The castle is made up of two parts. The
motte is a raised mound or earthwork which would have a stone or wooden keep on top
. A keep is a kind fortified tower. The bailey is an enclosed courtyard that was protected by a ditch and a palisade – which is a wall made from wooden stakes.
What are two advantages of a Motte and Bailey castle?
| Advantages quick to build protected by the soldiers Disadvantages made of wood temporary | Evaluation A motte and bailey castle was a way that William the Conqueror could control his land that he had just won. This was only temporary solution though so that is why stone castles started to be built |
What was a Motte and Bailey castle made out of?
The castles consisted of
a wooden wall
, perhaps built on an earth bank, encircling an open space or courtyard (bailey) and a natural or artificial hill (motte) which had a wooden tower built in the centre of its flattened top, sometimes surrounded by its own wooden palisade.
What is the function of a bailey in a Motte and Bailey castle?
The yard was surrounded by a wooden fence called a palisade and then a ditch. The bailey was
the center of domestic life within the castle and could contain a variety of buildings
, including halls, kitchens, stores, stables, a chapel, barracks, and workshops.
What does Motte and Bailey castle look like?
Motte and bailey castles contained
a large, circular mound, usually up to 5m high
, on which stood a wooden tower or keep. The mound was surrounded by a ditch and there would have been a bailey, or enclosed courtyard, attached.
What was a bailey used for?
The bailey is
where followers of the lord of the castle lived
. Many building would be built inside the bailey for stables, kitchens, houses, soldiers quarters, bakeries, and storehouses. The bailey was designed to be defended by archers.
How long does it take to build a motte and bailey castle?
The motte and bailey castle at Dover took just
eight days
to build – according to William of Poitiers who was William’s chaplain. Was such a feat possible? Building castles then was very labour intensive.
What makes a Motte and Bailey castle strong?
The sides of the motte were very steep
.
It would have almost impossible to run up the sides of the motte, making it an excellence defence, A deep ditch was dug around the bottom of the motte for extra protection.
What are two disadvantages of a Motte and Bailey castle?
- Timber burns easily -and attackers quickly learned that firing flaming arrows could defeat the castle.
- Timber rots, to0 – castles quickly ran into disrepair, and often became abandoned by their owners.
- Mottes often had a broad base.
What are the bad things about motte and bailey castles?
Another negative thing was that
the stone keep castle was square
, so the corners could easily be undermined. The enemy would usually send men down a hole, make them tunnel until they reached a corner of the castle, which would cave in due to the weight of the stone castle and make it crumble away.
What is the purpose of a motte?
A motte was an earth mound, forming a defensible raised platform on which a tower – a keep – could be built. The earth for the motte would be taken from around its own base, forming a deep ditch,
aiding the builders’ ability to defend
.
What does motte and bailey mean in English?
:
a medieval Norman castle consisting of two connecting ditched stockaded mounds with
the higher mound surmounted by the keep and the lower one containing barracks and other buildings.
What activities happened in a bailey?
The bailey would contain a wide number of buildings, including
a hall, kitchens, a chapel, barracks, stores, stables, forges or workshops
, and was the centre of the castle’s economic activity.
Who lives in a Motte and Bailey castle?
At the bottom of the motte was the bailey. The bailey varied in size from one to three acres. Inside the bailey, lived
the followers of the Lord who ran
the castle. There were many buildings inside the bailey including stables, storehouses, bakeries, kitchens, houses, and quarters for soldiers.
How would you defend a Motte and Bailey castle?
Fire
.
Fire
was the best way to attack the early Motte and Bailey castles since they were made entirely of wood. The fire might be started by building a bonfire against the outer wooden fence (palisade) or, more usually, by archers shooting fire-arrows into the castle.
How could a Motte and Bailey castle be improved?
During the 12th century many castles were improved and strengthened by
using stone as
the ain building material. The wooden defences of motte and bailey castles were replaced by walls and towers of stone.
