What is the purpose of medieval castles?

Answer 1

It is the home of the noble King and Queen, but the castle is a place of safety to the King and Queen. They could move inside the castle grounds if a hostile army came.

Answer 2

AnswerFortification and protection. Most castles in Europe are found on hills or are surrounded by moats for protection from enemy forces. AnswerThere were a number of different types of castles, each with slightly different purposes.

Most castles were comparatively small. Some of them consisted only of a single tower, though of the small ones were larger, perhaps with three small towers on a sturdy wall around a central keep. They had some space where people could sleep, a large area for storage of food, water storage, and that was about all. Their purpose was to provide a place where a relatively small group of people could be safe during a time of trouble, perhaps holding out for months.

Some castles were built in places along roads or rivers, to provide a center where taxes or tolls could be take from travellers. They might have provided housing for a garrison, which might have included only a few men. They were built for defense, but they had a day to day purpose as a central point for administering the communication routes.

There were a number of great castles, that included apartments for members of the nobility, separate housing for clergy, chapels, barracks, food storage, and possibly even stables for horses. Though the tactical purpose of these was still defensive, many of these castles were built primarily to awe the local population to keep them under control, and the ones in Wales are particularly famous for that.

From a strategic point of view, castles provided a monarch with defenses that would slow down the movement of an opposing army. It was not safe to ignore them, and it took a lot of manpower to put them under siege, even the small ones. So with castles in the country, it was not possible to overrun the country quickly. For this purpose, walled cities were even better, however.

A down side to castles for the monarch was that they could be or fall under the control of enemies, and this was particularly troublesome if the enemies were the nobles who built them in the first place. For that reason, the nobility were not allowed to have castles except by permission of the king, in many times. Unlicensed castles were often demolished by the king.

The nobility very often preferred to live in fortified manor houses, which were very much more comfortable.

Answer 3

The primary purpose of the castle was protection, but they often represented power as well. If an enemy was invading an area all the people of the area could find shelter in the castle with their families and animals. The men were expected to help fight. As the governments became more established in an area the castle also became a source of wealth and power.

Answer 4

as a home and a fort for lords or nobles