I came upon a really great article showing some European Castles. They say this is just part one, there will be more to come!
Some of the photos and the settings are so spectacular….. it really hits to home what people can do… what creativity there can be in people. Sadly it seems that protection from others is what (mainly) inspired the lofty creations we call castles but which are more practically fortresses.
There is a lot of strategic planning on the building of a fortress, from the site selection at an area of economic or strategic importance, usually on a trade route. In Europe rivers were favored for this, and the owner of the fortress would have a large chain strung across the river, anyone passing up or down must pay a toll, usually in the form of a portion of your goods if a merchant, or gold if a wealthy traveller. Poor people would not normally be on a barge unless as workers.
The roads to fortresses usually were designed so that anyone approaching would have their right side exposed to the walls of the fortress as they travelled up the road to the gates. Since most swordsmen carried their shields in their left arm, this left them a bit more vulnerable to attack from the besieged fortress.
The circular staircases running up the towers were designed in a similar fashion, they wound up in such a way that anyone attacking and fighting their way up would have the central pillar impeding his sword arm, and the defender backing his way up the staircase would have a full swing possible.
Most castles had a main entryway with two gates, once through the first, you were in a narrow aisle, open to attack from above on all sides behind and in front, from a higher plane that was difficult to defend from and nearly impossible to get a good shot in.
No, castles were a hard thing to attack, with a full siege, it was reckoned the attackers needed three men for every one in the castle to make a good assault and take the castle. That’s why people built castles, they could take refuge in them, and if it had a good water supply, and plenty of stored food, and proper sanitation…. they could conceivably hold out for years (and some places did), this was usually long enough for the attackers to decide it was not worth the expense.
I visited a score of castles during my time in Europe. But that was before the days of digital photography, when one had to consider the cost of individual photos. Yep, I didn’t take near the photos then that I might now. But I thought I’d post some up here.
Avalon, a walled City in Spain
A portion of one of (mad) King Ludwig’s Castles
These two photos are of Heidelberg Castle in the Neckar Valley
Both of these castles are in a portion of the Neckar valley sometimes referred to as ‘Vierburgenecke’ which means ‘Four Castle Corner’ because the river makes a sharp bend there, and it also happens to be a spot where four castles can all be seen from one spot on the river. Imagine the expense in that five miles stretch to have to pay tolls four times. I had an uncle who lived in the town, which is officially called Hirschhorn (deer antler). He was jsut across a draw from the castle to the left which you could see above the hill and trees. It’s quite a sight to look upon a castle everyday. But oddly, after a few years it becomes an everyday thing.
This is the castle I lived in for two years. Yep, Honest, I lived in a castle. It was at a place called Butzbach, on the edge of the plains, and at the foot of the hills. I was in the Army, and they used it as barracks. We lived for a time on the fourth level, and we could look out over the plains. There was another castle called Munzenburg about eight miles over. I recall a few times watching spectacular lighting shows, with the lightning sparking behind the twin towers of Munzenburg….. some things you will never forget, and this is one of those ones you always like to recollect.
This is a little castle near the town my granny lived in, Eberbach. Note that the narrow are of the gate entrance was blown to bits by some intruders long ago. That’s me standing at the front.
Yep, if you ever get to Europe, do visit some castles.