Norman Castles - Military fortresses or Status symbols?

What was new about Norman castles?
1. Saxon burgh-geats
  1. Built by thegns
  2. e.g. Goltho in Lincolnshire
  3. Key features
    1. Defensive ditches
    2. Earth bank
      1. palisade on top
    3. gate houses
      1. used to show status - bigger = more important
    4. wooden buildings inside to live in
  4. NOT called castles
    1. Norman word
2. First castles in England
  1. Built by Edward the Confessor's Norman friends
  2. 3 built before 1066
    1. Richard's Castle, Hereford Castle & Ewyas Castle
  3. Motte and Baileys
3. Invasion
  1. Used old Roman fortifications at Pevensey - added an earth bank and palisade in one corner
    1. no motte
  2. Built castle at Hastings
    1. Motte and Bailey
    2. Shown on the Bayeux Tapestry
4. After the Battle of Hastings
  1. Following battle Will built castles along his route to London - Dover, Newbury, Oxford
  2. Arrived in London - Started work on T of L
Where were Norman Castles built and what did they look like?
1. 1068-1071: The rebellion years
  1. Castles built in/near places that rebelled
    1. Warwick
    2. Nottingham
    3. York
      1. Most important city in north
    4. Exeter - Rougemont
  2. Castles built to protect road to North
    1. Lincoln
    2. Cambridge
    3. Huntingdon
  3. Other castle builders
    1. Robert of Mortain (Will's half brother)
      1. Montacute Castle
    2. William FitzOsborn
      1. Will's BFF
      2. made Earl of Hereford
      3. Built castles on border with Wales
        Chepstow Castle
        Stone castle
  4. What were the castles like?
    1. Most motte & bailey
    2. Most made of timber
    3. Some just 'ringworks'
      1. Pevensey
    4. Few made of stone
      1. Chepstow, TofL
  5. Approx 35 Castles built
    1. Way less than after rebellions were over
2. 1071-1087: After the rebellions
  1. Approx 500 castles built
    1. Way more than when rebellions were happening
  2. Most built by Norman barons & knights not by king
  3. Nearly all built in countryside
  4. little military finction so just for status?
What were castles for?
1. Military
  1. Castles built near places of rebellion - Exeter, York
  2. Castles were built by Norman knights to intimidate peasants and keep control
  3. Biggest concentration of castles is on the Welsh-English border
  4. Little jewellery found in excavations = military
    1. e.g. Hen Domen in Wales
2. Historians disagree - interpretations
  1. Traditional interpretations
    1. All about defence
  2. Revisionist interpretations
    1. More about status
  3. Recent interpretations
    1. Mainly about defence - some use as status symbols
3. Status
  1. 80% built in countryside - not strategic positions
  2. At Castle Acre in Norfolk created a deer park and diverted a Roman road to give good views
  3. Gatehouses often looked like those in Saxon bughs (e.g. Exeter) which were built for status
The Tower of London
1. The Keep - The White Tower
  1. Entrance on 1st floor
    1. Wooden staircase could be removed
  2. King's apartments on 2nd floor
  3. Fake windows on 'top floor' hide a walkway for patrolling soldiers
2. Dates
  1. Begun between 1075 and 1079
  2. Finished after William's death in 1087
3. Built on site of existing Roman defences
4. River provides protection
5. Originally built in wood - developed over time

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Norman Castles - Military fortresses or Status symbols?

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