For several important reasons, sieges of castles, and at times fortii ed
towns, became the chief form of warfare in medieval times. First,
these places dominated politics and most social life. h is was especially
true during the High Middle Ages (ca. 1000–1300). Castles,
located either in the countryside or in towns, were the main residences
of the kings, queens, dukes, and other nobles. h ese fortii ed
habitations were also where monarchs, nobles, and other leaders
made the decisions and issued the orders that kept a kingdom running
smoothly. Functions such as making laws, dispensing justice,
determining tax rates, and overseeing food distribution occurred behind the
tall, protective walls of castles and fortiied towns. hus, as tools of political
and social control, these places were the natural targets of enemy armies seeking
to conquer or disrupt a country.
Castles were also major military objectives in themselves because
many of the trained knights and other soldiers in a given region either
lived in them or were temporarily stationed in them. hese structures
were also most frequently the main storehouses of weapons, horses, and
other instruments of war. Another crucial military value of castles was
their location, which was almost always strategic. As Christopher Gravett
says, they “were often situated on roads or rivers and frequently near
junctions. herefore, if an invading body was of inadequate strength, it
was forced to give such strongholds a wide berth, leading to major inconvenience
and loss of time. In order to secure a conquered country, the
castles themselves had to be captured.”23
he military importance of castles and fortiied towns was neither
new nor conined to the medieval era. Fortiications and the sieges intended
to capture or destroy them were common in both Europe and
the Middle East in ancient times. he Assyrians and Persians, centered
in what are now Iraq and Iran, and the Greeks and Romans, who long
controlled the Mediterranean lands, all created large walled fortresses and
towns and developed siege warfare into a genuine art. In fact, the medieval
kingdoms that inherited Europe after Rome’s disintegration based
their knowledge of conducting sieges largely on Roman models.
Also as with ancient sieges, medieval ones had two principal and opposing
facets, much like the contrasting sides of a single coin. One facet
was ofensive in nature. hat is, one party sought to attack and take a
castle or town. In contrast, the other side of the coin was defensive in
nature, as those who dwelled in the castle or town tried to counter the
assault and keep the enemy out.
World History
