The Evolution of Castles and Siege Warfare in medieval Britain, part 1 (conversation with Paul Remfry)

This is the first of a two part series on the evolution of castle-building and siege warfare in Britain from the Norman Conquest through the middle of the fifteenth century. My very special guest is Paul Remfry, one of the world’s leading experts on castles.  

Although this series focuses on castles in England and Wales, the idea for it came from a tour of the castles of Occitanie that Ellen and I took last June. Listeners of this podcast may remember an earlier episode in which Ellen and I talked about the Cathar heresy and the Albigensian Crusade and explained how early in our marriage we co-authored an article on “The Participation of Women in Languedocian Catharism.”  Ellen thought that a historical themed tour of Languedoc would be the perfect way to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary. She found the ideal tour, Scholarly Sojourns’ “Castles in the Clouds,” a week-long exploration of the castles and churches of southwestern France associated with the Cathars. 

What made the tour really special for me was the opportunity to meet and chat with our historical guide, Paul Remfry. Ellen and I, of course, were not casual travelers. We have both researched and read extensively on the Cathars and medieval Languedoc. I am also a medieval military historian. But I was surprised and pleased to discover how much I didn’t know and understand about castle building.  By the end of the tour, I knew that I had to have Paul on the show to share with our listeners his knowledge of castles and siege warfare.

The subject is enormous, so we agreed to limit our talk to a few key castles and sieges in England and Wales that illustrate key developments in castle-building and siege warfare in the High and Late Middle Ages. Please join us!

(If you love history, Scholarly Sojourns is for you. You can check it out at http://www.scholarlysojourns.com/ or on Facebook!)

There is a downside in doing a purely audio podcast, especially on a subject like castles and siege warfare. The best I can do is recommend some websites with images of castles that Paul Remfry and I spoke about. 

A good starting point is English Heritage's "Norman Castles," which is organized geographically: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/norman-castles/

For Norman stone keeps, see "Castellogy, Castles and Town Walls in England and Wales: Norman keeps": https://castellogy.com/architecture/design-and-styles/norman-keeps

For William the Conqueror's White Tower (Tower of London), see the images in its Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Tower_(Tower_of_London)

For Norman motte-and-bailey castles, see  "Castellogy, Castles and Town Walls in England and Wales: motte-and-bailey castles" https://castellogy.com/architecture/architectural-terms/motte-and-bailey-introduction

The vast majority of castles erected during the Norman settlement were of the motte-and-bailey variety, with wooden towers (keeps). This is a modern term describing a castle consisting of the following elements: 

1)  The motte: a raised earthwork (the motte), fattened on top and surmounted by a tower (keep). In the eleventh century, the tower would have been made of wood. None of these survive.  In the twelfth century, some of the wooden towers were replaced with stone keeps. The ruins of a number of these survive.  The tower would have been protected by a palisade made of timber.

2) The bailey: a courtyard enclosed by a wooden palisade adjacent to the mound. The bailey would have stables and houses for troops.

3. The entire complex would often be surrounded by a ditch. 

For a good general discussion of the construction of motte-and-bailey castles, see  "Castellogy, Castles and Town Walls in England and Wales: motte-and-bailey castles" https://castellogy.com/architecture/architectural-terms/motte-and-bailey-introduction

This episode includes:

 A musical snippet from "Reis glorios," a  12th-century alba (dawn song) written by the Occitan troubadour Giraut de Bornelh , performed by Ensemble Unicorn ("Music of the Troubadours," uploaded by SableAradia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gXfH5RL0TQ)

Thehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQeXYqp66GY trailer for the 2011 movie Ironclad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQeXYqp66GY)

Listen on Podurama   https://podurama.com                                                                    

Intro and exit music are by Alexander Nakarada

If you have questions, feel free to contact me at richard.abels54@gmail.com