch a projectile (a rock or sometimes dead bodies) into or over the castle walls.

It took a long time to reload and was diffi cult to direct

THE TREBUCHET / CATAPULT

THINK! What makes this more effective?

Soldiers would dig a tunnel until they reached the castle wall, usually at a corner, they would then dig a change and fi ll it with dry wood. Setting fi re to it, the chamber would collapse and bring down the wall.

The defenders could dig a counter mine and fight underground.

UNDERMINING

THINK! What could be the dangers of digging under a castle…?