The Military Function And History Influence Of The Medieval Castle

Castle is not only an important history phenomenon of medieval Europe, but also a key to the understanding of it. Medieval castles mainly refer to the castles, made of earth, appearing in the 9th century and later, to the castles, made of stone. Castles had a big development in the 9th century, which was a new historical phase of them. The most significant sign is that the castles made of earth or wood were replaced by stone. The surroundings and tower, which was the core of a castle, were all made of stone. After the change in material from earth to stone, the scale, the structure and form of the castles were all changed subsequently. The change of the castles'structure was to adapt to the change of military action, to enhance the defense ability, so it showed that the function of a castle is mainly military function. The military background for the castle's happing have many aspects: castles were not only the main center to command, but also the fort to control the peripheral areas. If the invaders couldn't take possessions of them, they couldn't conquer the place to rein this place. In medieval Europe, there were lots of wars. Because at that time, the military skill was not highly developed, establishing a castle was the best way to defense. In the medieval ages, the west Europe was faced with invaders from all the directions. Besides, the wars between different royals, the wars between royal and local aristocracy, and the wars between different local aristocracies, were constant and frequent. Castles were famous for theirs'delicate defense facilities. Most of the wars happened before medieval times were taken placed around castles, and they usually happened in the plane. In the early time of medieval age, wars were taken placed from one dimension to three dimensions. So the external wall changed from wood to stone and became thicker and higher, and the function changed from only defense to the course to attract in the defense. The most brilliant time of castles was when their functions of attraction and defense were fully played and when the residences depend mostly on them. From the 10th century to the 13th century, castles were played as military machine. But in 12th century and 15th century, their functions were totally changed and taken placed by forts, which were prepared for cannons. The castle's development history was an important part of the western military development history. The development of castles led to the development of the siege weapons. The castle's development showed the heredity in the western military idea and laid solid foundation for them to invade orient to conquer the world. The decisive advantage in a war is the ability to offset the weaknesses. The western depended mostly on the advantage of technique. So they use castles to offset the shortage of soldiers. The innovation of technology and the quick responsibility of it, which is as important as the former, became the main character of western military. The defense system consisted of the gate, the outside fort, the wall, the battlements the gallery, the arrow battlements, the moat, the ditch, the bridge, the tower and the main building, operating as a whole to form the defend system. There were lots of weapons to defend in the castles. Such as boulders, arrows, the greed fire, hooks and boil liquid and so on. Besides ladders, the siege equipment included the machine to throw stone, the towers, the blunt car and large shields. Castles were defense facilities and their roles were to defend and thread enemy at the same time. The defender would wait chance to attract the invaders. The rapid raid could destroy the siege tower and the machine to cast stone, which would delay enemies''attract and diminish their morale. The castles also had the function that could turn defensive to offensive. That meant that the defeated armies could retreat into them, waiting for the relief troops and success in the end. The castles had offensive function and could be used as offensive bases or used to defend triumph. Besides, they would act as forts in the wars and the tools to prompt the strategy. The castle played an important role both in English and Europe. The castle not only ensured the security but also formed the foundation for different levels of lords to contest with the central. So it was also an obstacle to the unity of a country. The war of castles promoted the development of the relationship of Europe. It teaches us a lot in the defense idea: the war's history is the various processes that were arise by the competitions between the defenders and invaders. The construction of the castle promoted the improvement in the equipment to siege the castle, so the new technique arises quickly. The purpose of defense is to protect ourselves. How to protect ourselves? To defend need to develop defense weapons and offensive weapon. When you are in defense, you should also find chance to make counterattacks, counter-offensive and attacks to frustrate the enemy's attack. Counterattacks are an important part of defense. So defense should not only defense weapons but also offensive weapons. Whether a country has the defense ability depends on whether it has the power to thread others. That is the reason for modern military competition. The influence of the castle is profound in Europe and the rarity of western culture.