Once upon a time, castles were full of life, loud noises, terrible smells, grand lords and ladies, endless servants, fierce knights and juggling jesters. Primarily built in England and Wales after 1066, castles cemented the new system of feudalism, where people worked and fought for nobles in exchange for loyalty, protection and the use of land.
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As a fortress as well as a home, a medieval castle was effectively a symbol of the lord's power and, with its hierarchy and festivities, represented a cross-section of medieval life more widely.
But what was life really like in a medieval castle? Was it really as lavish and luxurious as we're sometimes led to believe, or was it cold, dark and difficult?
Once upon a time, castles were full of life, loud noises, terrible smells, grand lords and ladies, endless servants, fierce knights and juggling jesters. Primarily built in England and Wales after 1066, castles cemented the new system of feudalism, where people worked and fought for nobles in exchange for loyalty, protection and the use of land.
As a fortress as well as a home, a medieval castle was effectively a symbol of the lord's power and, with its hierarchy and festivities, represented a cross-section of medieval life more widely.
But what was life really like in a medieval castle? Was it really as lavish and luxurious as we're sometimes led to believe, or was it cold, dark and difficult?
They had lots of rooms
Different castles naturally had different amounts of rooms. Early medieval castles and smaller ones throughout the period generally consisted of a single tower with each level containing a single room.
Large castles and manor houses normally had a great hall, bed chambers, solars (sitting rooms), bathrooms and garderobes, gatehouses and guardrooms, kitchens, pantries, larders and butteries, chapels, cabinets (libraries) and boudoirs (dressing rooms), storerooms and cellars, ice houses, dovecots, apartments and sometimes even dungeons.
The great hall was the focus of the castle. Normally the warmest room of the castle and one of the most lavishly decorated, it was the focus of hospitality and celebrations such as dances, plays or poetry recitals.
Generally, castle owners had private apartments or a bathroom with an en-suite loo and chamber where guests were welcomed. They might also have a private chapel. Often the lord and lady's rooms were the safest part of the castle and were closely guarded in terms of who could enter. Some castles even had their own lord and lady's rooms in a totally separate building that could be defended even if the rest of the fortress fell.