Over the approximately 900 years that castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, were commonplace.Įuropean-style castles originated in the 9th and 10th centuries, after the fall of the Carolingian Empire resulted in its territory being divided among individual lords and princes. Use of the term has varied over time and has been applied to structures as diverse as hill forts and country houses. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified įrom a fortress, which was not always a residence for royalty or nobility from a ‘ pleasance’ which was a walled-in residence for nobility, but not adequately fortified Īnd from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. Built in 1385, Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, England, is surrounded by a water-filled moat.Ī castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders.
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